It’s the last weekend of summer, but on the trail it’s beginning to feel like fall. And that means many of the trails we love year-round are getting lots of love from the seasonally infatuated.
Many trails — but not all.
Finding the trails less traveled was the focus of our first Lunch with GetHiking! gathering at noon today. If you missed it, you can catch it in reruns here.
In today’s GetHiking! Southeast Podcast we scout a potential graduation trip route for our first GetBackpacking! Intro to Backpacking class in Virginia. In the podcast, we explain what, in our opinion, makes for a good weekend trip for first-time backpackers. That is, a trip that will get them hooked on backcountry camping.
Wondering when your favorite seasonal campground or roadside attraction in the National Parks will reopen? We have some dates:
Campgrounds
Other facilities
Campgrounds:
Other facilities:
The restaurants, lodges, and associated facilities operated by the park concessioner, Delaware North, open as follows:
Over the past week, the U.S. Forest Service has announced plans for numerous prescribed burns in North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee. We share this information for two reasons:
According to the Forest Service, “Prescribed burning is an important and versatile forest management tool that can mimic natural fire disturbances and reduce underbrush and flammable vegetation, which is key to limiting wildfire risk.” Before we started building vacation homes and resorts in the mountains, fire was allowed to run its natural course and do its thing. Now, for instance, when lightening strikes and ignites a fire, the reaction is to snuff it out immediately, lest it damage nearby developments. The most obvious ramification of this practice is that downfall accumulates and provides a dangerous source of fuel for what can evolve into a quickly spreading inferno.
When I moved to the Raleigh area at the beginning of 1992, I spent a lot of time at Umstead State Park. It was a 10-minute drive, you could hike and mountain bike, and, lucky me, I happened to live on what I considered to be the most interesting side of the park, the Reedy Creek side, off I-40. Access to the mountain bike/equestrian trails was easier, you could pick up two long trails from the parking lot, even the physical facilities — the picnic shelters, the restrooms — seemed more inviting.
