Optimist Park Pool

Raleigh, NC, UNITED STATES

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Updated April 14, 2020.

Facility Overview

Facility Name
Optimist Park Pool
Address
5902 Whittier Drive, North Raleigh
Raleigh, NC 27609
UNITED STATES
Telephone
(919) 996-2790

Adult Admission Price & Policy

Drop-in/Casual
Residents: $5.00; Senior Citizens (55) $4.00. Non-residents; $9.00; SC $8.00. [September, 2022]
Note: Admission policies and prices shown in Swimmers Guide listings are believed to be correct as of the date shown in brackets. If not correct now, please click on the "Edit" button and tell us so this listing can be fixed and the information brought current. This site works best when its users take an active role in the maintenance of the data.

Full-Size, Year-Round Pools & Boards

Pool 1
50m, 8 lanes x 25y, 19 lanes, maximum depth 5½f, indoors, 82ºF (28ºC).

Location

Location
Three miles north of North Hills Mall. Take Six Forks north to Northclift (one light after Millbook), turn left onto Northclift and then take the fourth left (there's a small street-type sign for Optimist Park). You can't miss the pool.
County/Region
Wake County
GPS
35.86253, -78.64470

Teams That Use This Facility

Masters Swim
Click on the Team Name to view its website.
Youth Swim
Click on the Team Name to view its website.
Youth Swim
Click on the Team Name to view its website.

Facility Notes

There is also a 36f x 36f, 13f depth diving pool with 1m and 3m boards and a 60f x 36f, 1f - 1½f childrens wading pool at this location. Both are outdoors and open only in summer.

Facility Reviews

Of the public pools in Raleigh, this is one of the busiest. Rarely have I been there when a third to a half of the pool is not taken up by swim team practices. On fall and winter Friday evenings they rope off about half the pool for kayaking practice. Lap swimming is treated more as an after-thought. On most days and time periods, there are six to eight lanes open for lap swimmers, at most, sometimes it's less and, despite the facility's lane-sharing policy, many of our fellow swimmers are reluctant to share a lane. :( Both Millbrook Exchange Park and Pullen are better bets in my opinion. We swim here only because it is closer, but more and more we are going to one of the other pools for lap swimming.

The one plus is that they enlarged and renovated Optimist's changing rooms a few years ago and they are much nicer and more spacious than before. Be forewarned, however, that the showers are motion-activated; you can't turn the water on/off or even adjust the temperature.
[January, 2014]