After a long spell of rain, you owe it to yourself to spend the weekend outdoors. The opportunities for doing so abound.

Coast

How many chances do you get to run a 5K through a swamp? Not too many.

Saturday, though, you have the chance at the Millpond Day 5K Family Fun Run/Walk at Merchants Millpond State Park. The run is on park trail that winds through bottomland coastal forest and brushes against the park’s 760-acre millpond. It’s part of Millpond Day, a celebration that includes exhibits, programs, entertainment, kids activities, food and more. And, there’s always the opportunity to paddle the millpond in a rental canoe.

Logistics: Millpond Day 5K Family Fun Run/Walk, Saturday, April 29, 8:30 a.m. Merchants Millpond State Park, Gatesville. More info here.

Saturday forecast: Mostly sunny with a high of 92.

* * *

Looking ahead: Carnivorous Plant Hike, Sunday, May 21, Carolina Beach State Park, Carolina Beach. More info here.

Piedmont

It’s early, but it’s worth the odds of catching the first bloom of mountain laurel in the state on Sunday’s weekly hike in the Eno River Association’s spring series. Mountain laurel, as its name might suggest, is typically found in the higher, cooler climes of the mountains. However, it’s also found in shaded, protected pockets of the Piedmont, including spots along the Eno River. One of those spots is on the appropriately named Laurel Bluffs Trail at Eno River State Park.

Sunday, the Eno River Association leads a hike on the trail in search of the lovely flower of the mountain laurel. The hike commences from the headquarters of the Eno River Association, at the corner of Guess Road and the Eno River, heads 2.5 miles upstream to the Pump Station Access, then returns.

Logistics: Laurel Bluffs Trail hike, Sunday, April 30, 2 p.m., Eno River Association office, 4404 Guess Road, Durham. More info here.

Saturday forecast: Mostly sunny, high of 85.

* * *

Looking ahead: Can’t make Sunday’s hike? There are three more in the spring series. Learn when and where, here.

Mountains

You don’t often see a duathlon pairing whitewater kayaking and road cycling. But you do this weekend, at Jerry’s Baddle on and near the Green River of western North Carolina. Launched in 2006 to honor ALS victim Jerry Beckwith and to raise money for the ALS Association North Carolina Chapter, the event consists of 4 miles of whitewater paddling on the Green River followed by 26 miles of road cycling with 4,000 feet of total climbing.  Note: the whitewater portion includes the Class V Narrows portion of the Green River Gorge.

Logistics: Jerry’s Baddle, Saturday, April 29, Saluda. $55. More info here.

Sunday forecast: High of 81, chance of thunderstorms.

* * *

Looking ahead: National Trails Day Hike to Mount Craig, Saturday, June 3, Mount Mitchell State Park, Burnsville. More info here.

* * *

Those are our thoughts on the weekend. Find more options at the sources listed below. 

The post This weekend: Sunny days ahead  appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Labor Day has come and gone, the summer with it. Now, we get down to the serious business of fall fun in North Carolina!

Coast | Coastal Plain

There’s something romantic about an open-water swim in the ocean: riding the swells, being buoyed by the salt water, sharing space with all manner of aquatic life.

Yup, it’s romantic, all right. Until you’ve done it and realize what an incredible challenge it is, battling current, keeping your bearings, trying not to swallow those swells.

That’s the challenge faced by competitors in Saturday’s Pier-2-Pier Swim Race at Wrightsville Beach. The race covers the two miles of open water between Johnny Mercer’s pier and Crystal Piers. (For the mile counters, yes, that total distance is 1.71 miles; the additional 0.29 includes “the swim to and from the ‘dry’ finish and start.”

Vital Stats: Saturday, Sept. 10, 8 a.m., Wrightsville Beach, $40-$60. More info here.

Saturday forecast: Mostly sunny, race-time temp of 75.

* * *

Looking ahead: American Craft Walk, Saturday, Oct. 15, Wilmington. More info here.

Piedmont

Saturday, apparently, is Grandparents Day, and North Carolina’s state parks are celebrating. Hikes and nature programs are planned at Morrow Mountain, Raven Rock, Cliffs of the Neuse and Pilot Mountain state parks, among other parks statewide.

Make it an intergenerational Saturday, by seeking out details below

Vital Stats: Check out the list of Grandparents Day events, here.

Saturday forecast: Sunny throughout much of the region with highs near 90.

* * *

Looking ahead: Centennial Celebration at Mayo River State Park, Mayodan, Oct. 8. More info here.

Mountains

What could be more fun than a 5K road race at Biltmore Estate? Maybe a 5K road race at Biltmore Estate followed by a 13.25-mile off-road bike ride at Biltmore? Now, that would really be cool, the best! Unless, that is, you were to tack on a 5K off-road run. That would truly be swell.

And that would be Sunday’s Asheville Duathlon at Biltmore. The riding is non-technical, and on trail not typically open to the public. All good reasons to do the Du.

Vital Stats: Sunday, Sept. 11, 7:45 a.m, Biltmore Estate, Asheville. More info here.

Sunday forecast: Mostly sunny, race-time high of 66.

* * *

Looking ahead: Take a Child Outside Campout, Sept. 24-25, Chimney Rock State Park. More info here.

* * *

Those are our thoughts on the weekend. Find more options at the sources listed below.

* * *

Like us on Facebook and get health, fitness and outdoors news throughout the day.

GetGoingNC.com

Promote Your Page Too

The post Your weekend: Make fall a labor of fun appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Coast

If you like your movement to have meaning, you’re in luck this weekend. In the Wilmington area alone, there’s the 17th Annual Son Run 5K (benefitting The Carousel Center, A Safe Place and Methodist Home for Children), Color Run 5K (childhood obesity), Cape Fear Buddy Walk (Down Syndrome), Wellness Walk (healthy living), Live.Love.Throw! Cornhole Tourney (New Hanover Regional Medical Center’s Pink Ribbon Project) and the Wilmington Area CROP Hunger Walk.

Whew! That’s a lot of options.

Logistics: Learn more about these events starting at WhatsOnWilmington.com.

Weekend forecast: Highs in the low 70s, chance of rain both days.

* * *

Looking ahead: 19th Annual Wings Over Water Wildlife Festival, Outer Banks region, Oct. 20-25. More than 100 birding, paddling, photography, art and natural history trips, tours and programs. Details here.

Piedmont

Are you ever torn between two adventures. Say, for instance, the forecast says you should get out in the woods and enjoy the emerging fall color on the trail. Yet you also hanker for something more physically challenging. Rock climbing, perhaps?

Slake both thirsts in one outing this Sunday, with GetHiking! Triangle and the Triangle Rock Club. First, at 4 p.m., GetHiking! Triangle leads a 4-mile hike on a portion of the Sycamore Trail at Umstead State Park in Raleigh. Then, the group heads 10 minutes down the road where the Triangle Rock Club hosts a couple hours of indoor climbing on its 13,000-plus square feet of wall (plus another 7,000 square feet of bouldering surface).

No experience? No problem. Plenty of helpful types will be on hand to help you enjoy both experiences.

Logistics: Sunday, Oct. 11, 4 p.m., starting with GetHiking! Triangle at Umstead, followed by climbing at 6 p.m. at the TRC North Raleigh.

Sunday forecast: Sunny and a high of 70.

* * *

Looking ahead: Basic Land Navigation, Oct. 25, Umstead State Park, Raleigh. More info here.

Mountains

Run. Bike. Run.

Sounds like an elementary primer for the adventure set. In fact, it’s the 2015 Dig the Du: WNC’s ‘Dirty Duathlon.” Benefitting OpenDoors of Asheville, the event consists of a 2.5-mile run, a 12-mile mountain bike ride, then another 2.5 miles of running. The course, at Sky Valley Farms in Hendersonville, is described as “not only a good introduction to off-road, multi-sport events but … also a great venue for seasoned athletes.”

Logistics: Sunday, Oct. 11, 8 a.m., Sky Valley Farms, Hendersonville. More info and to register, go here.

Sunday forecast: Mostly sunny, high of 70.

* * *

Looking ahead: “Reel Rock 10 Film Tour,” Oct. 15, 7 p.m., Diana Wortham Theatre at Pack Place, Asheville. Details here.

* * *

Those are our thoughts on the weekend. Find more options at the sources listed below.

The post This weekend: Worship the sun appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Coast

Got a kid or kids you’ve been trying to entice onto the trail, only to encounter interference — typically of the electronic kind?

• Saturday is National Kids to Parks Day, and as part of the celebration Fort Fisher State Recreation Area is conducting a nature hike on the Basin Trail. This hike is especially good for kids because:
• It involves the beach and the promise of a dip at hike’s end.
• It’s not long, about 1.5 miles total.
• It’s a cool area: you can see forever and the intriguing nature along the way will be explained by a park ranger.
• It encounters a concrete bunker from World War II. And not just any bunker, but a bunker that was inhabited for years by Robert Harrill, the “Fort Fisher Hermit,” who abandoned society in search of a simpler life.
• There’s the prospect of seeing critters.
  Let’s see Donkey Kong compete with that.

Logistics: Saturday, May 16, 10 a.m., Fort Fisher State Recreation Area, Kure Beach. Free. For more information, contact Alyssa Taylor at 910.458.5798 or alyssa.taylor@ncparks.gov.

Saturday forecast: Mostly sunny, high of 75.

Looking ahead: Friday, May 22, 8:30 a.m., Kayaking at Hammocks Beach State Park, Free. 910.326.4881

Piedmont

It’s Mountains-to-Sea Trail Month; this weekend, Eno River State Park will celebrate the fact that several miles of the MST runs through it with three hikes, two on Saturday, one on Sunday, all on particularly effective wilderness escapes through an urban area.

Saturday at 8:30 a.m., a ranger will lead a hike from the park’s Pleasant Green Access to the Eno Quarry. Highlights: a mature floodplain forest, passage through a mountain laurel thicket on a bluff overlooking the Eno, the Eno Quarry, more mountain lake than abandoned rock mine. Out-and-back distance: 3 miles. Then, at 1 p.m., they’ll hike from the Cabelands Access downstream to the Pump Station Access. Highlights: more elevation in the form of climbs and drops, often through rocky sections. Total distance: 5 miles.

Sunday at 1 p.m., they’ll hike the stretch from Pump Station downstream to the Guess Road boundary of the park. Highlights: more rocky passages, more mature floodplain forest, the old Guess Road dam and long-abandoned Durham water works. Total distance: 4.4 miles.

Logistics: Saturday, 8:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., Sunday, 1 p.m., Eno River State Park. Free. For information on where to meet and other details, call the park at 919.383.1686.

Weekend forecast: Mostly sunny Saturday with a high of 83, mostly cloudy Sunday with a high of 86 and a chance of Thunderstorms.

Looking ahead: Intrigued by the geology of where you hike but clueless about what it is you’re looking at? Again, along the Eno, on Saturday, May 23, there’s a Geology Hike at Occoneechee Mountain State Natural Area in Hillsborough at 2 p.m., a Geology Hike at Cox Mountain in Eno River State Park at 9 a.m. More info: 919.383.1686

Mountains

Looking down at Lake James a couple weekends ago from Shortoff Mountain, we couldn’t help but think about all the great things to do below: swim, bike, run … .

Saturday, they’ll be doing all of the above, in that order, quickly, at the Lake James Triathlon. A 750-meter swim in the cool, Linville River-fed waters of Lake James; a 22-mile bike ride around the lake; a 5K trail run — what a great way to spend the day. Tend to sink in the water? There’s a duathlon as well.

Logistics: Saturday, May 16, day-of-race registration from 6-7:30 p.m., both races commence at 8 a.m. Lake James State Park, Nebo. $65 for triathlon, $55 for duathlon. More info here.

Saturday forecast: High of 84, chance of thunderstorm (but likely in the afternoon).

Looking ahead: Friday, May 22 through Sunday, May 24, is the 15th Annual Mountain Sports Festival in Asheville. Trail races, mountain bike races, standup paddleboarding, kayaking — pretty much everything you might expect at a mountain sports festival in Asheville. Read more here.

* * *

Those are our thoughts on the weekend. Find more options at the sources listed below.

The post This weekend: Park your kid, hike the MST, Tri Lake James appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

If your competitive urges are coloring your outdoor urges, head to the coast. But if you’ve got an urge for more color, you can find it in the Piedmont and even in the mountains.

Coast

You love to run, you love to bike — alas, you’re a sinker. No triathlon for you. But you can participate in a duathlon, which taps into your two loves. And you can tap into one Saturday in Wrightsville Beach.

The Wrightsville Beach Biathlon consists of a four laps on a 6.32-mile course “on soft and hard sand,” followed by a 3.2-mile run to the south end of the island and back. A civil way to break into the duathlon world.

Logistics: Saturday, Nov. 15, 9 a.m., Blockade Runner Resort, Wrightsville Beach. $35/$45. More info: 910.256.2251, brittany.burdine@blockade-runner.com

Saturday forecast: High of 51, sunny.

Piedmont

Two weeks ago, we thought the fall color was peaking in the Piedmont. It hung on long enough to make us pretty certain it was peaking last weekend. Well, as of Wednesday it’s still going strong, which, coupled with the immediate forecast for sunny days and cold nights makes us now predict that color will be near peak — perhaps just past — this weekend.

All the more reason to take part in Saturday’s Yadkin River Fall Foliage Hike at Morrow Mountain State Park. On this 2.4-mile hike you’ll not only see color, but you’ll learn who’s flashing which colors. Wear hiking shoes, children are welcome if they are with an adult.

Logistics: Saturday, Nov. 15, 3 p.m., Morrow Mountain State Park, Albemarle. More info: 704.982.4402.

Saturday forecast: Sunny, high of 49.

Mountains

There’s even, apparently, some color refusing to fade in the mountains. Even if there wasn’t, we’d recommend Saturday’s four-mile hike at Fontana Dam.

The hike departs from the dam on the Lakeshore Trail, which traces the shoreline through a second-growth hardwood forest. The views are great, and you’ll get additional insight on the area from hike leader J.P. Peoples, who will explain things like why a couple of rusted Model Ts are off the trail in a ditch. The hike is sponsored by Fontana Village.

Logistics: Saturday, Nov. 15, 11 a.m., Fontana Village. More info here.

Saturday forecast: High of 48, sunny.

* * *

Those are our thoughts on the weekend. Find more options at the sources listed below.

The post This weekend: a bi at the coast, an eyeful elsewhere appeared first on GetGoing NC!.