Cool, cloudy, chance of rain. Some people see that as a forecast for a Netflix weekend. We see it as a trail fix weekend.
Three weeks ago, we spent a cool, wet Sunday hiking 12 miles on the Tanawha Trail at the base of Grandfather Mountain. Perhaps a little wetter than we would have preferred, but one thing is for sure: for the 25 or so folks on the hike, it was one memorable day.
The forecast for this weekend isn’t quite as wet. It is, however, supposed to be cool, with mountain temperatures expected to stay in the 60s. A good weekend to kick off your fall hiking season.
Where might I kick it off? you inquire.
Here are five hikes we especially like on cool, wet days. Included are links where you can find more information on how to plan and execute your hike.

1. Price Lake Loop, 2.7 miles. Blue Ridge Parkway, Milepost 297. This easy hike hugs the lake on a rhododendron-lined trail. Even if you can’t see Grandfather Mountain (which you can on a clear day), the fog-shrouded lake is a nice treat. More info here.
2. Cataloochee Valley, various lengths. Great Smoky Mountains National Park. When clouds settle into the valley, the sense of isolation felt this long-abandoned community must have felt is underscored. Hike among the buildings remaining from the valley’s pre-park days — the church, the school, various homes — or do any number of circuit hikes, including a 9.5-mile hike including the Rough Fork, Caldwell Fork and Big Fork Ridge trails. More info here.
3. Linville Gorge (east rim),14.1 miles (shorter options available). Pisgah National Forest near Linville. Descending into the gorge on a rainy day can be scary — and dangerous. But stick to the east rim between Table Rock and Shortoff Mountain and you’ll get a sense of the foreboding below, but on a relatively flat stretch of trail. More info here.
4. Schoolhouse Ridge, Wilson Creek, 5.6-mile loop, Pisgah National Forest near Mortimer. Unless you’re into multiple creek crossings with moving water above your knees, Wilson Creek is an area to avoid when it rains — with the exception of Schoolhouse Ridge. There’s water and a waterfall at the trailhead, but from there the trail takes the high road, climbing through a drainage, returning along Schoolhouse Ridge. More info here.
5. Basin Cove, 10-18 miles, Doughton Park, Blue Ridge Parkway. The hard-core turn this climb from the base of Doughton Park to the top and back into an 18-mile ordeal. The soft-core opt for the 10-mile out-and-back to the Caudil Cabin along a trail that follows Basin Creek the entire way. Unless the rain is torrential, the creek handles water well, and the climb through rocks and pines is especially memorable in the rain. More info here.

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Coast

Lake Waccamaw State Park, Lake Waccamaw. Lakeshore Trail, 5 miles. More info here.
This coastal plain trail takes in a little of everything on its journey from the Visitors Center along the shore of this Carolina Bay to the Waccamaw River. According to the park website, the trail “cuts through a pine forest, past one of the oldest stands of cypress trees in the area, under towering hickory trees, alongside grass beds in the lake that provide cover for a variety of fish species and beside sandy beaches perfect for picnicking or pausing to gaze across the lake.” Expect a variety of color. Learn more about the park — including where the heck it is and how to get there — at its website. Enhance your visit by going on Saturday, Dec. 21, and signing on for the Holiday Hike, a ranger-led hike focusing on winter tree ID.

Piedmont

Uwharrie National Recreation Trail, Uwharrie National Forest, 40 miles, with shorter options (Trip No. 36, “Backpacking North Carolina,” Hike No. 37, “100 Classic Hikes in North Carolina”). Details on the forest here. Back in the 1970s, when the Uwharrie Trail was originally blazed, it covered 50 miles and was a popular backpack destination for regional scout troops. Fittingly, it was those very troops who helped build the trail. Parts of the trail later fell into disrepair; the useable part of the trail dropped by half. But the Uwharrie Trail is on the rebound: Early this month a new 4-mile run opened linking the 20-mile Uwharrie National Recreation Trail to the south with a trail network in the Birkhead Mountain Wilderness Area, creating 40 miles of continuous trail. The growing trail provides access through the Uwharrie National Forest, site of an ancient mountain chain where peaks once climbed to 20,000 feet but today fall short of 1,000. Quick climbs through this Southern Appalachian hardwood forest are greeted not with peaks but rounded ridgelines featuring chunks of exposed granite. Lower passages are often along several creeks that penetrate this mid-state national forest. Three roads cross the trail, making for shorter, shuttled options.

Greensboro watershed lakes, 42 miles total, short hikes of as little as a mile. Details here. Falls is a great time for hiking. Alas, it’s also a great time for several other activities, starting with watching college and pro football. Much as you’d like to hit the road for a day trip in the mountains, kickoff is at 1. What’s a sports fan to do? Hike closer to home. Triad residents have numerous good options around the three watershed lakes — Brandt, Townsend and Higgins — north of town. Forty-two miles of watershed hiking trails take you through a variety of environments. The 1.6-mile Palmetto Trail, for instance, features some interesting geology; the 3.6-mile Nat Greene Trail offers a smorgasbord of Piedmont ecology.

Mountains

Doughton Park: Basin Cove Loop, Blue Ridge Parkway near Boone, 7-18 miles (Trip No. 11 “Backpacking North Carolina”). This trip has all sorts of options. Starting from Longbottom Road at Basin Creek you immediately have three: To the north, Cedar Ridge Trail takes you up to the Parkway near the Brinegar Cabin, where you can catch the Bluff Mountain Trail south through the vast meadows and balds that make Doughton Park a popular Blue Ridge Parkway destination. To the south, Flat Rock Ridge Trail traces another ridgeline up to the Parkway, where you’ll take Bluff Mountain Trail north through Doughton Park. Straight takes you up Grassy Gap Trail to a primitive campground where three options await. The 2-plus-mile Bluff Mountain Primitive Trail takes you straight up the escarpment to Doughton while the southern veering Grassy Gap Trail, following old roadbed, is the most mellow way to reach the top. Or, take the Basin Creek Trail up a narrow canyon where falls seem to trip over themselves for your attention. The trail ends at the one-room Caudill cabin, where a determined couple raised 13 kids more than a century ago. Not a bad option in the bunch.

Sam Knob Loop (Trip No. 14, “Backpacking North Carolina”). This loop off the Blue Ridge Parkway on the edge of the Shining Rock Wilderness is the ideal spring opener. It’s not too long (8.2 miles), water is assured but, at this altitude (between 5,000 and 6,000 feet) not an obstacle, and there’s just enough climbing to wake your hibernating legs, but not enough to make them wake grumpy. Plus, mile-for-mile it may be the most scenic trip in the book, taking in just about every type of southern Appalachian landscape — from balsam forest to rocky knob to open meadow and tight rhododendron passage — imaginable. A good overnight trek.

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Come summer, with its 90/90 days (heat/humidity) the last thing on most of our minds is a long hike in the woods. Oceans of sweat, acres of trail-clogging cobwebs, no hydration pack big enough to sate your insatiable thirst. Very understandable, this hike aversion — if you don’t know where to go. For if you do, there are plenty of trails — from North Carolina’s steamy coast, to the stuffy Piedmont to the sun-drenched high country — ideal for summer exploring.

At the coast, you’re wise to incorporate a really large body of saline water in your hike plan. Water is likewise a key ingredient in the Piedmont, though the occasional alpine anomaly also offers relief. In the Appalachians, refreshing waterfalls and elevation combine to offer escape.

We’ve compiled a list of 25 hikes that are especially well-suited to a North Carolina summer, five at the coast, 10 each in the Piedmont and the high country. You can find additional information on each at the links provided and in the references mentioned, “100 Classic Hikes in North Carolina” and “Backpacking North Carolina.”

Let your summer hiking adventure begin here.

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