White Deer Park's Splash Pad Closed for the Season. The Bigger Playground Still Doesn't Have a Date.

The splash pad on the east side of White Deer Park shut down for the year on September 20. It's the free one by the picnic shelters, restrooms and parking lot on Aversboro Road. It ran 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day, weather permitting, with no lifeguard. Children 12 and under had to have an adult with them. It was open for one summer.

The splash pad was the second of three accessible-play projects Garner planned for 2026. The third and largest is a new inclusive playground near the White Deer Park Nature Center, and it still doesn't have a confirmed opening date. Until it does, fall at White Deer Park depends on the trails, the Nature Center calendar and one big event on Halloween afternoon.

Three projects, one plan, two finished

In February, the News & Observer reported that the town had opened a new accessible playground at Garner Recreation Center. The same story said two more inclusive features were coming to the 96-acre White Deer Park. Here is where all three stand as of October 8, 2026:

The budgets show how big the last piece is. The Rec Center playground cost about $400,000. The town lists a $1.366 million fee-in-lieu balance for the White Deer Park playground, more than three times that figure, plus a separate $133,110 in ARP funds for design.

Why "fall" is a soft date

In February, the N&O said the splash pad would open in May. Its grand opening, as listed on a local family-events calendar, was Friday, June 12, 2026, from 3:30 to 4 p.m. That's roughly a month after the date in the article. The town's project page had listed spring 2026 for the splash pad.

The playground has a similar gap. The town's White Deer Park Improvements page shows construction starting in fall 2025 and "anticipated completion" in summer 2026, and it labels the whole schedule tentative and subject to change. The N&O's February story said fall. As of early October we haven't found a ribbon cutting, a town announcement or a local news report confirming that it has opened.

The town's description makes clear why families are waiting for this one. It will replace an aging playground in deteriorated condition near the Nature Center. According to the N&O, the new one will have a sensory play and garden area, a sandbox wheelchair users can reach, and towers children can climb into. Surface678 is the design consultant. The town has posted a flythrough animation and renderings from the 65% design stage.

You can see the same approach at the Rec Center playground on West Main Street now. It's fully fenced and has a smooth surface instead of mulch. It also has a rocker a wheelchair can roll onto, ADA-compliant supportive swings, a sign language board and a communication panel for children with limited or no verbal speech. If your family has been waiting for White Deer Park, the Rec Center playground is open today, a short drive up Main Street.

What the park offers while the playground is pending

The splash pad is closed and the playground area near the Nature Center is between old and new equipment. That leaves the paths, which were there before any of these projects and are the main thing to do at the park this fall. White Deer Park sits next to Lake Benson Park, and the town lists two miles of paved trails. The town trail map names these routes:

• Meadow Loop, 0.33 miles, short enough for a stroller lap or toddler legs
• White Deer Woodland Trail, 0.23 miles
• White Deer Loop, 1 mile
• Lake Benson Woodland Trail, 1 mile
• Lake Benson Loop, 1.2 miles
• Combined Loop, 2.2 miles, linking both parks
• South Garner Greenway, 1 mile

The Nature Center has a full October schedule on the town's RecDesk calendar. "Discovery Days: Our Blue Planet" ran October 1, and the First Friday Bird Walk ran October 2 from 8 to 10 a.m. Two morning programs for young children are still coming up. Toddler Nature Time is October 21 from 10 a.m. to noon. Little Wild Ones: Water Wonders is October 27 from 10 to 11 a.m. November programs, including the next bird walk, will show up on the same calendar.

October 31 brings the crowd back

Trick or Treat the Trail is the one afternoon this fall that will fill the park the way the splash pad did all summer. It runs Saturday, October 31, from 3 to 5:30 p.m. The town's event page lists these details:

1. Route. Children trick-or-treat in costume along a paved loop of about one mile, with local organizations handing out candy. Some sections are narrow or bumpy, so plan your stroller or wagon accordingly.
2. Inside. The Nature Center hosts a creepy-crawlies exhibit.
3. Food. Food trucks will be on site.
4. Rules. Children must be accompanied, pets aren't allowed, and horror or gore costumes are discouraged.
5. Parking. Free parking is at Lake Benson Park, with accessible parking near the crosswalk to White Deer Park.

Because parking is at Lake Benson, many families will arrive on foot from the neighboring park. The event is free.

If your household celebrates over more than one day, the Downtown Garner Association holds its free Trick-or-Eat on Main Street three weeks earlier. It's Saturday, October 10, from 5 to 9 p.m. at 120 E. Main St., with trick-or-treating, food trucks and a Touch-a-Truck.

The next piece runs along Buffaloe Road

The White Deer Park plan reaches beyond the park's edge. The town's South Garner Greenway project would add a 1.75-mile multi-use path and a 130-foot pedestrian bridge along Buffaloe Road. It would connect White Deer Park's greenway to the roundabout at Vandora Springs Drive. In the town's March 2026 update, design was underway and the documents were under NCDOT review. The schedule called for real estate acquisition in summer 2026 and final plans in late 2026, and construction is still pending final design and bidding. No construction date has been set.

A second connection is in the works on the other side of town. The Garner News reported that $850,000 in federal funding announced on July 27, 2026, will go toward safety and capacity work on Jones Sausage Road, including a greenway link to Yeargan Park.

So the Combined Loop is White Deer Park's longest walk for now. Once the Buffaloe Road extension is built, the park's trails will connect to the Vandora Springs Drive roundabout. And when the playground near the Nature Center opens, the town's 2026 accessible-play plan will be complete. Meanwhile, the Rec Center playground at 215 W. Main St. is open, and Trick or Treat the Trail starts at 3 p.m. on October 31.

New to Garner and still finding your way around, or know someone headed this way who'd like to know which park has which playground? Kim Longest keeps track of these local details for the families she works with. Request Your Free Relocation & Neighborhood Guide, and Kim will include the latest on White Deer Park, the trails and Garner's seasonal events.