This year, the American Hiking Society, the official clearinghouse for National Trails Day events, lists  508 NTD events. Thirteen events are scheduled in North Carolina, 14 in Virginia. Keep in mind this is not a complete listing: Virginia State Parks alone is holding more than 100 events Saturday, North Carolina State Parks has 10. North Carolina’s Great Trails State Coalition events page lists a dozen.

Instead of highlighting a handful, we are providing links where you can find the events closest to you and best suited to your interests. The important thing is to simply get out and enjoy your trails this Saturday, June 1, National Trails Day.

• 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

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Today, we offer some of our favorite resources and explain why. Links to these resources are included.  

Scouting, planning, execution

alltrails.com — Where we start when looking at a new trail or area to explore. Of all the crowd-sourced trail sites, we’ve found this one to be the most extensive and most accurate (though not 100 percent so). The free version provides access to the database of trails, including maps and elevation profiles. Go Pro and you can print out maps and download them to your mobile device for GPS tracking in the field. It also lets you map your own route.

Trail status, road conditions

Especially this time of year, when venturing into the high country it’s important to check ahead and make sure the trails, and the roads leading to them, are open. Here are some of the more prominent locations where you may find yourself seeking such information.

• North Carolina State Parks
• Croatan, Nantahala, Pisgah and Uwharrie National Forests
• Virginia State Parks
• Appalachian Trail
• Blue Ridge Parkway
• N.C. Department of Transportation
• Great Smoky Mountains National Park
• North Carolina State Parks
• North Carolina National Forests (Croatan, Pisgah, Nantahala, Uwharrie)
• Virginia Department of Transportation
• Shenandoah National Park
• Virginia National Forests (George Washington and Jefferson)
• Virginia State Parks  

sunrise-sunset.org  — Plug your location into the site and you can find, by date, the start of twilight, sunrise, sunset, end of twilight, day length, solar noon, and the start and end of both nautical twilight and astronomical twilight.

Leave No Trace — Most of us know the basic seven principles of Leave No Trace: 1. Plan Ahead and Prepare; 2. Travel & Camp on Durable Surfaces; 3. Dispose of Waste Properly; 4. Leave What You Find; 5. Minimize Campfire Impacts; 6. Respect Wildlife; 7. Be Considerate of Other Visitors. But do you know what these seven principles entail? Be a better outdoorsy type by becoming better versed in the specifics of Leave No Trace, at the Center for Outdoor Ethics’s Leave No Trace website.

Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail — Looking to hike a portion of the 1,175-mile MST, which runs the length of North Carolina from Clingmans Dome on the Tennessee line to Jockey’s Ridge at the coast? The Friends site includes online guides to the entire trail, guides that tell you, mile by mile, where you can get on and off the trail, where there’s water, what the terrain is like and more. Some recommended day hikes are included.

Fire Weather Intelligence Portal —Developed by the State Climate Office of North Carolina, the Fire Weather Intelligence Portal provides current fire danger ratings throughout North Carolina for 13 states in the Southeast. It assesses fire danger by looking at relative humidity, air temperature, and wind speed and direction.

Campsite Assist — Finding a campsite at the last minute can be a tedious task, especially considering that campsites can be reserved up to a year an advance. But a lot of those reservations get canceled at the last minute, and when they are you can find them on Campsite Assist, a part of CampsitePhotos.com. In fact, they’ll even send you an alert for campsites you express an interest in.

A Virtual Wildflower Garden Across Time — Right about now’s the time spring wildflowers start popping up in the Piedmont. And if you don’t know a trout lily from a trillium, you need to bookmark this site. It helps you identify wildflowers by color, location and by when you’re most likely to see them. Invaluable for any lover of spring.

Skywatching — Is there anything more enthralling than the night sky? You gaze to the heavens on a clear, moonless night and realize — you have no idea what you’re looking at. Unless you have access to space.com‘s Skywatching page. What planets are visible, the constellations, the space station’s path — it’s all here.

General hiking information

Volunteer Vacations — Intrigued by the notion of a “vacation” where you work your behind off to improve the outdoor experience? If so, here’s good news: there are lots of opportunities out there and you can find them on the American Hiking Society’s Volunteer Vacations page.

American Hiking Society — A good resource for all things hiking, especially if you’re just starting out and find yourself full of questions. 

National Trails Day — The first Saturday in June — that would be June 4 this year — we give back to the trails we love, through hundreds of projects nationwide designed to celebrate and enhance our trails. Start checking this site in May for an NTD event near you.

Hiking the AT for $400 — Thinking about hiking the Appalachian Trail? Then you likely have a few questions, questions that likely can be answered on the Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s FAQ page.

Got a few minutes to kill?

fastestknowntimes.com — Until two years ago, FKTs — Fastest Known Times — were limited to the likes of the Appalachian Trail, the Mountains-to-Sea Trail … the big boys. Then the pandemic hit and people found themselves with a lot of free time and the only safe place to spend it outside. Outside, on the trail, going really fast, apparently, because now just about every trail you know has an FKT, which is likely documented here.

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GetHiking! enewsletter

Interested in subscribing to our free weekly enewsletter? In it, you’ll find a man story examining some aspect of trail life, what hikes are upcoming in our eight GetHiking! chapters in North Carolina and Virginia, as well as gear recommendations, media reviews, hiking tips, and even more resources. Sign up by emailing us at info@getgoingnc.com.

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For the past 25 years, the first Saturday of June has been—by decree of the American Hiking Society—National Trails Day, a day dedicated to celebrating our nation’s thousands of miles of hiking and biking trails. Sometimes, that celebration takes the form of a hike, sometimes a bike ride. Often, it’s a trail workday, reminding us that the vast majority of our natural surface trails would not be possible without volunteers. A professional land manager may oversee the blazing and design of the trails, but when it comes to the work of actually clearing the paths— and maintaining them—that’s largely the work of volunteers.

For instance, on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail—which spans North Carolina from Clingman’s Dome in the west to Jockey’s Ridge on the Atlantic— all of the nearly 700 miles of trail that currently exist were built by volunteers. In 2017 alone, volunteers put in 36,000 hours on the trail, according to Friends of the MST Outreach Manager Betsy Brown. On the Appalachian Trail, the 2,190-mile length is maintained by 31 regional hiking clubs in 14 states. (See below for clubs in North Carolina and Virginia.)

We do love our trails. And Saturday is an especially good day to show that love by participating in one of the nearly 1,000 NTD events planned nationwide (including 55 in Virginia and 35 in North Carolina). Here’s a sampling of 10 in North Carolina and Virginia:

GetHiking! Mountains-to-Sea Trail at Falls Lake

Durham, NC

9 a.m.

GetHiking! celebrates National Trails Day with a 6-mile hike on the MST through the Triangle. This particular stretch follows edge forest, passes old farm ponds, crosses meadows, explores Piedmont history dating back a half century and more.

Details here.

Troutville Trail Days

Troutville, VA

4:30 p.m.

Along the line of the big Trails Day in Damascus, Va., Troutville, also located on the AT, has it’s own AT celebration, with guided hikes, live music and a range of vendors.

Details here.

Beyond the Trailhead

Luray, VA

9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

For anyone who’s ever driven Skyline Drive and wondered what those trail signs were about, Shenandoah National Park and the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club’s Trail Patrol aim to show you with guided hikes.

Details here.

Celebrate the Park

Newport News, VA

10 a.m.

Mariners’ Museum hosts a trail extravaganza, with hikes, food and lots of stuff for kids to do.

Details here.

National Trails Day and Clean the Bay

York River State Park, Williamsburg, VA

8 a.m. – 6 p.m.

A clean-up followed by a Past Plantation Tour, hike of the Osprey Trail, and kids fishing tournament.

Details here.

Uwharrie Trail Hike

Asheboro

9 a.m.

Hike

Sponsor: Uwharrie Trailblazers hiking club

Six-mile hike that culminates with a climb to the top of Little Long Mountain, a cleared plateau that offers the best views of central North Carolina’s Uwharrie Mountains.

Details here.

NTD at Durant Nature Preserve

Raleigh

9 a.m. to noon

Workday

Sponsor: City of Raleigh Parks & Rec.

Get hands-on experience maintaining a trail. Rakes, pitchforks and wheelbarrows provided; you bring a water bottle, sturdy boots and clothes you don’t mind getting dirty.

Details here.

Take a Hike at Brunswick Nature Park

Winnabow (near Wilmington)

9 a,m.

Hike

Sponsor: NC Coastal Land Trust

North Carolina’s land trusts play an often unsung role in protecting valuable natural areas and providing us with unique places to explore. This 2.5-mile hike lead by the NC Coastal Land Trust takes you through one of them.

Details here.

Panthertown Valley Picnic and Expo

Glenville (near Cashiers)

11 a.m.

Hike, bike ride

Sponsor: Friends of Panthertown Valley

There’s a picnic at Salt Rock Gap (one of the main entrances to Panthertown), followed by a hike. You can also learn more about mountain biking, fishing, rock climbing and more in the area.

Details here.

NTD on the Carolina Thread Trail

Cramerton (Charlotte area)

10 a.m.

Hike, kids activities

Sponsor: Hike It Baby

Some day, the Carolina Thread Trail hopes to link 15 counties in the Charlotte area with trails; this hike is on one of segment of that emerging chain — the 0.7-mile Goat Island Greenway and South Fork River Blueway (a paddle trail running 8.4 miles downstream; it is not part of the day’s adventure).

Details here.

Happy trails!

Joe

Learn more 

For more events in North Carolina, Virginia and elsewhere, visit the American Hiking Society’s National Trails Day page here.

AT maintenance clubs in NC and Virginia: 

North Carolina clubs are the Carolina Mountain Club, Nantahala Hiking Club and the Piedmont Appalachian Trail Hikers, and in Virginia, there’s the Old Dominion Appalachian Trail Club, Tidewater Appalachian Trail Club, Natural Bridge Appalachian Trail Club, Outdoor Club at Virginia Tech, Roanoke Appalachian Trail Club, and Mount Rogers Appalachian Trail Club

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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.

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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.

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

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The sponsoring American Hiking Society lists 31 National Trails Day events in North Carolina. From that list, which you can find in its entirety here, we’ve pulled three activities — at the coast, in the Piedmont and in the mountains — that we think you’ll find particularly appealing.

Coast

The Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge occupies 153,000 acres of some of the most ecologically impressive terrain in North Carolina. Situated on a spit of rich organic and mineral soils on a peninsula between the mainland and the Outer Banks, the refuge is known largely for its diverse cast of critters, black bears, red wolves, coyotes and alligators among them.

But it also supports a range of ecosystems, including Atlantic white cedar forest, bay forest, brackish and freshwater marshes, cyrpress-gum forest, freshwater lakes and ponds, high shrub pocosins … the list goes on. It’s one of those places where you wish you knew at least a few of the key players.

That can happen Saturday, on a Plant and Tree ID Hike in the refuge. Local plant expert Bob Glennon leads a hike not only identifying plants but explaining the role they play in the overall scheme of things. The hike is on the half-mile-long, handicap accessible Creef Cut Trail.

Logistics: Saturday, 9 a.m.-10 p.m., Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, off Milltail Road. For more information call 252.475.4180 or visit here.

Saturday forecast: High of 77, chance of rain.

Looking ahead: From National Trails Day this Saturday to National Get Outdoors Day next Saturday, the outdoors celebration continues. As part of NGOD, Dismal Swamp State Park is holding a Summer Paddle at 1 p.m. on Saturday, June 13, all equipment included. More info by calling 252.771.6593.

Piedmont

Here in the U.S., we largely hike to forget. OK, perhaps “forget” is a little extreme, suggesting that we hike with a hiking staff in one hand, a bottle in the other. Rather, we hike to help cope with the stress of often chaotic lives. Put us on a trail, let our minds wander, we’re happy.

They likely hike for similar reasons in Germany and in the rest of Europe, but they also tend to hike with a sense of purpose, banding together into “volksmarch” clubs and hiking predetermined routes based on intriguing points of interest. And, they also like to get credit for their hikes, earning stamps, pins and patches on their merry, marching way.

Saturday, the Triangle Volksmarch will give locals a sense of the volksmarch ethic. Sponsored by N.C. State Parks, Public Lands Every Day and Great Outdoor Provision Co., this 5.6-mile hike will bridge the N.C. Museum of Art and Umstead State Park, with stops along the way at the Prairie Ridge EcoStation and N.C. State University’s Schenck Forest. Each location yields a learning experience — and a stamp! Afterwards, from 4-7 p.m., attend an after party at Great Outdoor Provision Co. in Raleigh’s Cameron Village.

Hike on your own anytime between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., or tag along with GetHiking! Triangle, which will start at 2 p.m.

Logistics: Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., N.C. Museum of Art/Umstead State Park (Harrison Avenue entrance), Raleigh. For information on the hike and for related activities throughout the day, go here. If you’d like to march with GetHiking! Triangle, go here for details and to sign up.

Saturday forecast: Partly cloudy, high of 85 with, of course, a chance of afternoon thunderstorms.

Looking ahead: Also on the agenda for National Get Outdoors Day: A 3-mile Get Outdoors Hike at Hanging Rock State Park to House Rock for a “free “Home Tour” of every room – rarely seen by visitors.” Intrigued? Call 336.593.8480 for details.

Mountains

We hate it when a trail network closes, even temporarily. We love it, though, when it reopens, new and improved.

Saturday is the grand reopening of the eight-mile Emerald Outback trail network at Beech Mountain. Initially a hiking trail, the trail has been redesigned to accommodate hikers and mountain bikers. The system is a mix of single- and double-track trail, and takes in lots of great views from Beech Mountain’s 5,400-foot summit (it bills itself as “one of the highest trail parks east of the Rockies”). In spots, you’ll be reminded of biking/hiking in the West.

The grand opening includes guided hikes and bike rides, food, live entertainment, clinics and if you don’t have a bike, demos will be available for loan.

Logistics: Saturday, 10 a.m. until nighttime, Beech Mountain. Free, for more information, go here.

Saturday forecast: High of 73, partly cloudy in the morning, a growing chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon.

Looking ahead: Afraid that you’ve missed the spring wildflower season? They’re still out in the higher elevations, such as Mount Jefferson State Natural Area, site of a Wildflower Hike Saturday, June 13, at 2 p.m. Call 336.246.9653 for details.

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Those are our thoughts on the weekend. Find more options at the sources listed below.

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