Bynum Bridge and South Bynum River Access
Bynum Bridge and South Bynum River Access
Bynum Bridge and South Bynum River Access are used for paddling, picnics, stargazing, birdwatching, yoga, walking group meet-ups, and strolling over the Haw River, one of the most-used recreational rivers in the Piedmont for canoeing and kayaking. Formerly referenced as the Bynum Beach Canoe Access.
Bynum Bridge was built between 1922 and 1923 and was considered state-of-the-art design and engineering for that time. The reinforced concrete tee beam bridge has a length of 806.1 feet, stretching across 19 spans of about 43 feet each. Only one tee beam bridge in the state is known to have been longer, and it was built 30 years later and replaced in 2001, leaving Bynum Bridge the longest reinforced concrete tee beam bridge in North Carolina. It has been a pedestrian bridge since 1999, when, for safety concerns, it was blocked to automobile traffic. Bynum Bridge was entered into the National Register of Historic Places on April 23, 2020.
Available year-round, sun up to sundown.
Visitors may access the Haw River, but no land
connection to the State Natural Area exists. Parking is limited
to 2-3 spaces, but more parking is available across the river on
the other side of the pedestrian Bynum Bridge. State Parks owns
two parking lots at the Bynum Mill access to the State Natural
Area. One smaller lot is on Bynum Road next to the pedestrian
bridge, and the larger one is downhill off Bynum Church Road.
Leashed pets are allowed on the footpath and the
pedestrian bridge.