“In the coming weeks and months, we will be surveying the trail and assessing damage, but trail restoration is a very low priority in light of the ongoing humanitarian crisis facing western North Carolina … it is likely that sections of the trail will remain closed for a significant length of time.”

Trails are a low priority in the recovery scheme of things. An incredible amount of work needs to be done to get the communities of WNC back up and running. But when the time comes for trail restoration, we need to be ready to tackle a big job.

How big? Consider the case of the statewide MST. “As a result of the storm,” Laurenz wrote, “the entire North Carolina section of the Blue Ridge Parkway is closed. The MST from Kuwohi [formerly Clingman’s Dome] through Stone Mountain State Park should be considered closed and highly dangerous. This is roughly a third of the entire route of the trail.”

A third of the entire 1,125-mile MST.

When the time comes, the land managers responsible for our trails will need your help. The MST has already set up a form for volunteers who wish to be part of the effort; you can fill it out here. “There will be a need for sawyers,” Laurenz wrote, “those who can clear trail and rebuild it, those who can oversee work crews, but also for those who can help support the volunteers.”

Other land managers will be in a similar position.

Take the Appalachian Trail, for instance, which is overseen by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. The ATC is “part of a unique cooperative-management system, working with numbers of local, state and federal partners to ensure greater protections for the Trail.” Key to the AT’s health are the hiking clubs that help maintain it. In Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia, there are a dozen hiking clubs that each maintain a section of the AT. These clubs also maintain other trails in their regions; their impact on reviving not just the AT but many other mountain trails is will be huge. 

Below are links to these 12 clubs; click on the link(s) you’re interested in to learn more about the clubs and their volunteer activities. Note: Join the club and you’ll be the first to know when these opportunities arise.

• Old Dominion Appalachian Trail Club
• Tidewater Appalachian Trail Club
• Natural Bridge Appalachian Trail Club
• Outdoor Club at Virginia Tech
• Roanoke Appalachian Trail Club
• Piedmont Appalachian Trail Hikers
• Mount Rogers Appalachian Trail Club
• Tennessee Eastman Hiking and Canoeing Club
• Carolina Mountain Club
• Smoky Mountains Hiking Club
• Nantahala Hiking Club
• Georgia Appalachian Trail Club

You might be surprised by the number of trails you hike that are owned/managed by land conservancies. They, too, will need your help both in repairing their damaged trails. Click the link(s) below for more information.

• Conservation Trust for North Carolina
• Blue Ridge Conservancy
• Conserving Carolina 
• Catawba Lands Conservancy
• Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina
• Mainspring Conservation Trust
• New River Conservancy

North Carolina’s State Parks will also need a hand. Volunteers for State Park restoration will be coordinated through the Friends group for that park. Those groups include:

• Friends of Chimney Rock State Park
• Friends of Crowders Mountain State Park
• Friends of the Fonta Flora State Trail
• Friends of Gorges State Park
• Friends of High Country State Parks (Elk Knob, Grandfather Mountain, Mount Jefferson, New River state parks)
• Friends of Lake James State Park
• NC High Peaks Trail Association (Mount Mitchell)
• Friends of South Mountains State Park
• Friends of Stone Mountain State Park
• Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail
• As we become aware of specific volunteer opportunities, we will post them here on the GetGoingNC website and on our Facebook page.

The opportunities to help rebuild our trails will come, but as the MST’s Laurenz notes, that’s “a very low priority at this point.”

Be patient. The time to rebuild will come.

The post How (and when) to help rebuild our mountain trails appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Today, we highlight 5 National Trails Day events with particular promise.

• NC Trail Days, Elkin, yesterday through Sunday. Elkin, located smack dab on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, can’t contain its celebration to one day, let alone one type of trail or event. Hiking, mountain biking, paddling, running — they’re all covered as the town celebrates two nearby state parks (Stone Mountain and Pilot Mountain) and three big trails (MST, Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail, Yadkin River Paddle Trail). Too many events to mention here, so we’ll simply refer you to the NC Trail Days home page, here.
• NTD Workday at Crowders Mountain, Saturday, 8:30 a.m. – noon, Crowders Mountain State Park, Kings Mountain. Ready to help improve some trail in the Charlotte area’s popular park? You’ll get a chance after gathering at the Sparrow Springs Access for refreshments, instructions and introduction of crew leaders. You’ll also be provided with water, snacks, work gloves, safety glasses, insect repellant and tools. Learn more here.
• Guided Hike at 12-Mile Creek Greenway, Saturday, 10 a.m., Waxhaw. Though the creek may be  12 miles, the hike is not. Rather, count on a 3- to 4-mile hike beginning and ending at H.C. Nesbit Park. Includes passage over a 170-foot suspension footbridge. Learn more here.
• Eno River Association extravaganza, Saturday, events at 8, 8:30, and 9 a.m. (two), and at 1 p.m. Birding, workdays and more. Learn more by checking out the Eno River Association calendar here.
• NTD Hike, Saturday, 9 a.m., Merchants Millpond State Park, Gatesville. Merchants Millpond is one of those state parks you’ve likely heard good things about, but haven’t visited because it’s tucked away in the remote northeast corner of the state. Saturday’s NTD Hike on the 2-mile Coleman Trail is a good excuse to make the journey. The hike is flat, easy, and exposes you to the junglelike setting of Merchants Millpond (bring bug spray!). Stick around afterward and enjoy more of the park. Maybe even rent a canoe ($10 per hour) and explore the millpond. Learn more here.

Looking for more?

To find additional events, check out:

• American Hiking Society’s National Trails Day event page, which lists 16 events in North Carolina. Find it here.
• North Carolina State Parks events page. Find it here.
• Virginia State Parks events page. Virginia has 33 NTD events planned at its state parks, some of which are just over the North Carolina state line). Find them here.

Explore with Us!

We’ve got a variety of summer programs and trips planned, starting with our first GetHiking! Summer Weekend Escape, which is next weekend on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail at Doughton Park. About 20 miles of hiking starting Friday evening and ending early afternoon Sunday. Learn more here. 

Learn about our other summer offerings at GetGoingNC.com, click on Explore with Us!

The post 5 Events (out of many) for National Trails Day appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

A week from Saturday, June 4, the first Saturday in June, is National Trails Day. As it’s been since its inception in 1993, it’s a day set side for us to celebrate our nation’s trails at NTD-designated events, of which there are 368 nationwide.

Actually, that’s just the number of NTD events officially registered with sponsor the American Hiking Society. That does not, for instance, include five NTD events listed on the North Carolina State Parks website, or 27 events on the Virginia State Parks site.

Because not all events are officially registered, it’s difficult to say just how big National Trails Day is. On the celebration’s 20th anniversary in 2012, 2,000 events drew 157,000 participants. And in 2019, a “trail service world record” was set, with 1,164 events and 41,424 participants.

So how was a record set in 2019, when there were 116,000 more “participants” in 2012?

National Trails Day events come in two flavors: play and work. The majority of events celebrate trails with events hiking or paddling them (“blue” trails are also a part of National Trails Day). A smaller percentage involve work: trail building, for instance, or maintenance. Those would be the “trail service” events.

How important is that trail service work, the work of volunteers showing up with pickaxe and pulaski to build trail?

The majority of trails we hike are there because of volunteers. Volunteers play a big role in trail construction, and account for a huge percentage of trail maintenance. For example, in 2020, volunteers logged 27,497 hours of work on the trail. (Using a formula used by N.C. Parks that puts the hourly trail work rate at $27.30, that’s about a quarter of a million dollars in labor cost savings.)

What to expect

If you elect to do a National Trails Day Event, here’s what to expect, from both types of event:

Hiking. In general, these events are more of an introduction to hiking, aimed at beginners and the hiking curious. As such, the hikes tend to be short and slow-paced.There’s often an educational component as well, possibly about the basics of hiking, more often about nature. They usually last an hour or so. Difficulty level: easy

Trail work. Signing up to do a workday has so many benefits:

• You work with experienced trail builders and thus, can learn the ins and outs of how a trail comes to be.
• You get to learn new new tools. Not a chainsaw your first time out, but possibly a pickaxe or a pulaski. 
• Food. There’s typically food associated with workdays, maybe a breakfast to get you started, trail snacks to keep you going.
• Swag. Occasionally, if there’s a business sponsor involved, you’ll get swag, like a t-shirt or cap.

Work days are typically three hours and you will work, Difficulty: moderate to strenuous. You’ll likely be asked to wear sturdy boots ore shoes and bring gloves.

Where to find events

Here are your prime sources of events.

• American Hiking Society. For starters, check out the events registered with the AHS, here.
• As mentioned, North Carolina State Parks and Virginia State Parks have numerous events planned. 
• Land trusts. Check with your local land trust to see if they have an event planned. Find a list of land trusts here.
• County and municipal parks. 

So, busy June 4? We thought so.

The post A busy first Saturday in June appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

For a few decades now, the first Saturday of June has been National Trails Day. It’s a day when we celebrate our trails, sometimes by doing maintenance, sometimes by simply taking a hike. In North Carolina this National Trails Day, 15 events have been registered with the American Hiking Society, which sponsors the annual event.

Probably the biggest event is the N.C. Trail Days Festival in Elkin. Guided hikes, horseback rides, paddle trips, and a trail dedication are among the events scheduled for the trail town of Elkin (it’s on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail as it makes its way from the mountains to Piedmont). Learn more here. 

A variety of work days are scheduled, from Stone Mountain State Park to Eno River State Park, from the Mountains-to-Sea Trail to the Carolina Thread Trail. Odds are you don’t need to look for from where you are to find an NTD event. Find the NTD events listed on the AHS site here.

Not every NTD event in the state is listed on the AHS site. For instance, there are four hikes with National Trails Day in the title in North Carolina State Parks on Saturday, including hikes on  the Profile and Nuwati trails at Grandfather Mountain State Park. Check out the National Trails Day hikes in our N.C. state parks, here.  

There’s a good chance you’ll also find NTD events are you local and county parks, as well as at nearby nature preserves. In fact, Saturday is also Land Trust Day. As it has every first Saturday since 1992, Great Outdoor Provision Co. will donate 10 percent of sales on Saturday to the work done by local land trusts. So if you need new boots or a pack, it would be advantageous to make that purchase Saturday. Learn more about that effort at the Great Outdoor Provision Co. website, here.

As for the weather, after a rainy Thursday and Friday, the weekend is looking warm and sunny, with temperatures ranging from the upper 60s to mid 80s. There’s still time to make it a camping weekend — even if you have no camping gear. Check out our GetCamping! program for details. 

This weekend, GetOut! And enjoy.

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

Since the early 1990s, the first Saturday in June has been recognized by the American Hiking Society as National Trails Day. It’s a day set aside to honor our favorite trails, hiking or paddling, mountain biking or equestrian.

Around the country, hundreds of events will be held as part of the observation. At some events, folks will gather to spruce up their favorite trails, or to clear new favorites. At other events, folks will gather and hike/bike/paddle/ride.

In North Carolina, 26 National Trails Day events have been registered with the sponsoring American Hiking Society. That number doesn’t include many of the events going on Saturday at North Carolina’s State Parks, nor a number of the workdays scheduled around the state; the Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, for instance, has multiple workdays going on across the length of this 1,150-mile trail.

For this weekend, we suggest you search the sites listed below to find a National Trails Day event near you. Identify an event, then spend the day in devout observance.

* * *

Find an event near you:

• American Hiking Society, with at least 26 events listed in North Carolina.
• Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, with workdays scheduled statewide
• North Carolina State Parks, with events planned at most state parks.
• North Carolina Land Trusts, in addition to being National Trails Day, it’s also Land Trust Day, and many of North Carolina’s 24 land trusts have activities planned. Find your local land trust at the Conservation Trust for North Carolina site and go from there.

* * *

That’s our thought for the weekend. Find more options at the sources listed below.

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