Right now, at the County Line Road entrance to the Brices Creek Nature Preserve, there is a brand new gravel parking lot and two brand new restrooms sitting empty. No sign points to them yet. No launch is open. The water access they were built for isn't ready to use, and accessibility concrete work at the restroom site is still underway.
A few miles away, inside a second-floor courtroom at New Bern City Hall, the Board of Aldermen has spent months moving a different piece of paper through a different process, one that has nothing to do with restrooms or gravel and everything to do with how fast a boat can move past a specific stretch of shoreline. Both stories are about Brices Creek. Neither one is about the same part of it, and neither is running on the same schedule. If you live along the creek and have only heard "something's changing," it's worth knowing which something, and where.
The Trailhead That's Already Built, Just Not Open
The new site off County Line Road is a Craven County project, and it's been under construction for a while. Craven County Manager Jack Veit told NewBernNow.com that the new Craven County Nature Park is projected to open in early fall 2026. The restrooms and gravel lot are finished. What's still being built is the part that actually connects to the rest of the creek: a docking and kayak launch designed to create a roughly 7-mile paddle trail between Creekside Park and this new location along Brice's Creek. Veit also noted that at least 3 miles of hiking trail and 2 miles of biking trail are still under construction, along with accessibility concrete work at the restroom site.
County Line Road itself is a gravel road that cuts through the Croatan National Forest, and the nature park isn't the only thing being built along it. Construction is also underway on the Bluewater Rise and Magnolia Reserve planned unit developments on the same corridor. The park isn't arriving in isolation. It's arriving in the middle of the same stretch of road where hundreds of acres are being developed for housing.
Where That Trail Actually Leads
If you've never paddled the existing water access points on Brices Creek, the 7-mile figure doesn't mean much on its own. Here's what's actually on the other end of that trail.
Creekside Park, off Old Airport Road near the Coastal Carolina Regional Airport, is the largest park in New Bern at 111 acres. Its waterfront on Brices Creek includes a 200-foot dock with two separate launch areas for canoes and kayaks and two fishing cutouts, plus the Congleton Shelter, a gazebo, a playground, and a walking trail. Whenever Watersports runs a self-serve kayak and paddleboard rental kiosk right at the launch, so you don't need to own a boat to use it. The park's bocce courts, built in 2017 with materials and labor donated by Lowe's Home Improvement for the Special Olympics Craven County Bocce Team, got a new padded turf surface in 2023.
Separately, and further out, the U.S. Forest Service maintains its own Brice's Creek Boat Ramp and canoe trail off Perrytown Road, inside the Croatan National Forest. That launch has existed for years and connects to the Saltwater Adventure Trail, a nearly 100-mile paddling route that circles most of the forest.
What's new is the middle piece. Until the County Line Road launch opens, Creekside Park and the Forest Service ramp have functioned as two separate access points on the same creek, not a connected route. The new nature park is what turns them into one.
A Different Kind Of Change, A Few Miles Toward Town
The second story is happening inside city government, and it moves at a different pace entirely. Back in June, at the Board of Aldermen's June 9, 2026 meeting, NewBernNow.com's recap reported that Alderman Bobby Aster asked for an update on a no-wake zone the recap identified as Brices Creek Quarry. The city manager's answer was that the state wants the city to follow a formal process, which includes an assessment from the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. Nothing about that process moves quickly.
Three months later, it resurfaced. As NewBernNow.com reported, the Sept. 8, 2026 Board of Aldermen agenda included a public hearing on the city's intention to formally apply to the Wildlife Resources Commission for special rules governing vessel operation on a section of Brices Creek inside city limits. The boundary description in the proposed resolution starts at a point on the eastern side of the creek, at the southwestern corner of property owned by the Stillwater Harbour Yacht Owners Association, and runs eastward along that property's southern line for about 180 feet. That's a specific, narrow stretch of shoreline near a private yacht harbor community, not the creek in general, and it sits inside New Bern's city limits rather than out in the Croatan National Forest where the new nature park is being built. As of this week, the formal application to the state still has to clear the Wildlife Resources Commission's own assessment before any rule takes effect.
Two Projects, Two Clocks
| New Nature Park & Paddle Launch | Proposed No Wake Zone | |
|---|---|---|
| Who's running it | Craven County Recreation & Parks | City of New Bern Board of Aldermen, pending NC Wildlife Resources Commission approval |
| Where | County Line Road, Croatan National Forest, connecting to Creekside Park | A specific stretch near Stillwater Harbour Yacht Owners Association, inside city limits |
| What it does to traffic on the water | Adds a launch point and a paddle route | Slows vessel speed on one bounded stretch |
| Status as of September 2026 | Restrooms and parking built; launch and trails still under construction; opening targeted early fall 2026 | Public hearing on the state application held Sept. 8, 2026; still awaiting the required state assessment |
The two aren't competing narratives about the same place. They're two separate governments making two separate decisions about two separate pieces of the same waterway, and they happen to be landing in the news in the same season.
What This Means If You Live Along The Creek
If you paddle out of Creekside Park regularly, the practical thing to watch for is the actual opening date of the County Line Road launch. The restrooms and parking are done, but Veit's own comments made clear the docking and kayak launch, along with the hiking and biking trail mileage, were still under construction as of this summer. Early fall is a target, not a fixed date, and the trail portions may trail the water access by weeks or months.
If you keep a boat near Stillwater Harbour, the thing to watch is the opposite kind of update. The no-wake zone isn't in effect yet. It still needs the Wildlife Resources Commission's sign-off after the city's public hearing, and that kind of state review doesn't run on a city council's timeline. A sign posted at the boundary won't mean anything until that approval comes through.
Both are worth following if Brices Creek is your everyday water, not because either one changes what your home is worth, but because they change how you'll use the creek this fall and next spring. NewBernNow.com has covered both stories as they've moved through their respective processes, and Craven County Recreation & Parks posts updates on Creekside Park directly.
If you're weighing a move to the water along Brices Creek, or you already live here and want a clearer read on what's shifting street by street and shoreline by shoreline, Melissa Rankin's team at New Bern Property Group spends its days tracking exactly this kind of local detail. Schedule a free consultation whenever you're ready to talk through what it means for you.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
