Today’s a good day to root around in your gear closet for your gloves, your heavy wool socks, your toboggan, because you’re gonna need ‘em this weekend. Saturday will dawn with temperatures in the 20s across much of the region and won’t get out of the 40s. Sunday will be a tad warmer, but not by much. All the while, the sun will be shining bright. So, with those conditions ahead, here’s what we recommend in terms of weekend adventure.
Basin Hike, Saturday, 11 a.m., Fort Fisher State Recreation Area, Kure Beach. Perhaps our favorite hike at the coast is the 1.1-mile hike from the Fort Fisher Visitor Center out to a tip of land overlooking The Basin, the vast waterway where the Cape Fear widens in a last , sprawling gasp before giving it up to the Atlantic. Along the way, the trail penetrates coastal grasslands and passes the World War II bunker that was once home to the Fort Fisher Hermit. It’s a mix of odd human history and open, lonesome landscape, the latter all the more alluring in cold weather. 2.2 miles roundtrip. Learn more here.
Friends of Lake Norman Fall Foliage Hike, Saturday, 9 a.m. to 11 p.m., Lake Norman State Park, Troutman. Live in the Charlotte area and feel the fall color display has passed you by? Join the Friends of Lake Norman on this hike in search of “trees and shrubs which should be displaying their brilliant fall colors.” Learn more here.
Veterans Day Hike, Sunday, 3 p.m., Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve, Southern Pines. Like the sounds of Saturday’s Basin Hike, but can’t make it out to the coast? You’ll find similar attributes — hiking through open grasslands — on Sunday afternoon’s 2-mile hike at Weymouth Woods, a mix of sandy ridges and valleys vegetated with wild grass and longleaf pines. Learn more here.
GetHiking! this weekend
What are our GetHiking! groups in North Carolina and Virginia up to this weekend? Plenty, thanks for asking … .
GetHiking! Charlottesville: Dragon’s Tooth, Saturday, November 9, 8 a.m., Brownsville Elementary School, Charlottesville. Strenuous. 5.5 miles. Hike highlights: U rungs on the Appalachian Trail, rock scrambles up to Dragon’s Tooth, spectacular views from Dragon’s Tooth and the ridgeline. Learn more here.
GetHiking! Charlottesville: Bushwhacking, Boulders & Brewery, Sunday, November 10, 9 a.m., Barracks Road Shopping Center, Charlottesville. Moderate to strenuous. 6.5 miles. Hike highlights: great views overlooking Wintergreen, plane crash site, concludes at Blue Mountain Brewery. Learn more here.
GetHiking! Charlotte: South Mountains, Sunday, November 10, 10a.m. South Mountains State Park. 9 miles. Strenuous but scenic. Learn more here.
Live the video
This week’s video has a split personality: it starts with our Midweek Escape on Wednesday to Eno River State Park in Durham and ends, also in Durham, with our Sunday hike at Duke Forest. Click the appropriate links for details on exploring these Triangle hiking gems.
More weekend options
Looking for more options for weekend adventure? Check out our GetOut! Find An Adventure resource page here.