I went to the Historic Yates Mill County Park during the spring break. This park is close to where I live and it is an excellent place for a real experience of learning the historical and environmental background of the Wake County area.
Yates Mill served Wake County as a water-powered mill for more than 200 years, and it is the only gristmill still in operating condition. The water-powered gristmill was an important economic and social center for residents of Wake County back in the old times. It supported the production of crops and lumber in this region.
With the help and support from Yates Mill Associates, Inc., NC State University, and bot of public and private foundations, the park was developed and re-constructed between 2003 to 2006. Also, the A.E.Finley Center was built for regional environmental study and research purposes. The park was officially opened to public in May, 2006. Now, the Yates Mill County Park is a wonderful place for environmental studying, fishing, picnicking, swimming, gathering, and touring.
Recently I visited the Centennial Campus Center for Wildlife Education. There are many things to do at the Wildlife Education Center. You are able to get Licenses for various things including hunting, fishing and trapping. They also have hands on exhibits which were very entertaining.
This particular game/machine allowed you to scroll through various animals and click on any that interested you. A video would then pop up on the screen and give you back ground information on that particular animal. They also had a variety of other unique exhibits that allowed you to interact with nature. For example they have a wetlands area that you can view outside. You are also able to view the wetlands via a control camera. You control a camera that overlooks the wetland area and are able to zoom in and out on anything that catches your eye.
Centennial Campus was only a 5 minute drive for me but when I arrived at the Wild Life Center I felt like had traveled hours away to an exotic forest. It was amazing to see so many different environments right on campus.
