Our goal with this Google Earth map is to show several different important aspects of the portion of Bolin Creek forest and creek located between Estes Drive Extension and Homestead Drive. Because many people are interested in one or two specific aspects, we show different features in layers. Our purpose is to raise awareness of the varied different uses, natural features, and human impacts of this significant area.
To view this map, if you already have Google Earth downloaded on your computer, you can click here. It will show up in your downloads, so click on it and Google Earth will automatically open and zoom into the Bolin Creek area.
If you have never downloaded Google Earth, click here. It only takes a minute to download, and you only need to do it once! Once you’ve got it, then click on the above link to view the interactive map of Bolin Creek.
Initially you will only see the “home layer.”
- On the left is a window called places, and “Bolin Creek” is listed under “Temporary Places.”
- Click on the triangle next to “Bolin Creek” in Temporary Places and it will expand into a menu of the layers.
- Click on the triangle next to the name of each layer to see the maps or placemarkers it contains.
- Click on the square next to the name of each map or placemarker to turn it on or off.
- If you want to see two maps overlapping, turn them both on and slide the bar under the menu to adjust the transparency of the maps.
Map Sources
- Artist’s Map: by Geneva Green, Greenstone Quarterly
- Running Trails: UNC Facilities Services
- Erodability and Vernal Pool: Carolina North Ecological Assessment Report (pages 52 and 56)
- Bike Trails: by Tim Stallman, Counter Cartographies (no URL provided)
- Geology: NC Geology Website
- Floodplain and Watershed: Town of Chapel Hill GIS
- Topography: Google Earth Library, USGS Topographic Maps
- Conservation Areas:Conservation Areas Adopted by the Board of Aldermen
- Existing and Proposed Greenways:Town of Carrboro Planning Department
- OWASA lines: from Todd Spencer, engineering manager at OWASA (no URL)
- Preservation Sites: Save Bolin Creek Article: “The Bolin Creek Valley — A Regional Resource (part 1)”
- Watershed Protection Area: Town of Chapel Hill Mapping Products