How many organized events?

That’s tough to pin down.

Officially, the American Hiking Society acts as the clearing house for NTD events. Fill out a form on their website and your event can appear in a searchable format on their NTD page. And while the site does include a lot of events, it’s far from a complete listing. In Virginia, for instance, AHS lists a total of 19 Trails Day events. On the Virginia State Parks website, however, you’ll find 49 events scheduled for National Trails Day. 

In North Carolina, AHS lists 26 NTD events. Yet missing is the grandaddy of North Carolina celebrations: NC Trail Days in Elkin/Jonesville. This events runs four days (June 4-7), includes 3 State Trails (Mountains-to-Sea, Overmountain Victory, and Yadkin River Paddle), 2 state parks (Stone Mountain and Pilot Mountain), and hiking, paddling and mountain biking, along with other outdoor events, live music and more. 

Virginia State Parks observes National Trails Day much like it does every other day, which is so say with a boatload of activities. Start the day with a 5K at High Bridge Trail State Park at 8 a.m. Or sleep in until 9 a.m. and do the challenging 4-mile Molly’s Knob Hike at Hungry Mother State Park. There’s a Wild Cave Tour at Natural Tunnel State Park, and lots of opportunities statewide to help maintain and build trail. The day ends with an Owl Prowl Night Hike from 8-9:30 p.m. at Smith Mountain Lake State Park.

But again, these are far from all the opportunities out their to celebrate trails on Saturday. Check your local municipal and county parks, check with your local land conservancy, or just check with your buddies and throw your own National Trails Day event. On National Trails Day only one thing matters.

That you spend time on a trail.

Resources

• Find events throughout the country at the American Hiking Society’s National Trails Day event page.
• Find North Carolina events here.
• Find Virginia events here.
• NC Trail Days.
• Go here for NTD events in Virginia State Parks.
• Go here for NTD events in North Carolina State Parks.

The post National Trails Day: Find an adventure this Saturday appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

We have the American Hiking Society to make sure we remember to pay homage to our trails, whether it’s by grabbing a mattock and pickaxe to build new trail, grabbing a rake and trash bag to tidy up existing trail, or by simply taking a hike, a ride, a paddle on the first Saturday in June. 

Fortunately, we have lots of opportunities to celebrate.

For instance, NC Trail Days in Elkin and Jonesville. This four-day event starts today and runs through Sunday. The event celebrates two trail communities, three NC State Trails (Mountains-to-Sea, Yadkin River, Overmountain Victory), two State Parks (Stone Mountain and Pilot Mountain), and miles and miles of great trail. Trail for hiking, trail for mountain biking, trail for paddling. There’s also rock climbing, trail maintenance, speakers, films, music, food — everything you need to successfully celebrate trails. Learn more here.

And there are more. Throughout North Carolina and Virginia you’ll find hundreds of National Trails Day events. Below are links you can tap on to find the NTD event nearest you, or the event that’s most appealing. If you can’t find one here, check your local parks department and land conservancy, most of which have events scheduled.

Start planning your Saturday trail celebration now!

• American Hiking Society (NTD events nationwide)
• AHS NTD events in Virginia
• AHS NTD events in North Carolina
• Virginia State Parks
• North Carolina State Parks
• Great Trails State Coalition

The post Celebrate National Trails Day This Saturday appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

You don’t. But you do build on it.

The just-passed Year of the Trail was intended to promote North Carolina’s vast trail system. Hiking trails, sure, but paddling, biking and equestrian as well. Year of the Trail events were held in 94 of the state’s 100 counties, those events ranging from hour-long guided walks on local greenways to three-day festivals celebrating trails across the state. The ultimate sign of Year of the Trail’s success? When the concept was conceived by the state’s General Assembly in 2021, it included $29.15 million for trail development; in the budget passed this past fall, legislators allotted nearly twice that much for trail development in the next two years.

Much of that money is targeted to the North Carolina’s State Trails, of which there are 14. State trails? you may wonder. These are longer trails — some hiking, some paddling, some both, one equestrian — that date back to the 1970s. You’ve likely heard of one, the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, you likely haven’t heard of the others. Each trail has a non-profit partner that is in charge of the trail’s development. Here’s a quick synopsis of the trails, including it’s partner:

• Dan River State Trail, 90-mile paddle trail in Surry, Stokes and Rockingham counties. Partner: Dan River Basin Association
• Deep River State Trail, 125-mile paddle and hiking trail that follows its namesake river from Jamestown in the Triad to Moncure. Partner: Piedmont Land Conservancy
• East Coast Greenway State Trail, the North Carolina portion of the East Coast Greenway, which will run 3,000 miles, from Maine to Florida. North Carolina’s stretch is two, actually, one in the Piedmont and one along the coast. The converge in Wilmington. Partner: East Coast Greenway Alliance 
• Equestrian State Trail, a horse trail still in the conceptual phase that will be located south of the Triangle.
• Fonta Flora State Trail, probably the fastest developing of the State Trails, this hiking/biking trail will link Asheville to Morganton (with a loop around Lake James). About 38 miles of the trail, mostly in Burke County, are done. Partner: Friends of the Fonta Flora State Trail
• French Broad River State Trail, a paddle trail running 115 miles along the French Broad, from Rosman to the Tennessee Line. Partner: Mountain True
• Haw River State Trail, a paddle and hiking trail running from the Haw’s headwaters north of Greensboro to its conclusion in Jordan Lake. Partner: Alamance Parks
• Hickory Nut Gorge State Trail, hiking and biking trail linking the Hickory Nut Gorge area near Lake Lure with South Mountains State Park. Partner: Conserving Carolina
• Mountains-to-Sea Trail, 1,175-mile hiking trail spanning the state, from Clingman’s Dome on the Tennessee line to Jockey’s Ridge at the coast. Partner: Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail
• Northern Peaks State Trail, 40-mile hiking trail that will link Boone on the south to Mount Jefferson State Natural Area to the north. Partner: Blue Ridge Conservancy
• Overmountain Victory State Trail, the 225-mile stretch of the OVT in North Carolina; the trail runs through three other states.
• Roanoke River State Trail, paddle trail originating at Roanoke Rapids and ending at Albemarle Sound. Known for the camping platforms developed by its partner, Roanoke River Partners
• Wilderness Gateway Trail, a mostly hiking trail that will link at South Mountains State Park with the Hickory Nut Gorge State Trail (see above) with the towns of Valdese and Hickory. Partner: Foothills Conservancy
• Yadkin River State Trail, 163-mile paddle trail running from W. Scott Kerr Reservoir to Morrow Mountain State Park. Partner: Yadkin River Keeper

For more information on the North Carolina’s State Trails system, go here. For the latest on each trail, click the provided partner link.

We’ll be exploring and writing about North Carolina’s State Trails throughout 2024. Return to this space for the latest information.

The post Discover North Carolina’s State Trails appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

I’m reminded of this memorable event because I wonder if, 53 years from now, I’ll remember where I was on my very first Great Trails State Day. OK, probably not because I would be 130 and my memory might have faded by then. But I won’t be fuzzy on my whereabouts because of a lack of great ways to observe Great Trails State Day, which is this Saturday.

Great Trails State Day is part of our ongoing Year of the Trail activities in North Carolina. Year of the Trail was decreed by the State Legislature, and it wasn’t an empty proclamation. It came with $29.15 million for the Complete the Trails Fund (target to North Carolina’s then 12, now 14 State Trails), and the suggestion that if there was good response to Year of the Trail, more state money for trail development might be forthcoming. And it was: the state budget recently passed for 2023-2025 included $25 million for trail development.

Back to Saturday. How will I be observing Great Trails State Day?

• Will I be in Burnsville, celebrating the fact there are more than 100 miles of public hiking trails (not to mention climbing and paddling) in Yancey County?
• Will I be in Caldwell County participating in Hudson Parks & Rec’s “Story Walk,” held in conjunction with Smart Start?
• Perhaps I’ll throw the bike on the rack and head to Goldsboro for “Ride the City” for one of three levels of guided bike rides.
• Of course, there’s also the “Pinecone Pathways Special Edition Treasure Hunt” in Moore County, where there’s the chance to find one of 10 glass-blown pinecones secreted along the trail.
• There’s also the “Downtown Greenway Guided Walking Tour,” a 4-mile guided walk through downtown Greensboro.

As of 9 a.m. on Oct. 18, there were 32 Great Trails State Day events listed on the Great Trails State Coalition website, with events to be found across the state, from Corolla (“The OBX Way: Corolla Trail Talk)” to Old Fort (“McDowell Moves 2023“).

Actually, I do know where I’ll be for Great Trails State Day: Shelby, where the City of Shelby and the N.C. Department of Natural Resources’ Hometown Strong initiative will celebrate Shelby Trail Days with three days of events, starting Friday and ending Sunday afternoon. The event includes hikes on the Shelby greenway system, including the dedication of the first mile of the new Carolina Harmony Trail, a rails-to-trails project that will link downtown Shelby with the South Carolina state line. Thirteen trail-related events in all, AND, it’s held in conjunction with Shelby’s Mush, Music & Mutts Festival. (As part of the event, even though it’s not on Saturday, is a guided hike at Crowder’s Mountain State Park from the Boulders Access, which you can learn more about here.)

All in all, Great Trails State Day will be a day to remember. Perhaps even when you’re 130.

* * *

For all the Great Trails State Day events, visit the Great Trails State Coalition website here.

GetHiking! Fall Weekend Escape on the AT at Hot Springs

Looking for one last hiking fling for 2023? Join us Nov. 10-12 for two days of hiking on the Appalachian Trail out of Hot Springs. Both hikes start from Tanyard Gap: Saturday’s heads up to Rich Mountain, then returns to Hot Springs on Forest Service Trail down a long ridge; Sunday’s hike follows the AT west over Lover’s Leap into Hot Springs. Learn more about the weekend and sign up to join us here.

The post Will you remember where you were on the first Great Trails State Day? appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

The Great Dismal is one of the few spots in the country so wild it has refused development. It flummoxed George Washington’s earliest surveying efforts, it was so wild and impenetrable that it provided safe haven for enslaved African-Americans escaping the south and Native Americans driven from their homeland by invading Europeans. In fact, evidence suggests that humans have been seeking shelter in the Great Dismal for 13,000 years. Thought to once cover a million acres, about half that is now protected.

And it’s the focus of the fifth Year of the Trail Weekend Trail Days Festivals being sponsored by the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources and its Hometown Strong initiative. The festival begins with a ranger-led hike at Great Dismal State Park at 2:30 the afternoon of Friday, June 2 and concludes with a paddle on the blackwater Sawyer’s Creek the morning of Sunday, June 4. In between you’ll find bike rides into the Great Dismal, paddling in a cypress swamp and a hike during the magical gloaming.

Here’s a look at what all is planned, along with links for additional information and to sign up.

The post A Weekend Trail Festival for the Great Dismal and Elizabeth City appeared first on GetGoing NC!.