Fodor's Expert Review Pack Square Park

In this relaxing 6.5-acre park, there's a stone-and-bronze fountain designed by local sculptor Hoss Haley and the Zebulon Vance Monument honoring a controversial North Carolina governor (he owned slaves). Princeton elms, London plane trees, black gum trees, and hornbeam trees provide shade. At the eastern edge, in Roger McGuire Green, is Splasheville, a large fountain (open daily 9–9 mid-April to early fall), where in warm weather you'll see hundreds of kids, and even some adults, playing in the water. There's also a stage lined with colorful tiles by local ceramist Kathy Triplett, a grassy amphitheater, and a veterans monument. The park is often the site of demonstrations for gay pride, women's rights, and other causes.