Garner sits right on Raleigh’s southern line, close enough that most people drive through it on 40 or 70 without realizing they have left the city. That is a mistake. Garner has two of the best parks in Wake County, a small downtown that is finally coming back, and the easiest access to the countryside south of the Triangle. Here is what I do there.
Quick orientation: Downtown Garner is the historic strip along Main Street, off Highway 70 near the rail line. The big parks are south of town off Buffaloe Road and Aversboro Road. White Oak Crossing, the giant shopping center at 40 and 42, is Garner’s commercial center.
The best things to do in Garner
Lake Benson Park
Sixty-four acres on a 64-acre lake with a paved loop, a huge playground, an amphitheater and shaded picnic shelters. It is where Garner does its big events, and on an ordinary evening it is the best walk in town. The paved path connects to White Deer Park next door. Free.
White Deer Park
The nature side of the same complex: a nature center with live animals and programs for kids, wooded trails, a treehouse-style playground and a boardwalk. Combine it with Lake Benson for a full outdoor morning.
Downtown Garner and Main Street
Historic Downtown Garner is small and in the middle of a revival: a brewery, coffee, a few restaurants and the Garner Performing Arts Center, the town’s 1920s-era school auditorium, now a 400-seat venue for concerts, theater and the Garner Christmas parade crowd. The Garner Farmers Market runs Saturday mornings in season at the Garner Recreation Center.
Garner Recreation Center and the greenways
The rec center at 1200 Aversboro Road is the town’s hub for classes and courts. The Garner greenway system is growing fast, with the Lake Benson connector and segments that will eventually link to Raleigh’s Neuse River Trail.
Thompson Road and the farms south of town
Ten minutes south of White Oak Crossing you are in farm country. This is the closest strawberry and pumpkin picking to south Raleigh, and I keep the current farms in the strawberry guide and the fall guide.
Where to eat
Garner’s food is honest and inexpensive: barbecue, Mexican, Southern meat-and-threes and a growing set of chef-owned spots downtown. The current picks live in the posts below.
Events to plan around
- Independence Day Celebration at Lake Benson Park, with the North Carolina Symphony and fireworks, one of the Triangle’s best Fourth of July nights.
- Garner Fest, spring, downtown’s street festival.
- Light Up Main and the Garner Christmas Parade, December.
- Movies and concerts at Lake Benson, summer weekends at the amphitheater.
- Garner Farmers Market, Saturdays in season.
Neighborhoods to know
Downtown Garner and the streets around Main are the historic core. Cleveland and the area near 42 are where the newest subdivisions are going up. Aversboro and Vandora Springs are the established neighborhoods near the parks. White Oak Crossing is shopping, not a neighborhood, but it is where everyone meets.
Latest from Garner
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