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!.

Water.

So in a way, it’s appropriate that we shall spend Earth Day this year getting drenched. A week of sun, a day of rain: What better prescription for the planet we love?

That being the case, instead of kvetching about our plans for tomorrow — which is Earth Day, btw — on the verge of being rained out, we instead make the most of what, in Mother Nature’s view, is a good thing, we make the proper adjustments. In our case, that means tweaking the Year of the Trail Weekend Trail Days Festival we’ve been planning with the city of Eden, the county of Rockingham, and the Dan River Basin Association over the past eight months. (“We” incidentally, being the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources’ Hometown Strong initiative, of which I am employed.)

Fortunately, there’s a lot of enthusiasm for Year of the Trail here in the land of Eden and rather than cancel the event outright, we’ve opted to simply move as many events as possible to Sunday. We’ll still have a kickoff twilight hike this evening on the Smith River Greenway, we’ll still have a downtown festival in Eden Saturday evening, Otherwise, it’s all on Sunday. Here’s our revised schedule:

9 a.m. – Hike at Mayo Mountain State Park, Mayodan. Deshazo Mill, 1.5 miles. Beginner/family. Ranger led. Learn more and sign up here.

10 a.m. – Hike at Lake Reidsville, 4 miles. This trail ducks in and out of forested coves along the lake. Beginner/family friendly. Learn more and sign up here.

1:30 p.m. — Hike on the Smith River Greenway, Eden, 3 miles. See Friday’s evening hike for a trail description. Beginner-friendly. Learn more and sign up here.

1- 4 p.m. – Paddle on the Dan River. 5 miles, mellow stretch of river with some Class I rapids and assorted riffles. BYOB (Bring Your Own Boat), shuttle will be provided. Paddlers from the Dan River Basin Association will lead this trip. The Dan is wide and easily navigable on this stretch from the new Dan River Game Lands boat ramp to the Leakesville Landing boat access in downtown Eden. Members of the Dan River Basin Association will lead this trip. Learn more and sign up here.

The forecast for Sunday: Highs in the 50s and low 60s under sunny skies. A gift from Mother Nature after she takes her day in the spotlight for a well-deserved drink.

The post Mom Needs a Drink, Year of the Trail is Happy to Oblige appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

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.

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