Description

Welcome to our Winter/Spring 2025 Sunday Monthly Hike Series! This series offers 8 guided hikes, 6 on the first Sunday of the month, plus two bonus Sunday hikes to kick off 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. Each recommendation comes with a GetHiking! eguide, which includes map, route description and general information about the hike.  

This series provides you the incentive to keep hiking through winter, and the opportunity to explore new trails while enjoying the camaraderie of fellow hikers. We focus on the trails less traveled, at the times less traveled.  

What: 8 Sunday hikes on trails in the Triangle.

Experience level: Our hikes are geared toward hikers with some experience. That doesn’t mean you have to be fast; we lead our hikes from the rear, so no one is left behind. 

When: First Sunday of every month, January through June, plus the third Sunday of January (MLK Weekend) and the fourth Sunday of March (welcome Spring!). Hikes begin at 9 a.m.

Includes:

• The Wednesday before each hike you’ll receive an eguide for each hike, including map, route description, route overview, directions and other details. (Every Friday we send a hike reminder along with a look at the weather.)
• GetHiking! Guide to 25 Triangle Trails
• GetHiking! Guide to Winter Hiking

Cost: $175, $295 for couples and families

Questions?  Email me at joe@getgoingnc.com.

Where we hike

January 5  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.

January 19  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.  

February 2  Mountains-to-Sea Trail at Falls Lake, DH-C,D  (Bayleaf Road to Possum Track), Raleigh, 6 miles. This rolling stretch of trail along Falls Lake offers  a surprising amount of  variety, taking in signs of the pre-lake past, and forest ranging from young cedar to mature hardwood.

March 2  Mountains-to-Sea Trail, DH-P (Hickory Hill Boat Ramp), 6 miles. A great trail for spotting the first trout lilies, spring beauties and other signs of emerging spring.  It’s been rerouted in spots, so even if you’ve hiked this trail, if you haven’t hiked it recently you’re in for a surprise.

March 23 Cane Creek Mountain Natural Area: Oak Hill Trailhead, Snow Camp, 6 miles. A bonus Sunday  hike to welcome Spring (which arrives on March 20) at this new network that’s similar to the Uwharrie Mountains, but without the drive.

April 6  Horton Grove Nature Preserve, Bahama, 6 miles. A GetHiking! favorite, this Triangle Land  Conservancy property north of Durham is good in any season, but especially in spring, where a rich mix of hardwood canopy and understory captures the pastel blooms of spring.

May 4  Haw River State Trail, Glencoe, 6 miles. Experience the newest North Carolina State Trail with this ramble along the wild Haw interspersed with visits to the textile mills that once flourished along the river. 

June 1  Mountains-to-Sea Trail, DH-K (NC 50), Wake Forest, 7.2 miles. The longest stretch of the MST along Falls Lake, this link between NC 50 and NC 98 does an especially good job of  making you forget you’re in an urban area.