The holidays are upon us — and so, too, are our holiday visitors.
You’re eager to show your visiting friends and family why you love living in the region: the outdoor opportunities that make this such a wonderful place to explore. You also don’t want to alienate your guests — or worse, harm them! — by taking them on an outing beyond their capabilities. Fortunately, you can do the former while avoiding the latter with the 10 hikes below, hikes that offer considerable esthetic bang for minimal physical exertion.read more
We love a good weather forecast. We especially love it when we have a big hike planned, which is the case this Saturday.
Saturday at 9 a.m. we kick off our GetHiking! Winter Wild series of hikes designed to take advantage of a woefully under-appreciated season for being in the woods. Winter offers access, vulnerability, brilliant sunlight and best of all, few fellow hikers. That’s especially true on our Winter Wild hikes, which are largely off-trail. We take advantage of old roadbeds, of game trails, of the lack of undergrowth, to explore places inaccessible the rest of the year. Our first hike: the Eno Wilderness.read more
A little over a month ago we waxed over our upcoming Winter Wild series of monthly hikes. We won’t wax again; you can read that account here.
But we can’t help but mention one more time, here on the cusp of the 2021-22 Winter Wild season, how much we love exploring off trail when the temperatures and the leaves drop. With more freedom to roam, without being as tied to a trail, winter offers a more true sense of adventure. And so we make the most of it.read more
If you checked in with us Wednesday — “Coastal Trails Beckon for Winter Hiking” — you know that as the temperatures drop our interest in exploring the coast and coastal plain rises. With that in mind, some thoughts on this weekend.
Soundside Nature Trail Hike, Saturday, Nov. 13, 10 a.m., Jockey’s Ridge State Park, Nags Head. Think of Jockey’s Ridge and you immediately think of the shifting dunes that can reach up to 60 feet above the level of the sea, which is a near stone’s throw from the park. But Jockey’s Ridge has intriguing backside that explores a maritime shrub thicket along Roanoke Sound. This is a 1-mile hike. Learn more here.read more
Just as a retailer’s thoughts turn to Christmas once Halloween has passed, our thoughts turn to the coast once the fall color starts to fade here in the Piedmont. While I love a summer’s day at the beach, the coast — and coastal plain — are at their most alluring in late fall and winter. A week at a vacation beach house is swell over the summer, but a week at the coast in winter leaves memories that aren’t soon forgotten.read more
