Tanglewood Park

Tanglewood Park is one of the largest and most historically significant public parks anywhere in the greater Winston-Salem region — a 1,100-acre Forsyth County park along the Yadkin River in Clemmons, NC. The park was originally the private estate of William Neal Reynolds (brother of R.J. Reynolds and later president of the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company) and his wife Kate Reynolds, before being acquired by Forsyth County in 1951 and established as a public recreational facility.

Today, Tanglewood serves the full range of outdoor recreation and family programming — spanning two championship golf courses, an aquatic center, fishing and paddleboating on Mallard Lake, horseback riding trails and stables, hiking and biking trails, camping and lodging, and one of the American Southeast’s most notable annual holiday events: the Tanglewood Festival of Lights.

Be sure to check out the YouTube video and pictures below to get a feel for Tanglewood Park before you go — or to relive the visit after.

The Reynolds Family Estate — From Private Home to 1,100-Acre Public Park

Tanglewood’s origin story is genuinely wonderful. William Neal Reynolds — brother of R.J. Reynolds and one of the most prominent figures in early-20th-century Winston-Salem business — purchased the property in the early 1900s as his private estate and horse farm. Will and Kate Reynolds developed the estate over decades, building the property’s signature amenities and establishing much of the land management that shapes the park’s character today.

The Manor House — originally built in 1859 as a pre-Civil War Southern estate residence — anchored the Reynolds family’s Tanglewood home. Today, the historic Manor House operates as a bed-and-breakfast, preserving the estate’s original character of hospitality alongside period antiques, reproduction furnishings, and much of the original architectural detail.

When Forsyth County acquired the property in 1951, the transition preserved the Reynolds estate’s core buildings, gardens, and land while opening the property for public recreational use. That kind of intact private-family-estate-to-public-park transition is genuinely rare in American parks history, giving Tanglewood a distinctive editorial character that most large public parks can’t match.

The R.J. Reynolds family heritage story extends well beyond Tanglewood alone. R.J. Reynolds’s own family estate in Winston-Salem now operates as the Reynolda House Museum of American Art — creating a genuinely rare dual heritage of the Reynolds family across two of the region’s most significant cultural landmarks.

Championship Golf — Robert Trent Jones Sr. and the 1974 PGA Championship

Tanglewood’s golf infrastructure is genuinely of national historical significance. The park’s Championship Course was designed by Robert Trent Jones, Sr. — one of the most legendary golf course architects in American history, whose designs anchor major championship venues across the country. The Championship Course opened at Tanglewood in the 1950s and has since hosted some of the highest-profile golf events in NC history.

Most notably, Tanglewood hosted the 1974 PGA Championship — one of golf’s four majors — with Lee Trevino winning the title on the Championship Course. That kind of major-championship history is genuinely rare for a public park golf course, and gives Tanglewood a distinctive place in American professional golf history.

Tanglewood also hosted the Champions Tour / Senior PGA Tour Vantage Championship from 1987 to 2002 — 15+ consecutive years of professional Senior Tour events. That extended Senior Tour history further established Tanglewood as one of NC’s premier competitive golf venues.

Beyond the Championship Course, the park also features the Reynolds Course — a second full 18-hole course — plus a driving range and par-3 course, giving golfers of all skill levels genuine options across a single park visit.

Recreation Beyond Golf — Aquatic Center, Mallard Lake, and Family Amenities

Tanglewood’s recreation infrastructure extends well beyond golf. The Aquatic Center anchors the family-friendly summer programming, with a pool, splash pad, and lazy river that make the park a natural destination for families with children during Clemmons’s warm-weather months.

Mallard Lake — one of the park’s two stocked fishing lakes — offers fishing for bass, bream, and catfish, plus paddleboat rentals for a genuinely different way to experience the park’s Yadkin River watershed landscape. The Tanglewood Park Horseback Riding program — a genuinely rare offering for a public park — extends the park’s equestrian heritage with stables and horseback riding trails throughout the property.

Additional amenities include tennis courts, a BMX track, disc golf, and miles of hiking and biking trails through woods, meadows, and river corridors. Together, they give Tanglewood a genuinely comprehensive recreation footprint that few public parks anywhere in NC can match.

The Tanglewood Park Arboretum rounds out the natural side of the park, with multiple themed gardens including a Rose Garden, plus a substantial collection of plant species from around the world along walking paths that thread through the park’s rolling terrain.

Families with kids particularly enjoy the old steam locomotive on display in the park — one of Tanglewood’s genuinely distinctive family-friendly features that makes for a memorable stop on any visit.

The Tanglewood Festival of Lights

Tanglewood’s most famous annual event is the Tanglewood Festival of Lights — a drive-through holiday light display that has become one of the largest and most-visited holiday events anywhere in North Carolina.

The Festival features more than 80 animated displays, over one million lights, and a 5.1-mile drive-through route through the park’s grounds. The event runs from mid-November through the end of the Christmas season and draws approximately 300,000 visitors annually — making it one of the American Southeast’s most notable holiday traditions and a genuine driver of winter tourism to the greater Winston-Salem region.

A gift shop and s’mores area round out the visitor experience, giving families both a memorable holiday drive and a natural place to stop and warm up along the route.

Good to Know

• Location: 4061 Clemmons Road, Clemmons, NC 27012 — along the Yadkin River between Clemmons and Bermuda Run
• Size: 1,100 acres
• Origin: Former private estate of William Neal Reynolds (brother of R.J. Reynolds) and Kate Reynolds; acquired by Forsyth County in 1951 and established as a public recreational facility
• Historic building: Manor House built in 1859 — now operates as a bed and breakfast within the park
• Golf: Two full championship 18-hole courses — Robert Trent Jones Sr.–designed Championship Course (host of the 1974 PGA Championship, plus 15+ years of the Champions Tour Vantage Championship 1987-2002) and the Reynolds Course, plus a driving range and par-3 course
• Aquatic Center: Pool, splash pad, and lazy river (family-friendly summer programming)
• Fishing and boating: Mallard Lake (stocked with bass, bream, and catfish) and paddleboat rentals
• Horseback riding: Tanglewood Park Horseback Riding — trails and stables throughout the property (a genuinely rare offering for a public park)
• Gardens: Tanglewood Park Arboretum with multiple themed gardens, including a Rose Garden
• Additional amenities: Tennis courts; BMX track; disc golf; miles of hiking and biking trails; dog park; old steam locomotive display
• Lodging: Manor House bed and breakfast; RV Campground (44 sites with full hookups); rental cabins
• Signature annual event: Tanglewood Festival of Lights — mid-November through Christmas — 80+ animated displays, 1 million+ lights, 5.1-mile drive-through route, ~300,000 annual visitors
• Hours: Check the Forsyth County Tanglewood Park website for current hours (park hours vary by season and amenity)
• Cost: Low daily entrance fee or affordable annual pass; individual amenities may have additional fees
• Best for: Golfers (especially fans of Robert Trent Jones Sr. designs and major-championship venues), families with children (thanks to the Aquatic Center, splash pad, and steam locomotive), campers and RV travelers, horseback riding enthusiasts, holiday-event fans (Festival of Lights), and Winston-Salem regional visitors looking for one of the largest and most diverse public parks in the American Southeast
• Pair with: The Tanglewood Park Arboretum for the park’s dedicated garden experience; the Tanglewood Park Horseback Riding program for the equestrian side of the estate heritage; the Reynolda House Museum of American Art in Winston-Salem — R.J. Reynolds’s own family estate, now a nationally recognized American art museum — for the complementary Reynolds family heritage experience; or a broader Forsyth County day exploring the R.J. Reynolds tobacco heritage that shaped Winston-Salem’s modern identity

A Clemmons Highlight

Tanglewood Park is the kind of stop that stays with you for the sheer scale and depth of a single attraction in Forsyth County. Standing on 1,100 acres of former Reynolds family estate land — with an 1859 Manor House, a Robert Trent Jones Sr.–designed championship golf course, an Aquatic Center, fishing lakes with paddleboats, horseback riding trails, and an arboretum — makes Tanglewood one of the most genuinely comprehensive public parks anywhere in NC.

The championship golf history rounds out the identity. Between the 1974 PGA Championship and 15+ years of the Champions Tour Vantage Championship, Tanglewood carries a national golf legacy that most public parks can’t approach.

The R.J. Reynolds heritage connection further extends the appeal. Between the William Neal and Kate Reynolds estate origin story, the pre-Civil War Manor House now serving as a bed-and-breakfast, and the park’s continued role over seven decades of Forsyth County stewardship, Tanglewood has become one of the most consistently rewarding day-trip and multi-day destinations anywhere in the Piedmont Triad.

The Festival of Lights extends the appeal into a genuine winter tradition. Combined with the R.J. Reynolds legacy extending from downtown Winston-Salem into the surrounding Forsyth County landscape, Tanglewood offers a year-round destination experience few NC parks can match.

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Resources

Forsyth County – Tanglewood Park Webpage

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