A brilliant bluebird day without a cloud in the sky — yet not another soul is on the trail. Can this possibly be so? you wonder. And if it is, what price must be paid for the privilege?

How about just enduring a little cold weather.

We love hiking this time of year. The air is typically dry, the diminished foliage lets you see deep into the woods, the slanted winter sun seems to light the forest from the ground up. Yes, it’s cold, and perhaps you’ve shied away from hiking in the cold in the past. But not this year, not when you can escape the hordes of recent hiking converts and have the trail nearly to yourself.

Here’s how we can help make that happen this winter season.

GetHiking! Hike Through the Holidays

• 15 hikes
• Sunday mornings and afternoons, Tuesday evenings, Friday mornings, two Wednesday afternoons
• Various locations around the Triangle
• $125 for individuals, $225 for couples/families
• 15 hiker limit

A total of 15 hikes spread throughout the week — on Sunday morning and afternoon, Tuesday night, Friday morning and on two Wednesday afternoons — to keep you hiking during the busy, stressful holiday season. At different locations throughout the Triangle.

Learn more and sign up here.

GetHiking! Sunday Winter Hike Series

• 10 hikes
• Sundays starting Jan. 9  and running through March 13; sessions at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
• Various locations, mostly around the Triangle
• $165, $295 for couples and families
• 15 hiker limit

Each Sunday we hike 5 or 6 miles on trails throughout the Triangle (we also have a slightly longer road trip, to the Birkhead Mountain Wilderness southwest of Asheboro, where we’ll hike 7 miles). It’s good incentive to keep hiking through the winter and to discover new trails (we hike a different one every week).

Learn more and sign up: Click the appropriate link: 10 a.m. Single; 10 a.m. Family; 1 p.m. Single; 1 p.m. Family.

GetHiking! Tuesday Night Hikes

• 10 hikes
• Every Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. from Jan. 4 – March 8
• Various locations around the Triangle
• $145, $265 for couples/families
• 15 hiker limit

Every Tuesday evening for 10 weeks we scoff at the notion you need sunlight to hike, don our headlamps and hike 3 miles on a different trail in the region. We hike at a relaxed pace, typically on less challenging terrain. At some point we stop, flick off our headlamps and take in the night sky.

Learn more and register by going here for a single hiker, here for a couple/family.

GetHiking! Winter Wild Series

• 5 hikes
• Once a month, from November through March
• Locations: Eno Wilderness, Three Sisters of the Sauratown Range, Caswell Game Lands, Lower Haw River Natural Area, Birkhead Mountain Wilderness.
• $195; individual hikes are $45, when space is available.
• 10 hiker limit

Once a month we take advantage of the winter-exposed woods to take a hike mostly off trail: there’s some bushwhacking, but for the most part we’re on game trails and long-abandoned roadbeds, passing remnants of long-abandoned homesteads and elements of the natural word few others see.

Learn more and sign up here.

GetHiking! Winter 2022 Series for the Aspiring Hiker

• 10 Sunday afternoon hikes beginning Jan. 9 and ending March 13, beginning with 2 miles and building up to 5.
• Various locations around the Triangle
• Kick-off Zoom meeting to discuss how the hikes will work, what gear you’ll need, how-to-dress and more
• Weekly enewsletter with tips, resources, gear recommendations, and a guide for that week’s hike
• Guide to 25 Triangle Trails
• “Let’s GetHiking! A Quick and Comprehensive Guide for the Aspiring Hiker (Second Edition),” a 109-page guide with everything an aspiring hiker needs to know.
• $195 individual hikers, $345 for couples and families
• 10 hiker limit

You’ve heard about the physical and mental benefits of hiking and of simply being in nature. You’ve likely also heard that, as “workouts” go, hiking hardly feels like work. Make 2022 the year you finally get into hiking and reaping the benefits with our 10-week hiking program for beginners.

Learn more and sign up here for a single hiker, here for a couple/family.

GetHiking! Winter Weekend Escape to Jones Lake State Park

• 3-day, 2-night hiking weekend
• Hiking at Jones Lake State Park, Turnbull State Educational Forest, Bay Tree Lake Natural Area
• Group camping Friday and Saturday nights
• Breakfast and lunch both Saturday and Sunday
• Guided hikes both Saturday and Sunday
• An eguide for the weekend, with details (including a map and route description) for each hike, as well as information about the area.
• Campfires with s’mores both nights
• Stargazing, under some of the least light-polluted sky along the East Coast
• $185
• Group size limit: 10

Winter is the best time to explore the wonders of the Coastal Plain: the pine savannah, the bay forests, the swampy terrain with bald cypress and tupelo gum. It’s drier and its colder, helping to keep down the flying, biting critters prominent much the rest of the year. On this trip we’ll hike a State Park, a State Forest and a State Natural Area — plus part of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail. Not a camper? Not a problem: the Elizabethtown Inn is 9 minutes from our base camp for the weekend.

Learn more and sign up here.