Description

Eager to get your hiking groove back but not sure you can commit to every Sunday? Our new GetHiking! 2026 Fall Hike series is just what you need! 

This series includes 9 guided hikes over the last four months of the year. In addition, for the weeks we don’t offer a guided hike, we offer a suggested hike you can do alone or as a group. 

This series provides you the incentive to get back on the trail during the best time of year to be doing so! Some of the hikes you may recognize from your past GetHiking! adventures, some will be new. Five of the hikes are during the day (Sundays and the Friday after Thanksgiving), four are on Tuesday evenings.

What: 9 hikes — 4 on Sundays, 1 on the Friday after Thanksgiving, 4 on Tuesdays.

Experience level: Our hikes are geared toward hikers with some experience.

When: First Sunday of the month, September through December, plus the Friday after Thanksgiving (Nov. 27) and the last Sunday of the year (Dec. 27). Hikes begin at 9 a.m., Tuesday evening hikes begin at 6:30 p.m.

Includes:

• The Monday before each hike you’ll receive an eguide for both hikes that week, including map, route description, route overview, directions and other details.
• GetHiking! Guide to 25 Triangle Trails

Cost: $95, $165 for couples and families. To register, go here for single hikers, here for couples and families.

Questions?  Email me at joe@getgoingnc.com.

The hikes

Sundays

October 4  Horton Grove Nature Preserve, Bahama, 5 miles. A GetHiking! favorite, this Triangle Land Conservancy property north of Durham is good in any season, but especially in autumn, where a rich mix of hardwood canopy and understory gets an early start on fall color.

November 1 Cane Creek Mountain Natural Area: Peach Orchard Trailhead, Snow Camp, 5 miles. We hike Cane Creek’s Pine Hill Trailhead when it opened in 2020, we hiked the Oak Hill Trailhead when it opened three years ago. Now, we hike the just-opened Peach Orchard Trailhead, where we can also climb the also recently opened observation tower.

November 27 Mountains-to-Sea Trail at Falls Lake, DH-H, Shinleaf Recreation Area, Wake Forest, 6 miles. Duck in and out of several coves, disappear into upland hardwood forests, catch good views of Falls Lake on this out-and-back hike.

December 6  Butner Game Lands: Flat River Access, Bahama, 5 miles. Part of the 40,000-acre Butner Game Lands located along the north shore of Falls Lake, we hike the Brickhouse Road parcel, which includes wide open stretches, ponds, and encounters with the Flat River and Falls Lake.  

December  27 Mountains-to-Sea Trail at Falls Lake, DH-R,S Redwood Road to Red Mill Road, Durham, 6 miles. A mix of forest and meadow, this hike includes a brush or two with Falls Lake, an old railroad trestle, a long-abandoned barn. Our favorite Winter Hike along Falls Lake.

Evenings

September 8 — Brumley Forest North, Hillsborough. 3 miles. Sunset: 8:35 p.m., twilight ends: 9:03. p.m.. A mix of meadows, ponds and mature forest make ideal features for enjoying sunset.

October 13 — Pennys Bend Nature Preserve, Durham. 3.2 miles. Sunset 6:44 p.m., twilight ends: 7:08 p.m.

A lollipop loop that goes out along the Eno River, returns, in part, through a Piedmont prairie.

November 10 —  Mountains-to-Sea Trail at Falls Lake: Dayhike Section M, Durham County. 3

miles. Sunset: 5:13 p.m., Twilight ends: 5:39 p.m.. We’ll hike west on the MST through one of the more mature forests the trail encounters along Falls Lake. There’s a small waterfall a mile in.

December 8 — Mountains-to-Sea Trail at Falls Lake, Dayhike Section T, 3 miles. Durham. Sunset: 5:13 p.m., Twilight ends: 5:38 p.m.. A hike we recently rediscovered after a long absence, we begin at Red Mill Road and hike west on the MST, mostly through bottomland forest until a climb takes us to our turnaround and a bluff overlooking the Eno River.