After a dang cold week we’re heading into a darn nice weekend, with mostly sunny skies and temperatures, brace yourself, reaching 60.

So if you’ve been hibernating so far this winter, now’s your chance to emerge from your den for an adventure. An adventure such as:

• Advanced Hike, Saturday, Feb. 2, 1 p.m. Hammocks Beach State Park, Swansboro. Hammocks Beach is taking a page from our Winter Wild hike series playbook with this 2.5-mile hike on trail that’s not yet trail. It’s a great chance to get a sneak peek at this emerging trail, the first at Hammock’s Beach itself, as it meanders through a mixed pine/hardwood forest bordering Queens Creek on newly acquired property. Expect downed trees, “possible fauna interaction,” and other potential obstacles on this ranger-led hike. Learn more and sign up here.
• Cox Mountain Hike, Saturday, Feb. 2, 1:30 p.m. Fews Ford Access, Eno River State Park, Durham. This hike begins with passage over the Eno on a suspension bridge, followed by 4-plus miles on trail up, over and around Cox Mountain. Nice stretches along the Eno included. More info and sign up here.
• 3 Mile History Hike, Sunday, Feb. 3, 2 p.m. Carvers Creek State Park, Spring Lake. If you’re new to hiking, you’ll love this flat-as-can-be 3-mile hike “exploring the millpond, silos, pavilion, and other historical farm buildings not yet open to the public.” More info here.

As always, you can find more opportunities this weekend here:

• North Carolina State Parks have a variety of adventures planned for the weekend. Check those options here.
• North Carolina Environmental Education Centers has an extensive calendar of what’s happening at its affiliates; check it out here.
• You can also find more adventures right here, at GetGoingNC.com

GetHiking! this weekend

As for GetHiking!, here’s what we’ll be up to this weekend:

GetHiking! Celebrate Groundhog Day at White Pines Nature Preserve, Saturday, Feb. 2, White Pines Nature Preserve, Pittsboro. e’ll loop together the preserve’s various trails for a 6-mile hike exploring the preserve’s variety of habitats, from fern-covered slopes to damp bottom-lands; mountain laurel and Catawba rhododendron cling to bluffs above the Rocky River. More info here.

GetHiking! Tuesday Night Hikes: Horton Grove Nature Preserve, Saturday, Feb. 2, 7 p.m., Horton Grove Nature Preserve, northern Durham County. Our lone Tuesday Night Hike on a Saturday, we’ll start in an open meadow (great for stargazing under a near new moon), then link together five trails for a 5.5-mile hike through a largely hardwood forest made barren by winter. The trails here are in especially good shape: if you’re a more experienced hiker but have never hiked at night, this is a prime opportunity to give it a try. Sign up and we’ll immediately send you a Night Hiking Tips sheet. Also: we leave no hiker behind on the trail: there will always be a hike leader with you. More info here.

To learn more about the Winter Wild hike series mentioned above, check out our next Winter Wild off-trail adventure, to the Uwharrie Mountains on Feb. 23, here.

Live the video

Today’s video was shot last weekend on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail along Falls Lake in Raleigh.  Learn more about exploring that stretch and the statewide trail as a whole, here.