Reynolda House – List of Trails

The Reynolda Estate in Winston-Salem, NC offers a substantial network of walking trails woven across the 170-acre historic property that Katharine and R.J. Reynolds established in 1917 and that is now part of Wake Forest University. The three trails covered below range from a very short direct approach to the estate’s signature waterfall through a mid-length wooded path to a full-estate loop — giving visitors real flexibility to match their walking distance and terrain preferences to the time and energy they’ve brought along. All trail lengths listed below are based on the estate’s own posted trail map near the Reynolds Family Boathouse at Lake Katharine at the time of our visit.

All three Reynolda trails are free and open dawn to dusk year-round, and leashed dogs are welcome on all of them (as they are throughout the Reynolda grounds, with the Formal Gardens being the one exception). The Reynolda estate is also officially part of the North Carolina Birding Trail, which makes any of these trails a productive birdwatching option if you bring binoculars along.

Click on the trail names below to learn more about each trail, including detailed descriptions, signature features, and practical visit notes. For a deeper look at the trail network across the entire estate, see our Reynolda trails guide.

Trail Name	Length	Trail Type	Difficulty	Trail Use
Perimeter Trail	1.5-mile	Loop	Easy	Hiking
Waterfall	0.1-mile	Out-and-Back	Easy	Hiking
Woodland Trail	0.75-mile	Out-and-Back	Easy	Hiking

For all three trails, the most direct trailhead access is from the lower parking lot behind the Silo in Reynolda Village. The trails can be walked individually or combined for longer routes — pairing the Woodland Trail with the Waterfall approach makes for a nice sub-one-mile walk, while adding the Perimeter Trail loop builds a fuller half-day exploration of the Reynolda estate’s woodlands, meadows, wetlands, and historic features. Combine any of the trails with a visit to Reynolda Gardens for the Formal Gardens and Brown Family Conservatory to round out a Reynolda estate day.

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