I used to live near Hemlock Bluffs Nature Preserve in Cary. My husband and I would take walks over there every once in a while, walking on the boardwalk along Swift Creek and checking out the tall hemlocks and creatures that live underneath.

I took my daughter for the first time on Monday. I wish we'd gone sooner.

She loved it. Within a few steps of starting out on the Swift Creek Trail, an 8/10ths of a mile trail that loops through a floodplain, we saw a giant spider. Then a turtle. A snail. All kinds of mushrooms. A salamander climbing up a tree. She chased birds and was certain we'd see a bunny (no luck there).

Hemlock Bluffs is the second place TriangleMom2Mom is highlighting this week as part of Take A Child Outside Week. (Here's our other coverage, including details about many of the local events that are being held in honor of the week.)

The 150-acre preserve at 2616 Kildaire Farm Rd. is part of Cary's park system. The property is unique for its collection of Eastern Hemlocks and other vegetation that usually thrive 200 miles away in the Appalachian Mountains. The reason the trees and other plants are there can be traced back 10,000 years to the last glacial period when the temperature was cooler than it is today, according to a park pamphlet. My three-year-old could care less about that.

If you go, start out at Stevens Nature Center, a spacious building right next to the parking lot. There are dioramas and some hands-on exhibits that my daughter enjoyed (though she really was eager to get outside). There's a little gift shop and really clean bathrooms. Signs discourage picnicking at the preserve, but park staffer Emily Hale tells me it's OK to bring a bag lunch and eat it on the benches.

With just three miles of trails, it's easy for older kids and adults to walk through the entire park in one visit. We kept to the Swift Creek Trail (which is not stroller friendly with something like 100 steps or so). It was very buggy, so be sure to bring some spray. And that skunky smell on the stairs? That's actually fungi (a fun fact I learned there).

Emily said the Beech Tree Cove Trail is a great family loop trail. It's 9/10ths of a mile round trip. And jogging strollers usually can make it through.

The park offers nature programs nearly everyday for all age groups. Pre-registration is required so be sure to call ahead and book your spot. There are still spaces left for this Sunday's Insect Safari for kids age 6 and up and their families. It's from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

The Friends of Hemlock Bluffs will be holding their annual Recycle Sale from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., Oct. 25, to raise money for scholarships to send needy kids to the park's nature programs and to help support the park's exhibit hall. The park will be accepting items to sell at the sale from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Oct. 23 and Oct. 24, but not before. They won't take large appliances, TVs, exercise equipment or tires.

Some photos my daughter took during our trip on Monday.