What Do You Call An Idyllic Place In Rocky Mount, NC? Battle Park

First some Facts: Battle Park is a 54-acre park situated along the Tar River near Rocky Mount Mills Historic Mill Village. A lot of money restored and added components to the park. The results are spectacular. With no leaves this time of year, the forest management is evident where the trees have been thinned out. The updated, widened paved pathways provide one great view after another including the falls and dam.

Battle Park has mountain-bike and cross-country trails. From the looks of it, If you ride the mountain bike trail you like to live on the edge and at the end you surely need a massage. Over rocks and narrow paths, little bridges over streams, it isn’t for sissies. One of the newest upgrades to Battle Park is the addition of a disc golf course. It is considered the most advanced of Rocky Mount’s five courses. In the far distance is the red cage you are aiming for. In addition to the trails, the Battle Park fishing piers and boat ramps have been fully renovated. The fishing piers look down on the water. It seemed a great place to take a folding chair and a book or your painting ‘stuff.’

This was my first time to the Park to walk the trails. Wednesday, February 22, ’24 the temperature is 54 degrees with a Carolina Blue sky. The sun sparkles through the tree tops. Across from the Mill it looks like a child’s bubble bath has spilled onto the water as flat white circles float on the current. In places the water appears a deep green, a trick of the light I imagine. The path views of the river change and you can’t resist stopping to ‘see.’ The large stones along the path were made for young children to climb. As a child, my tricycle got away from me on a steep, steep hill and over I went. The whole side of my face took a long time to heal. Years later, now driving, I took myself to see the large hill I remembered. The steep hill turned out to be a slight incline. My point…..take your children mountain climbing!

Battle Park is one of the greatest assets Rocky Mount has. Walker’s, runners, crazy people on mountain bikes, disc golf, photography, a quiet space to catch up with yourself. It was odd that there were no squirrels. Also an absence of birds singing. I wondered if they were off sulking over the removal of their trees; making a point of their displeasure.

Battle Park should be marketed as a great Rocky Mount destination. As the weather improves, like the Iowa cornfield turned into a ballpark, people will come. In my imagination, flickering on a bedsheet used for a movie screen, I continue to see the movement of the water, the light and shadows. I continue to see the trees that have fallen along the river’s edge and are untouched. The views in the distance, and right before you draw you into the river’s spirit of light and movement. All one’s troubles and woes can be cast upon the water letting the current take them from you. There are the facts of this renovation of Battle Park and then there is the experience of the Park that bring its blessings.