Until this year.

This year, as part of North Carolina’s observance of Year of the Trail, among the hundreds of Year of the Trail events are 11 weekend trail festivals. Most will follow this format:

• Friday evening: a night hike, maybe a downtown concert, an introductory remark or two. 
• Saturday: Guided hikes, paddle trips, mountain bike rides. We’ll start around 9 a.m., go until 5 p.m. or so. There will also be a downtown festival, with craft and outdoor vendors, food and live music. There might well be more live music Saturday evening.
• Sunday: Sunday started out as a EIY (Explore It Yourself) day, with guide material supplied for select adventures. and that will still be the case. But we’re finding we have more and more to offer, so some structured events are sneaking into the mix. Volunteer service events (trail maintenance, trail building, etc.), for one. And we may be adding birding to the mix.

A quick explanation of what I mean by “we.” The 11 events are hosted by the communities and by the NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources’ Hometown Strong initiative. Hometown Strong was created by Gov. Roy Cooper to help the state’s 80 rural counties boost their economies. I joined Hometown Strong last summer to help communities in those counties do just that by helping them showcase their, in my opinion, largely under-appreciated outdoor recreation assets. Hence the 11 Weekend Trail Days Festivals, which are shown below with their festival dates:

• Elizabethtown/White Lake, Feb. 17-19
• Morganton, March 3-5
• Eden, April 21-23
• Sanford, May 12-14
• Elizabeth City, June 2-4
• Old Fort, June 2-4
• Edenton, July 21-23
• West Jefferson, Aug. 4-6
• Shelby, Oct. 13-15
• Robbinsville, Oct. 27-28

First Festival: Elizabethtown/White Lake

What will these festivals look like? They continue to evolve, but the first one, in Elizabethtown/White Lake southeast of Fayetteville, looks like this:

Friday, Feb. 17

• 3-7 p.m. –  Check-in at the Trail Weekend Headquarters at the Cape Fear Farmers Market, where you’ll find food, vendors and information on the weekend’s events.
• 6:30 p.m. – Night hike at Jones Lake State Park, Cedar Loop Trail

Saturday, Feb. 18

• 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. – Food, vendors, information on events available at the aforementioned Cape Fear Farmer’s Market.
• 10 a.m. – Hike at Jones Lake State Park on the 4-mile Bay Trail
• 11 a.m. – Guided mountain bike ride at Browns Creek Nature Park and Bike Trail
• 12:30 p.m. – Guided paddle on Jones Lake State Park
• 1 p.m. – Reading by local author at Bladen County Public Library
• 2 p.m. – Guided hike on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail
• 3 p.m. – Guided hike at Bay Tree Lake State Natural Area
• 4 p.m. – Guided hike at Singletary Lake State Park
• 4-8 p.m.  Trail Weekend Headquarters moves to White Lake. 
• 4 p.m. – Guided hike on White Lake multi-use path
• 5:30-7:30 p.m. — Southern comfort cuisine dinner/fundraiser for the Mountains-to-Sea Trail
• 6-8 p.m.  Live music, White Lake

Sunday, Feb. 19

Sunday is a do-it-yourself day. We will provide maps and route descriptions.  A “hike board” will be at the Trail Weekend Headquarter for people to organize and hike together. Potential hikes include:

• Through the vines at Lu Mil vineyard
• Paved trail around Greene’s Lake and Cape Fear Winery & Distillery
• Tour and hike at Harmony Hall National Historic site open from 1-4pm
• 9 holes of disc golf at Tory Hole Park
• Jones Lake State Park
• Turnbull Creek Educational State Forest
• Bay Tree Lake State Natural Area

More info and registration

Events are free, but registration is suggested since most events are capped. You can also find more information on each event at the registration site, which resides here. Two more sites to be aware of:

• GetGoingNC.com YOTT page. You can find more information including upcoming Year of the Trail events and news, at our YOTT page, here.
• Greattrailsnc.com. And, you can find a comprehensive Year of the Trail calendar of events at greattrailsnc.com, the official event aggregator for Year of the Trail.

One last thing. These events are for everyone. We don’t care about your experience level, we don’t care if you’ve been in seclusion for the past three years (which some of you have). The goal of Year of the Trail is to develop a keen appreciation for the outdoors in every North Carolinian, all 10.7 million of us.

Join us.

The post A Year of Weekend Festivals Celebrating Trails appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

So with our predilection for post-sunset saunters, we were pleased to see that as part of Merchants Millpond State Park’s Holiday Decorations program with Gates County Community Events, the park will also be closing later, at 8 p.m. as opposed to 6 p.m., both this Friday and Saturday and next (Dec. 10, 11, 17 and 18). That means you can come and check out the holiday decorations, then enjoy about three hours of nocturnal navigation. 

Merchants Millpond (pictured above) is an especially intriguing spot for a night hike. It’s setting in the swampy northeast corner of the state (it’s a neighbor to the Great Dismal Swamp) gives it a “Creature from the Black Lagoon” feel — at night. Spanish moss drips from bald cypress and tupelo gum, casting eerie shadows on a breezy night. A chorus of frogs in the surrounding wetlands provides a surreal soundtrack. And there’s the park’s “Enchanted Forest.” Again, all this in the dark.

Learn more about how to take advantage of Merchants Millpond after dark and enjoy the park’s holiday decorations by going here.

* * *

Two loves of mine from childhood: 1. Being outside, 2. Reading. That may explain why an event Sunday at 12:15 p.m. at Lake James State Park captures our fancy. The event: Story Walk: ‘The Hike.’ Targeted to preschool and kindergartners, the event focuses on the book, “The Hike,” by Alison Farrell. According to Goodreads.com: “This book tells the story of three girls’ friendship—and their tribulations and triumphs in the great outdoors. Here is the best and worst of any hike: from picnics to puffing and panting, deer-sighting to detours.” In short, it sounds like just the thing to spark an impressionable youngster’s love of the outdoors.

Learn more about “The Hike,” the book, here, the “The Hike”, the hike, here.

* * *

Here’s another thing we love: winter. Specifically, exploring the outdoors come winter. This isn’t the place to wax about our love of the season (but this is). Suffice it to say it’s a misunderstood season, one that could, like so many things, be better appreciated with a little knowledge. Knowledge like the kind you’ll get Sunday at 2 p.m. at Lake Crabtree County Park in Morrisville, when a naturalist talks about the winter woods. 

On the Winter Tree Walk you’ll “learn about some evergreen plants that are still brightening up the landscape and try to identify some trees that have lost their leaves for the winter.” 

Free, but preregistration is required, by going here.

* * *

As I mentioned at the top, I love a night adventure. Rarely, though, do we see a night adventure that extends from one day into the next. But if you want to catch the peak of a meteor shower, that’s the price you must pay. And that’s the only price for the Geminid’s Meteor Shower program Monday and Tuesday at West Point on the Eno city park in Durham.

Starting at 10 p.m. Monday and lasting until 2 a.m. Tuesday, you can hang out at West Point’s Eno Environmental Educational Pavilion and watch up to 120 meteors per hour streak across the sky. Again, the event is free but space is limited and preregistration is required, by going here.

Weekend Weather: It gets toasty (and perhaps a little wet) Saturday, with temperatures rising into the low 70s; a late-day cold front Saturday brings temperatures back into the seasonal range Sunday, with highs in the low 50s. Get a more specific forecast for where you are here.

Explore with us!

We have all sorts of GetHiking! hikes and trips planned for winter, including our just-begun Holiday Hiker series, with hikes Sunday afternoon, Tuesday evening, Friday morning and on the Wednesdays preceding Christmas and New Years. Check out the action here.

The post GetOut! A millpond by night, ‘The Hike,’ meteors and more appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

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. 

We give a short description of why these hikes are suitable for the non-adventurous in your life, then provide a link for additional information.

Coast, coastal plain

The Basin Trail

2.2 miles (out and back)

Fort Fisher State Recreation Area, Kure Beach

Spending time at the coast this holiday season? This hike, just outside Wilmington, starts at the Atlantic Ocean and makes its way through open marsh (the soggier parts are on elevated boardwalk) to The Basin on the sound side. At the midpoint, visit an old World War II munitions bunker that was later home, for more than a decade, to the Fort Fisher Hermit.

More info here.

Bay Trail

4 miles

Jones Lake State Park, Elizabethtown

Need to get your beloved visitors out of the house for the day? Send them to Jones Lake southeast of Fayetteville for a 4-mile meander around a regional oddity: a Carolina bay. No one is quite sure how these shallow, oval-shaped bays originated (the result of a meteor shower is the best bet), but there were once a half million of them along the East Coast. The hike around this surviving bay is half pine savanna, half swampy bay forest, all flat.

More info here.

Charlotte area

The Boulders Access

0.5 miles

Crowders Mountain State Park, Kings Mountain

Lure your hiking-recalcitrant crew to The Boulders with the promise of seeing the boulders just a short hike from the car. Then, when they’re smitten, suggest hiking just a little farther, a little farther, a little farther on the Ridgeline Trail, which will take you either south into South Carolina or north for about six miles to the main part of Crowders Mountain State Park.

More info here.

Triangle

The Peaks Loop

1/2 mile

Horton Grove Nature Preserve, Bahama

This half-mile trail is especially alluring in late fall, with the mature beech forest casting a brilliant yellow glow over a carpet of copper leaves. Ridgeline and valley hiking, with a short drop in, a short climb out on well-groomed trail. Want more? Tack on the 0.8-mile Holman Loop through a recovering Piedmont prairie.

More info here. 

Seven Mile Creek Natural Area

2 miles

Orange County southwest of Hillsborough

You’ll find some of the foot-friendliest trail around on this ramble through mature upland woods and down to Seven Mile Creek, a spritely creek that, shortly, feeds into the Eno River. The preserve’s difficult-to-find trailhead all but insures you’ll avoid holiday crowds.

More info here.

Pump Station Trail

1.5 miles

Pump Station Access, Eno River State Park, Durham

An especially good hike for kids — closely supervised kids — because it takes in the ruins of the old Durham waterworks. Brick foundations, an old dam, and other remnants of the long-abandoned water plant make for great kid exploring. The trail includes a stretch along a particularly rocky run of the Eno.

More info here.

De hart Botanical Garden

up to 4 miles

Louisburg

A short hike in gets you to a waterfall, a bamboo garden and a lake with a rock outcrop perfect for hanging out on. Venture farther and you’ll find another waterfall and one of the oldest white oak trees in the region. Something is always in bloom at this 92-acre preserve off U.S. 401 between Raleigh and Louisburg.

More info here.

Triad

Cane Creek Mountains Natural Area

2.5 miles

Snow Camp

Live in the Triad or Triangle and don’t have time to visit the mountains? How about the mountains in our midst, the Cane Creek Mountains south of Burlington? You’ll get an Appalachian-type experience on this 2.5-mile loop that traverses surprisingly rocky terrain before topping out just below 1,000 feet. A bit more of a physical investment, but the payoff is worth it.

More info here. 

Horne Creek Trail

2.5 miles

Bean Shoals Access, Pilot Mountain State Park, Pinnacle

The main parking area atop Pilot Mountain gets so crowded on weekends that hikers are now shuttled from the base to the summit. Avoid Pilot’s plenty by heading to the Bean Shoals Access and hiking this flatter stretch of trail that includes intimate Horne Creek and the expansive Yadkiin River.

More info here.

Little Long Mountain

1.6 miles (out and back) 

Uwharrie National Forest, Asheboro

From the Joe Moffitt Trailhead it’s a 0.8-mile hike up the north side of the 922-foot mountain (you’ll pass a spring midway, on your left) to the best on-trail view in the Uwharrie range. From the summit meadow you have a 240-degree view from the east to the south to the west; early risers can catch sunrise, night-owls sunset and the rest of us an expansive view of this relict central North Carolina mountain range.

More info here.

The post 10 Hikes for Holiday Visitors appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

We’re big fans of hiking at night. We love the intimacy of the dark woods, the increased sense of camaraderie with our fellow hikers, the mystery of what lies beyond the glow of our headlamp. That’s why we created our Tuesday Night Hikes series (our next hike is Tuesday, btw; details here), and also why we keep an eye out for night hikes to recommend. 

We’re also big fans of Medoc Mountain State Park about an hour-and-a-half northeast of Raleigh. To us, it’s the least appreciated State Park in the state, with 10 miles of hiking trail, 9 miles of mountain bike trail, bridle trails, paddling and fishing on Little Fishing Creek, and lots and lots of solitude. So when one of our favorite activities (hiking after dark) happens at one of our favorite spots (Medoc Mountain), we’re all too enthused to let you know.

Saturday night, beginning at 7, enjoy a 2-mile Full Moon Hike at Medoc Mountain that’s family friendly. Bring water and a flashlight, be prepared to learn what goes on after the sun sets in these Piedmont woods. Free, but you need to secure a spot by calling Heidi at 252.586.1770. More info here.

Also this weekend:

Beaver Habitat Hike, Sunday, 3 p.m., Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve, Southern Pines. You can see a lot from the trail. You can see more off the trail. Sunday, for instance, you can follow a ranger off trail to spy on the local beaver population on this 1.5-mile hike that will take you up close to a beaver dam, a remarkable piece of rodent engineering. Learn more here.

Lake Johnson Nature Explorers, Sunday, 2 p.m., Lake Johnson Park, Raleigh. If you’re like a lot of parents, you want your kids to spend more time outside. And, like a lot of parents, you may have discovered that they don’t necessarily like going on a 5-mile hike at a peppy pace. What they do like, though, is to plod through streams, flip over logs and basically investigate the natural world. That’s the goal of this program, to flip, dig and sift, and let a naturalist explain what it is your kids (and you!) are discovering. $2 per person, learn more here.

Get Wild! Bird Superpowers, Saturday, 10 a.m., Johnston Mill Nature Preserve, Chapel Hill. Birding sounds appealing, but dang those little guys are quick: how do you figure out who’s who so quickly? Likewise the birdsong: how do you differentiate songs that sound so similar? This Triangle Land Conservancy program offers a good opportunity to learn birding basics. Free, but pre-registration is required; go here for details.

GetHiking! this weekend

What are our GetHiking! groups in North Carolina and Virginia up to this weekend? Plenty, thanks for asking … 

Live the video

Today’s video is from last week’s GetHiking! hike at the Triangle Land Conservancy’s Horton Grove Nature Preserve in northern Durham County. On a gorgeous winter Sunday when the Triangle’s other outdoor venues were crawling with hikers, it was just us and a handful of others at Horton Grove. Learn more about paying a visit here.

More Weekend Options

Looking for more options for weekend adventure? Check out our GetOut! Find An Adventure resource page here.

The post GETOUT! YOUR FRIDAY NUDGE FOR WEEKEND ADVENTURE appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Take them on an adventure! Or, rather, let us help you take them on an adventure!

We’ve got several outdoor adventures this holiday season that are ideal for getting everyone out of the house and showing off the region’s great outdoor attributes! 

Here’s what we’ve got going on.

November

Friday, Nov. 29

9 a.m. – noon

Black Friday Backlash Hike on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail

Upper Barton Creek Boat Ramp, Raleigh

If the thought of queuing up at 2 a.m. with a couple hundred other people in the hopes of scoring a 40 percent off big screen TV isn’t your idea of a noble quest, join us for a 4.2-mile hike on a trail that runs nearly 1,200 miles across the state. We’ll hike one of our favorite stretches of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail through the Triangle, a 2.1-mile run that brushes up to Falls Lake, ducks in and out of several coves, discovers a hidden beach and even spends a short time on a long-abandoned stretch of blacktop from the days before there was a Falls Lake. We might even be treated to a lingering splash of fall color.

More info and sign up here.

December

Saturday, Dec. 7

10 a.m. – 1 p.m.

I Hike for Cookies

It’s our annual dessert potluck at Umstead State Park. Everyone brings a favorite baked good (you don’t have to be the one who baked it), we supply the hot chocolate and hot tea. We nibble and kibitz for a short bit, then head down the trail, with hike options of 4.2 and 5.9 miles. 

More info and sign up here.

Friday, Dec. 27

10 a.m. – 3 p.m.

A Uwharrie Holiday Adventure

Uwaharrie National Forest, Asheboro

In less than an hour and a half drive from Charlotte, the Triad and the Triangle, you can impress your out-of-town visitors with North Carolina’s oft-overlooked mountain range: the Uwharries. The Uwharrie Mountains have several peaks topping 1,000 feet; our destination will be the lone point in the Uwharries where you have a sweeping mountaintop vista: Little Long Mountain. We’ll have two options on this hike: For the avid hikers in the group, we’ll have a 7-mile (out-and-back) that tops Kings Mountain, at 1,015 feet the highest point on the Uwharrie Trail, en route to Little Long Mountain. For hikers with a little less trail experience, we have a 1.5-mile (out-and-back) option. We’ll have lunch and enjoy the view before heading back.

Lunch and trail snacks included. $45

More info and sign up here. 

Saturday, Dec. 28

8 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Backcountry Adventure at the Coast: Weetock Trail

Croatan National Forest near Swansboro

At its northern trailhead off NC 58 near Maysville, the Weetock Trail seems like just another trail: there’s parking, a trailhead with a kiosk. And for the first 3 miles or so there’s easy-to-follow trail. But then you cross a dirt road and … is that the trail on the other side? Or does it head down the road — and if so, which way? The trail’s uncertainty through a mix of coastal savannah and upland swamp is one of the things we love most about the Weetock — that and the fact it dives deep into woods that are both mysterious and oddly comforting on a sunny winter’s day. It’s one of our favorite winter hikes. The trail has some mild ups and downs and points, but is largely flat. Winter is the best time — the only time — to dive deep into a coastal forest.

Trail snacks and a detailed hike guide including map is included. $45

Learn more and sign up here.

Monday, Dec. 30

1 p.m. – 4 p.m.

GetOriented! Finding Your Way in the Woods Family Edition

Umstead State Park, Cary

What better way to spend a winter afternoon than exploring the woods like a kid (and with a kid!) looking for signs of the distant past — and learning a backcountry skill in the process. We start with a 20-minute session familiarizing you with how to read a topographic map and how to use a compass, then head down the trail — and off — to help you feel more comfortable navigating the woods. In the process, we’ll seek the often subtle signs of the forest’s human past. A great family activity that involves about 4 miles of hiking with lots of stopping along the way.

Compass and customized topo map are provided. $45 for individuals, $75 for families of up to 4 people.

Learn more and sign up here.

Tuesday, Dec. 31

7-9 p.m.

GetHiking! New Year’s Eve Night Hike!

Mountains-to-Sea Trail, Raleigh

Join our GetHiking! Tuesday Night Hikes program for a special edition Tuesday night New Year’s Eve hike. Looking for a non-traditional way to welcome 2020? We’ll hike about 4.5 miles under the lights (headlamps, which we provide), then toast the new year (a wee bit early) with hot chocolate! If you’ve never hiked at night, it’s a great way to get a jump on that resolution to try new things in 2020! We hike as a group, no one gets left behind. It’s an adventurous way to welcome the new year!

Headlamp provided, hot chocolate after the hike. $15

Learn more and sign up here. 

Custom Holiday Adventures

Don’t see a hike that meets your needs or schedule? Email us, at info@getgoingnc.com, gives us a general idea of what you’re interested in — including approximate length of hike, difficulty, type of terrain you’d like, how much time you have, and a general description of the activity level of people in your party — and what date and time you have in mind, and we will respond with some options.

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