Category Archives: Hiking

Embrace the coming dark with a night hike

If you think it’s bad that the sun sets today at 6:25 p.m., wait until 11 days from now when the sun disappears at 5:14! 

Yup, Daylight Saving Time ends in the wee hours of Nov. 7, and we lose an hour of sunlight on the backend. (On the plus side, while we’ll continue to lose afternoon daylight for another month or so, we’ll start gaining it back, slowly, on Dec. 14.) The start of Standard time, alas, means many of you will curtail your evening adventures. Too bad, because you don’t need to. Not when the dark offers so many new reasons to explore. read more

GetOut! Fall continues to be fabulous this weekend

The salad days of fall continue this weekend, days so perfect with sun, dry skies and 70-degree temperatures that we can’t help but suggest, lettuce be outdoors. To that end, some thoughts.

Fall Wonder Hike, Saturday, 10 a.m., Morrow Mountain State Park, Albemarle. Fall color is the focus of this 1-hour hike on the 0.8-mile Mountain Loop Trail at the Scenic Vista, Morrow’s window to the Uwharrie Mountains and Piedmont below. Catch the beginning of the fall Piedmont leaf-peep show. Learn more here. read more

Long hikes for cool fall days

Something about cool, fall weather makes you want to hike farther. Now that that weather has finally arrived, we’ve got some of those longer trails we think you might like. Here are 11, including nine in the Piedmont and two along the Blue Ridge Escarpment. (We’ll talk long trails at the coast in coming weeks, once the weather turns from cool to cold.) read more