Day Trip: Hillsborough

By TMoM Team Member Suzy Fielders

If you and your family haven’t been to Hillsborough, then it is worth checking out. It has a cute downtown, amazing Riverwalk, and best of all is an hour or less from most areas of the Triad. My husband and I went there last year and enjoyed it and look forward to taking our daughters on a future trip. It seemed incredibly family friendly.

Downtown Hillsborough

I love small towns. The downtown areas always remind me of something out of a Hallmark movie. It also reminds me of my college days at Coker University, which is nestled in the small town of Hartsville, SC. While I love all the things to do and bustle of Winston-Salem, it’s fun to get away to one of our many NC small towns!

The downtown area along Churton Street in Hillsborough has shops, restaurants, and even a museum. We ended up getting lunch at Radius Pizzeria & Pub. I highly recommend this place. Their menu had so many great selections. As I have Celiac Disease, I was happy to see they not only had a gluten-free pizza option but that it tasted great!

Other restaurants and bars (I didn’t go to these though) in that area include:

• The Colorado Burrito (Mexican food)
• Hot Tin Roof (Bar)
• Panciuto (Italian)
• Saratoga Grill (Steak & seafood)
• Antonia’s (Italian)
• Matthew’s Chocolates (Dessert)
• Kim’s Bake Shop (Dessert)
• Wooden Nickel Pub (Bar)
• Cup-A-Joe (Coffee shop)

At the end of the downtown area just past Tryon Street is the Orange County Historical Museum. This is a fun little museum with a great mix of history and cultural exhibits. It is free and open daily from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Some of the exhibits are even interactive, which is great for kids!

Riverwalk

The Riverwalk in Hillsborough is a must! It’s such an amazing outdoor option and resource for that community. It has paved and wooden bridge pathways that are great for strollers.

Once on S. Churton Street, if you turn onto Nash and Kollock Street, then at the end of that short street is a free public parking deck. Right beside it is Weaver Street Market, which is another great stop.

We loved that this parking deck was right in the middle of the Riverwalk, which allows visitors to take either of the two main paths easily.

The Riverwalk runs along Eno River providing great views for most of the walk. It is even part of the N.C. Mountains-to-Sea Trail.

At one end of the Riverwalk is Gold Park and at the other is River Park. We opted to walk towards Gold Park. One cool thing there is the Pollinator Garden and Bee Hotel! This park also had a playground, field, picnic tables & shelter, dog park, and restroom.

Travel Tips

We didn’t realize when we went on a Sunday that a lot of the shops are closed that day of the week. So, highly recommend a Saturday visit if going on the weekend!

In addition to the free parking deck above, you can also park on the streets. We opted to park in front of the Hillsborough Visitor Center off King Street. It is a cool old building worth checking out! If you park here, be sure to check out the pig statue too.

Another historic stop in Hillsborough that we didn’t get to make it to was the Burwell School Historic Site. It’s located on the outskirts of downtown past the Orange County Historical Museum.

You can find out more information on Hillsborough by clicking here.

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