Durham Parks and Recreation: Play More!

Mark your calendar! Join us, rain or shine, for Canine Field Day on Saturday, May 4, from 10 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. at Rock Quarry Park! This event will host tons of fun events for you and your pooch. Come run your dog through our agility zone, try your luck at some of our games and contests, or even enter in the Hyperflite Skyhoundz State Championship Competition. Every pup and their person will have a dog-gone good time! Durham’s Canine Field Day will be hosting the Hyperflite Skyhoundz Championship Distance/Accuracy and Freestyle Completion. Skyhoundz is the largest disc dog competition series, and hosts competitions all over the globe, from Argentina to South Korea. There are no restrictions on the size or breed of dog competing; the only requirement is the desire to participate! This is the 4th year in a row that Canine Field Day has hosted the Skyhoundz State Championship. The competition consists of two 90-second rounds of freestyle and one 60-second round of distance/accuracy....

Who's ready to Go Green and celebrate our planet!? Folks of all ages are invited to join us for the 2019 Earth Day Festival on Sunday, April 28 from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Durham Central Park. Enjoy a day filled with an eclectic mix of music, food, hands-on environmental education activities and much more! You'll want to plan out your day accordingly because we have more than enough activities and programs for you to enjoy! Festival goers will be able to explore local goods, crafts and resources at the Earth Day Market. And the kids are sure to have a blast climbing the Rock Wall, hanging out in the Family Fun Zone and receiving a free book at the Book Giveaway through Durham County Library. If you get hungry or need a drink, make sure to bring a refillable water bottle to fill at the Durham H20 2 Go Hydration Station and check out the local food trucks for a bit to eat. There will also be an opportunity to learn about how to 'be green' through transportation effort...

We’ve got a past...and it goes back to the early 1900’s! Durham Parks and Recreation has years and years of history and we're excited to share it all with you! Our website now features an in-depth, interactive timeline of the History of Durham Parks and Recreation. From constructing and acquiring buildings to organizing events to developing new parks and playgrounds, we have done it all!  Here’s a quick overview of what has happened in our history over the years… 1900’s - Brodie Duke donated land for, what would later be, Duke Park and the Civic League, created by Mattie Southgate Jones, urged the City Council to create public parks. 1910’s - The Durham Country Club was the first recreation facility open to the public in Durham, privately funded by John Sprunt Hill and other young Durhamites. Land for water reservoirs was donated that would be developed into new lakes for fishing and boating. 1920’s - Durham started parks and recreation with unofficial summer playgrounds...

Our Summer Play More Guide is here and we couldn't me more excited about what's inside! You'll be able to read about all of the upcoming activities that Durham Parks and Recreation has to offer between June and August 2019. From Float with Floats and Color the Park to Battle Rope Fitness and Jazz on the Court, there is something for everyone. Take a look and start signing up for these summer activities before spots fill up! What is the Play More Guide? Play More is a guide to creative and challenging recreation choices in Durham and is produced by Durham Parks and Recreation (DPR). Three editions are published throughout the year - June-August, September-December, and January-May. Each guide consists of upcoming activities for all ages to enjoy, including both registered and drop-in activities. Inside each Play More Guide you will find detailed information on our Play More card, pass sale chart, facility addresses and hours of operation, trails and greenways, rent...

It’s that time of year again! Mr. Bunny is on his way for a visit to Durham! As he hides eggs around some of our DPR facilities and parks, we want to make sure you mark your calendar for some family friendly (and canine friendly) events in April! Spring Egg Dive It's an Eggstravaganza! Join us at the Campus Hills Pool on Saturday, April 6 from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. for our annual Spring Egg Dive event! Have you ever gone on an egg hunt in a pool? Participants will be able to dive, splash, and swim for eggs and win prizes. All swim levels are welcome and life vests will be provided. An adult will need to enter the water with children 9 years of age and younger. Registration is limited and each child must register individually. Click here to register today! Egg Hunts Egg hunters wanted! Join us at one of our two human Egg Hunts on Saturday, April 13, either at I.R. Holmes, Sr. Recreation Center at Campus Hills or West Point on the Eno. Children will be divided into groups acc...

On February 23, MyDurham, our free membership-based program for teens, hosted a trip to the North Carolina Museum of History in downtown Raleigh.   Our main goal for that day was to expose teens to the North Carolina Roots of Artist exhibit featuring a collection by Ernie Barnes.   Many of the teens did not know much, if anything about, Ernie Barnes.   Little did they know that he too ran the same streets that they do today. As we began to walk through the exhibit,   they realized most of his painting had little nuggets of Durham in them. One of his most renowned and well known paintings, The Sugar Shack , depicted an actual event that he attended in the Durham Armory downtown as a kid.   This painting was used in the 1970s sitcom, Good Times,  in the opening credits and as Marvin Gaye’s album cover for I Want You (1976).Whether it was one of the radio stations on a banner or a local landmark in Durham, he always represented Durham, his home, ...

We want to make registering for our programs and events easy! That's why we've integrated a user-friendly, resident focused platform that provides quick access to details and immediate sign up for most of our programs offered across our Parks, Recreation Centers and Facilities. This online system, which we refer to as ActiveNet , has many great benefits, is easy to use, and there are no online transaction fees! You're able to search for your favorite programs by keyword, age, day, time, location and more! How do I use ActiveNet? After creating an account, you'll be able to search through all of our current programs offered in several categories such as aquatics, athletics, mature adults, canine recreation, teen programs and more! There are several filters to help narrow down what you are looking for. These include options such as choosing which day of the week you want to meet on, what age range you need, location of the program and whether the program still has o...

Did you know there is a garden at West Point on the Eno? And, with the help of volunteers, we donate 100% of our harvest to local food pantry? Well, we do! It is located behind the McCown-Mangum House. In 2018 we harvested over 300 pounds of fresh produce in the West Point Garden. This is remarkable given we only have 620 square feet of raised beds. While 300 pounds of produce may not sound like too much, consider the pictures on the right. The top picture is 12 pounds of okra, tomatoes (beef steak and roma), eggplant and bush beans harvested on August 8, 2018. The bottom picture is 17 pounds of spinach, turnip and beet greens, green onions, lettuce mix, kale, and radishes harvested on May 10, 2018. This is twenty fiv 1.5 bags of produce. As you can see, 17 pounds of leafy greens and 12 pounds of other veggies is a lot! Staff coordinates these food donations through the Durham Farm and Food Network’s Plant-A-Row program. This program connects gardeners—backyard and communi...