Category Archives: Hiking

This weekend: A grand opening, a world premier 

The view from atop Elk Knob

It is one gala weekend in North Carolina, from the grand opening of the new Discovery Room at Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve to the world premiere of the Hanging Rock State Park Players’ “A Town Without Spiders.” Dress for both, you’ll be relieved to hear, is hiking casual. read more

The Mountains-to-Sea Trail: in a day, or over 22 months

Finding Sharon’s car in a parking lot is pretty easy.

This year, we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the statewide Mountains-to-Sea Trail, its birth dating to Sept. 9, 1977, when Howard Lee, then Secretary of the N.C. Department of Natural Resources and Community Development, told a National Trails Symposium in Waynesville that North Carolina should blaze a “state trail from the mountains to the coast, leading through communities as well as natural areas.” read more

This weekend: Explore, Party 

Good times on the Lumber River

This week, hikes and a paddle with something extra.

Coast | Coastal Plain

Exploring is great. Exploring with a party thrown in, even greater!

That’s the situation Saturday at Lumber River State Park, site of the Lumber River Day Festival 2017. There’s exploring, in the form of free canoe rides on the Lumber River. And there’s fun stuff in the form of bluegrass music, pony rides, a casting contest (for kids), miniature train rides, a bouncy house, food (including ice cream) and more. read more

This weekend: Get out and learn a thing or two

Mount Mitchell: the top of the East Coast

Moving is good. Learning something while you’re on the move is even better. This weekend is a good one for learning on the move.

Coast

For many, the key to getting active is to resist the urge to overindulge at the start and expect immediate results. That’s why so many New Year’s resolutions go kaput before January is over: you expect to become Charles (or Charlene) Atlas in just two weeks. read more