Tag Archives: Great Dismal Swamp

National Trails Day: (Like you need a reason to get out)

Saturday is National Trails Day. Which, anymore, has become more the anchor for National Trails Day Weekend. 

For the uninitiated, National Trails Day is the first Saturday of June, and has been for at least three decades. Sponsored by the American Hiking Society, it’s a chance for us to officially celebrate the trails — hiking, biking, paddling, horsing around, whatever — that we unofficially celebrate every day. In the beginning, NTD was seen primarily as a day to blaze new trail and tidy up existing trail. There’s still a lot of that, but more and more it’s become a celebration of hiking, biking, paddling — of simply enjoying the trail. read more

A Weekend Trail Festival for the Great Dismal and Elizabeth City

You likely can tick off all the great adventures you’ve had at the coast, in the Piedmont, in the mountains. But what about in the far northeast corner of the state, where perhaps the state’s most unique adventure challenge awaits — the Great Dismal Swamp. read more

As winter plugs along, hike the coast

In October, we suggested that winter was a good time for taking long hikes at the coast. Fewer biting things flitting through the air, fewer slithering things making their way across the ground. Today, as we’re in the throes of a sustained cold weather hiking season, we return to the coast with suggestions for shorter walks. read more

This weekend: Get wet, go high 

Mount Jefferson (photo courtesy Jason Barnette, Southeastern Traveler)

Another hot, summery weekend is on tap, which means you have two choices for outdoor fun: get wet or go high.

Coast

Not that you need a reason to visit the Great Dismal Swamp, but if you did …

Saturday, join a ranger on an intimate Summer Paddle of the Dismal Swamp Canal at Dismal Swamp State Park north of Elizabeth City. Everything you need — boat, paddle, PFD, basic instruction — is provided. That last part — basic instruction — should be even more incentive for those of you who’ve never paddled. read more

This weekend: Go with the snow

Planning for the weekend is good. Foremost, it gives you something to pull you through those long mid-week meetings at the Widgetworks.
Sometimes, though, you can only have a rough plan. When the forecast calls for anywhere from 3 to 6 to 8 to 12 inches of snow. Or maybe rain. Or maybe something in between. In such cases, the best you can do is prepare for the somewhat more likely possibilities.
With the weather in mind, we don’t give you specific ideas of what to do and where to go this week. Rather, we throw out some options and a thought or two on how you can prepare, and let you go from there. read more