NC skateboard, scooter spot opens. It’s ‘really impressive,’ TikTok influencer says.

A dozen guys of different ages waited with scooters and skateboards in hand, scanning the scene for an opportunity to take the concrete below.

Older skateboarders launched from the ledge, weaving around slower-moving boys on scooters. Occasionally, a more skilled skater screeched across the metal rails, arms outstretched for balance, or sailed into the air above the brick quarter-pipe ramp.

A few misjudged a trick. One rider fell, and the action paused as he found his feet, dusted off the dirt and retrieved his board.

Hillsborough’s Skate Spot is a small park, but “it’s very well designed,” letting skaters perform multiple tricks without stopping, said Mike Johnston, 36, a veteran skateboarder and owner of Manifest Skate Shop in Durham.

“Durham is a good example of a park with very minimal flow,” Johnston said. “The obstacles are very individual the way they’re laid out. There’s a lot of street-skating aspects to it — a lot of stairs, a lot of rails, but in terms of just a park that’s good flow and fun to skate, (Hillsborough) has good transitions.”

Hillsborough Skate Spot project

The town opened the skate spot — so-called because it’s smaller than a skatepark — this summer at the 17-acre Cates Creek Park on Cates Creek Parkway, off Old N.C. 86. It cost $350,000 to design and build, according to a town news release, and has become a popular regional destination.

“It’s really exciting,” Town Commissioner Robb English told the Town Board in August.

“You have older folks, you have younger folks, you have people of all different races, you have girls, boys,” English said. “It’s really neat to see that much diversity in one place, and you rarely see that at a swimming pool or a gym or other kinds of recreation venues.”

Some work remains to be done, including an accessible sidewalk from the skate spot to Cate’s Creek Parkway and to the restrooms and other park amenities, said Stephanie Trueblood, the town’s public space and sustainability manager.

Landscaping will be planted this fall, she said, and other skate spots are possible, although no sites or money have been identified.

Chapel Hill skatepark renovations

The skate spot is not Orange County’s first skatepark. Chapel Hill opened its skatepark at Homestead Park in 1999.

Homestead is twice as big as Cates Creek but has visible cracks between its Skatelite Pro ramp surfaces and the concrete base. Nails occasionally are hammered back into the ramps to prevent skating hazards.

Chapel Hill Town Council member Adam Searing has pushed for a new skatepark since being elected in 2021. This spring, the council voted to spend $500,000 in American Rescue Plan Act money to renovate the skatepark.

Jesse Clayton, owner of Fifth Pocket, which designed the Hillsborough Skate Spot, submitted a plan to Chapel Hill last year.

The project will include beginner and intermediate spaces, plus rails, banks and quarter-pipes, replacing the wood-framed ramps with concrete. The project was put out for construction bids Thursday and could be built next year, spokesman Alex Carrasquillo said.

Skateboards, scooters growing sports

California was the epicenter of modern skateboarding as early as the 1950s, but the introduction of urethane wheels in the mid-1970s propelled its popularity, according to the Surfer Today website. In the 1980s, skateboarding was more affiliated with punk and anti-establishment scenes until pioneers like Tony Hawk and street skateboarders Natas Kaupas and Mark Gonzalez elevated the sport.

Many of North Carolina’s early skateparks no longer exist, according to NC Skate History group, but Asheville claims to have the first concrete skatepark, which opened in 2000. Dozens of skateparks are open statewide now, with more planned, including in Pittsboro.

Mebane resident Rakel Shideler, who sat in the shade at the Hillsborough Skate Spot, said she has also taken her 12-year-old son Paul, who rides a scooter, to parks in Greensboro and Asheville.

“He’s been interested in going to every park in North Carolina,” Shideler said. “It’s been a fun activity.”

Paul and his friends took a break from their scooters when they spied Jon Reyes, 35, standing on the ledge near Shideler. Paul asked his mom to take a photo of them with Reyes, a pro scooter rider with 1 million YouTube and TikTok followers who lives in Chapel Hill.

He started with a foldable Razor scooter in his native New York when it wasn’t as popular, Reyes said. Now, it’s the fastest-growing sport, set to debut at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, Reyes said. Skateboarding was added at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

Hillsborough’s skate spot also has smoother concrete than others, making it a good place to train and build stamina, Reyes said.

“Here, you can go over and over, and for the size, it’s really impressive,” he said.

Upcoming events

▪ Grand opening: Hillsborough Skate Spot celebration. 10:30 a.m., Sept. 28, with Hillsborough Mayor Mark Bell, Commissioner English and Fifth Pocket owner Clayton.

▪ Hopscotch Music Festival: Sept. 5-7, Downtown Raleigh. Featuring over 120 bands on outdoor stages and in clubs, plus an open skate pop-up and skateboard, rollerblade and BMX extreme sport competitions on Martin Street, hosted by Skate Raleigh. Get passes and more information at tinyurl.com/2au479u2.

Free places to skate in North Carolina

▪ Hillsborough: Hillsborough Skate Spot, 1445 Cate’s Creek Parkway. Open 7 a.m. to 30 minutes after sunset.

▪ Chapel Hill: Homestead Skatepark, 100 Aquatic Drive. Open 9 a.m.-8 p.m.

▪ Durham: Durham Central Park, 501 Foster St. Open dawn to dusk.

▪ Cary: Cary Action Sports, or Sk8 Cary, 2040 NW Maynard Road. Open 5-9 p.m., Monday-Friday, noon-9 p.m. Saturday-Sunday (summer hours); 9-10 p.m. Wednesday (18 and up); noon-1 p.m. Saturday-Sunday (12 years and younger).

▪ Raleigh: Conlon Family Skatepark, Dortch Street, off U.S. 401. Open dawn to dusk.

▪ Raleigh: Marsh Creek Community Center, 3050 N. New Hope Road. Open 7 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday and 1-6 p.m. Sunday.

▪ Apex: Rodgers Family Skate Plaza at Trackside, Hunter Street Park, 1290 Ambergate Station.

▪ Greensboro: Glenwood Skate Spot, 2010 Coliseum Blvd. Open dawn to dusk.

▪ Greensboro: Latham Skate Park, 790 Hill St. Open dawn to dusk.

▪ Kernersville: Fourth of July Park, 702 W. Mountain St. Open dawn to dusk.

▪ Lexington: Lexington Skate Park, 301 W. 9th Ave. Open 8 a.m.-10 p.m. daily.