Until last month, a lap around Alston Ridge Park meant 0.4 miles of paved loop with a playground and a picnic shelter. Since October 23, the same park leads to a 1.9-mile trail around a stocked lake in Holly Springs. The connection is a new 2,400-foot section of the Alston Ridge Greenway. Fuquay-Varina and Holly Springs town officials cut the ribbon together, joined by staff from the NC Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization and Cardinal Civil Contracting.
Less than half a mile of new construction connects a neighborhood park to a lake. The Town of Fuquay-Varina's announcement says the trail now runs one mile from the trailhead across from Alston Ridge Park at 6850 Hilltop-Needmore Road Extension to the Bass Lake Greenway. Along the way it switches between pavement and boardwalk and passes an environmental overlook.
A neighborhood park with a lake at the end
Most of what's out here was already built. The new piece links two existing paths: the greenway on the east side of NC 55 in the Alston Ridge subdivision, and the Bass Lake Greenway Trail to the north. That's how town engineering staff described the project when it went to the Town Board in August 2024. The finished route is 10 feet wide, enough room for walkers and cyclists to pass each other.
Here's how the three pieces compare:
| Segment | Length | What's there |
|---|---|---|
| Alston Ridge Park loop | 0.4 mile, paved | Playground, picnic shelter, StoryWalk |
| Alston Ridge Greenway | 1 mile from the trailhead to Bass Lake Greenway | Asphalt and boardwalk sections, environmental overlook |
| Bass Lake Park Lake Trail | 1.9-mile loop | About 1.65 miles along the shore, roughly a quarter-mile through woods |
Before the extension, the Alston Ridge loop was the full walk. Now the loop is the warmup. The lake trail at the far end is almost five times as long, and it starts behind the visitor center at Bass Lake Park, 900 Bass Lake Road in Holly Springs.
The neighborhood end of the route still matters, especially if you have small kids. Alston Ridge Park has a StoryWalk run by the Fuquay-Varina Junior Women's Club with the Town and the Wake County Public Library. The books change every two to three months, so the walk to the trailhead keeps changing too.
What $1.5 million bought, and why it took until October
The connector went to the Fuquay-Varina Town Board in August 2024 with a total cost of $1,549,000. A Locally Administered Project Program grant from CAMPO covered 60 percent of that, or $929,000, and the Town paid the remaining $620,000. Holly Springs had already approved the interlocal agreement for the project at its July 16, 2024 board meeting. The August 5, 2024 Town Board minutes lay out the full arrangement.
The finish date moved several times:
- August 2024: Construction expected to begin in spring 2025, with completion by spring 2026.
- Early 2026, in a Town weekly update: Stone base in place, boardwalk installation and paving still ahead, completion anticipated in fall 2026.
- June 2026: A Town transportation update in Main & Broad reported boardwalk construction underway and completion expected by early August.
- October 23, 2026: Ribbon-cutting.
The boardwalk was still being built in June, and it's the part you'll notice most on the walk. The greenway is one of the last items in Fuquay-Varina's 10-year Transportation Project Plan. Main & Broad describes the plan as a $100 million program of nearly 40 projects, and in June the Town said it was entering year nine.
What's waiting at the Holly Springs end in November
The trail opened as Bass Lake moved into its off-season, so a November visit looks different from a July one. Canoe and jon boat rentals at $10 an hour and motorized Gheenoe rentals at $15 an hour run only from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Until next summer, you'll be walking or fishing.
Fishing is free. North Carolina's inland fishing license rules still apply to anglers 16 and older, and the NC Wildlife Resources Commission says anglers under 16 are exempt. The park's posted limits are five bass a day with a 14-inch minimum and six catfish a day with a 12-inch minimum. The lake gets catfish stocking every other month from mid-spring to mid-fall, and the visitor center sells bait and lends tackle for free. That's general information, not legal advice, so check your own license situation with the Wildlife Resources Commission before you bring a rod.
Swimming isn't allowed at the lake. If you want to keep going past the lake, the Carl Dean Greenway continues from Bass Lake Park to Womble Park.
Daylight is the main limit this time of year. The Town of Holly Springs' Bass Lake hours schedule listed 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. for November 2 through December 31 last year. For a 2026 afternoon walk, call the park at 919-567-4028 before you start the full loop. Starting from Alston Ridge, you're looking at the one-mile greenway, the 1.9-mile lake trail, and the walk back. That's a long outing for an hour before closing.
Before you head out
The new mile is open now, but a few other changes in this part of town will affect your outings over the next couple of months:
- Start at the right spot. The greenway begins at the trailhead across from Alston Ridge Park, not inside the park's 0.4-mile loop.
- Watch for road work on Bass Lake Road. In its June update, the Town said construction was slated to begin in November, after late-summer utility relocations. The project adds an eastbound lane on Bass Lake Road and dedicated right-turn lanes at Hilltop Needmore Road and Sunset Lake Road. Check DriveFV.org for current status.
- South Lakes Greenway is partly closed. Across town, part of the two-mile South Lakes Greenway closed October 21 for boardwalk repairs and is expected to reopen in early January 2027. The Town's closure map shows which section is out. The route normally connects Park Depot Trail, the South Lakes and Meadow Brook communities, and Old Honeycutt Road Park, with parking at 1324 Old Honeycutt Road and at Old Honeycutt Park, 101 Fitness Drive.
So while one Fuquay-Varina greenway has a section closed for repairs through the holidays, another just gained a mile and a lake. For anyone living near Hilltop-Needmore and NC 55, the walk now goes to Holly Springs, about a mile from the trailhead to the Bass Lake Greenway.
Questions about this side of Fuquay-Varina, like how the new greenway and the Bass Lake Road work could affect a home near Alston Ridge? Alli Pepperling tracks these changes block by block and gives you a straight answer. Request a free home valuation to see how they factor into what your home is worth.