Some folks, even avid hikers, have a knee-jerk reaction to backpacking. To the perceived discomfort, the perceived inconvenience, the perceived difficulty. Backpacking’s sometimes negative image is, in our opinion, a perception problem.

To put backcountry adventure in the proper perspective (meaning “our” perspective) we revisit a piece from 2019 that describes a trip some would, based on the start, view as a nightmare of a weekend. Or at lease a weekend filled with discomfort, inconvenience, difficulty. Stick with it though, and we think your perception might change. Or at least the way you view your fellow backpackers.

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We hiked in three miles in the cold (about 40 degrees), the rain (roughly two inches would fall over a 36-hour period), the dark. The one consolation? The frozen rain that was forecast failed to materialize.

In the end, our trip to the Birkhead Mountain Wilderness was the best trip in a year full of pretty great trips.

Why? Because backpackers are a little different. They start out as regular day hikers. Short, hour-long hikes at first. Then half days that become full days. Then one day the sun is setting and they aren’t ready to leave the trail. So they take the next logical step and make it so they don’t have to. They become backpackers.

If you haven’t made it to backpacking yet, you may be wondering how cold and rain and dark translate to a great weekend. Here’s how:

The forecast

Backpack enough and you learn to take the forecast into consideration, but you don’t take it as gospel. The forecast for our trip started out with a good chance of freezing rain. Then the rain window became a moving target: maybe it would begin Thursday and end Friday night, maybe it would begin in the wee hours of Friday and run through mid afternoon Saturday. Rain looked like a given, cold likewise. Consider those two factors as givens and it shouldn’t matter when they might occur.

Get a plan

Set up dry and you should stay dry. Since it looked like rain was a good possibility upon arriving at our campsite, we took an extra tarp, an 18’ x 18’ piece of super light polycro — that two of us could take turns holding while a third camper pitched his tent underneath. The weight and space investment was minimal in light of the benefit of setting up dry. A good bet, it turned out, since it was indeed raining when we set up camp Friday night around 8:30.

The plan also included making sure everyone came equipped with rain gear, either an adequate poncho or rain jacket and pants. It was a little over 3 miles to camp, about an hour and fifteen minutes of hiking in, yes, a steady rain. Again, good planning, a good investment of weight, that polycro.

The likelihood of rain also meant bringing extra clothes. Rain gear may keep out the rain, but even when the temperature’s a nippy 40, wearing it and hiking in full pack will build up some heat making sweating is inevitable, even with the best rain gear. Layers that get even a little moist stay that way unless the weather turns dry and sunny.

Always look on the bright side of life

Another consequence of hiking in the rain: crossing rain-swollen creeks.

In our case, the forecast did suggest the rain would end, anywhere from mid-morning Saturday to late in the day. Cloudless skies were forecast for Sunday. It was a forecast that made any inconvenience, any discomfort on the front end worth the trip if there was a chance of hiking a stark, winter forest under a bright sun.

Saturday, we set out about 9:30 a.m. for a 10-mile day-hike in the Birkheads. It was moody when we hit the trail, but not raining. We had a very light spritz around lunch. Around 3, the sun made its first appearance, breaking out for good around sunset.

Saturday sunset

Here’s where putting up with a rain early on started to pay off. As we were sitting around the fire having dinner, Aaron stopped. “Look at the sunset!” We all stopped and looked west and south, where the late-day sun was peeking over a lingering bank of low-level clouds. We readjusted to take in the sunset, which lingered for a good hour, switching from yellow to pink to orange to crimson to deep crimson. Our camp was atop one of the wilderness area’s rounded peaks: devoid of its canopy, we had a good view of the glowing Uwharrie Mountains to the south and west. Sunset held our attention until it was dark, the fire and its warmth for about an hour after that. When our supply of both was exhausted and we started to feel the temperature plunge into the 30s, we retired for the night.

Sunday sunrise breakfast

As promised, the day dawned with nary a cloud. We packed up, hiked out, then drove about 20 minutes to a trail leading less than a mile to the lone unobstructed view on the Uwharrie Trail, atop 922-foot Little Long Mountain.

Almost everyone loves a view. Not everyone is willing to work for it. When you do, though, it’s all-the-more special. It wasn’t the eight-tenths-of-a-mile hike up to Little Long Mountain that made the view so stellar. If that were all it took, the view would have simply been “nice.” But for us, the view was a full-circle, 180-degree, zero-to-60 special viewing. We’d begun the weekend in a drenching rain, set up camp wet, spent Saturday hiking under a threatening sky. Saturday evening’s sunset marked the turning point, the start of being well-rewarded for our patience and perseverance. The forecast had promised a carrot and we were gnawing at it like Bugs Bunny. It got better with Sunday’s magnificent sunrise, with the dry hike out from camp, with the summit of Little Long Mountain.

To us, standing atop Little Long, taking in the sweeping view, soaking up the warming sun, basking in the quiet, the experience wasn’t just nice.

It was why we do this.

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Intro to Backpacking

While we won’t announce our full first-half 2022 lineup until next week, we are announcing that registration is open for our first GetBackpacking! Intro to Backpacking class of the year. This three-part class includes a 1.5-hour Gear session via Zoom on Wednesday, Feb. 23; a 5-hour in-field training session at Morrow Mountain State Park on Saturday, March 5; and a weekend graduation trip to South Mountains State Park March 18-20. Some loaner gear is available. For a full rundown of the course and to register, go here.

The post Why we backpack appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Piedmont

1. Umstead State Park: Company Mill Trail with Sycamore Loop
10 miles
Raleigh
A figure-eight double lollipop loop that exposes you to the best of Umstead. Starting from the Harrison Avenue entrance to Umstead (a k a the Reedy Creek entrance) on the Company Mill Trail, top three small ridges on your way to Crabtree Creek. Cross the green metal bridge and go right. You’ll follow Crabtree for a spell, climb to the bike and bridle trail that bisects the park and continue across. Shortly, you’ll hit a kiosk indicating a short spur to the Sycamore Trail; follow it to another B&B trail, go left over the bridge, then pick up Sycamore just past the bridge, to the right. There’s a half-mile stretch along Sycamore Creek (quite lively just after or during a rain), then the trail climbs through the hardwood Piedmont forest prevalent throughout before crossing another B&B. Within a quarter mile, the trail Ts. To get in your full 10 miles, go right to yet another B&B crossing, then turn and complete the opposite side of the Sycamore-Company Mill figure-eight. Lots of up-and-down, but nothing sustained. No water along the way (don’t risk filtering these urban creeks), so pack plenty.
Trailhead: 2100 N. Harrison Ave,, Cary. 

More info, including a map, at the Umstead State Park website.

2. Uwharrie National Forest: Birkhead Mountain Wilderness lollipop loop
11.8 miles
Asheboro
Starting from the trailhead off Tot Hill Road, you’ll hike the Birkhead Mountain Trail south for two miles before hitting the popular loop that Boy Scouts, among others, have been using for years to cut their backpacking teeth. Where the Robbins Branch Trail enters from the right, continue straight on the Birkhead for two miles. Note along the way that despite the fact this is a designated wilderness, the trail is well blazed. After two miles, go right on the Hannahs Creek Trail, where, for the first time, you abandon ridgelines in favor of passages along holly-clogged creeks. After a mile and a half, go right on the Robbins Branch Trail, which climbs a rocky (for the Piedmont) ridgeline before dropping to its namesake creek and rejoining the Birkhead after 3.2 miles. Go left for the two-mile return to your car. You can filter water from Hannahs Creek and Robbins Branch, though both run low in summer and during dry weather.
Trailhead: 3091 Tot Hill Farm Road, Asheboro.
More info here.

3. Uwharrie National Forest: Uwharrie National Recreation Trail
25.3 miles
Troy/Asheboro
The Uwharrie National Recreation Trail has long been the default long hike for Boy Scouts in the Piedmont. In part, that was because it was the only game in town — and what a game it was, extending 50 miles at one point in the 1970s. The trail shrank in the 1980s and 1990s, but has since rebounded and is back up to about 40 miles. This stretch remains the classic Uwharrie Trail. Starting from the trailhead off NC 24/27, the trail heads north through what was once a mighty mountain range, with peaks topping 20,000 feet. Today, nothing along the trail reaches 1,000 feet, and while the climbs aren’t Appalachian, they’re more sustained than any you’ll find elsewhere in the Piedmont. It’s a good workout, and great training for backpackers prepping for a mountain trip. Several small waterways cross paths with the trail and can be filtered — when they’re running.
Trailheads: The southern trailhead is 9.3 miles west of Troy on NC 24/27; the northern trailhead is at 6871 High Pine Church Road, Asheboro.
More info: For information on hiking the Uwharries, consult the “Uwharrie Lakes Region Trail Guide,” by Don Childrey, here; find a detailed trip description of the 22.9-mile hike from NC 24/27 to the Jumpingoff Rock Trailhead in “Backpacking North Carolina” (UNC Press, 2011).

4. Hanging Rock State Park: Moore’s Knob and Indian Creek trails
5.5 / 11.5 miles
Danbury
Starting from the Visitor Center, the 4.3-mile Moore’s Knob Loop Trail makes a dandy warm-up. It starts innocently, passing the lake and bathouse, then probing a tunnel of holly. About a mile in, it’s time to get down to business, with a long ridge ascent to Moore’s Knob. It’s a bit relentless, this climb, getting rockier and ridgier the higher you get. The payoff: great 360 views from the observation tower atop Moore’s Knob. Continue the loop back to the Visitor Center for Round 2. The Indian Creek Trail descends, along with scores of hikers, to Hidden and Window falls. Return to the Visitor Center from here and it’s a 5.5-mile hike. Continue another three miles to the Dan River and back and you’re at 11.5.
Trailhead: Visitor Center, 1790 Hanging Rock Park Road, Danbury
More info here.

5. Crowders Mountain State Park/Kings Mountain State Park (S.C.): Ridgeline Trail
5.5, 9, 12 miles
Gastonia
The 6.2-mile Ridgeline Trail joins two state parks (Crowders Mountain and Kings Mountain) and the Kings Mountain National Military Park, plus it involves two states, which gives you added bragging rights. Starting from the Crowders Mountain Visitor Center, hike to the base of Kings Pinnacle and don’t pass the opportunity to take the short spur to the top for great views. Back on the Ridgeline Trail, continue south through rolling Piedmont countryside. Near the south end of Crowders Mountain State Park, you’ll see a sign for the Boulders Access area; turn around here for a 9-mile hike (for a 5.5-mile hike, turn around at NC 161). The Ridgeline Trail officially ends at South Carolina state line — but you can continue on into the Palmetto State, which is dead flat to Kings Mountain State Park. To avoid the crowds, start from the Boulders Access, 108 Van Dyke Road, Kings Mountain.
Trailhead: Sparrow Springs Access and Visitor Center, Crowders Mountain State Park, 522 Park Office Lane.
More info here.

6. Eno River: Mountains-to-Sea Trail
7.8 miles
Durham and Orange counties
Starting from the west, at the Pleasant Green Access, hike under Pleasant Green Road bridge, up a bluff overlooking the Eno, around an abandoned quarry, through surprising stretches of steep climbs and sharp drops. You’ll part ways with the Eno, then you’ll reunite. At one point, pass the impressive foundation of a lodge that once stood atop a bluff over the Eno. This is perhaps the most challenging stretch of trail along the Eno. Pass under Cole Mill Road and the trail mellows, heading through flood plain forest and occasionally taking a more upland route. Your turnaround is the old pump station, which a century ago supplied water to Durham. Poke around the remains, a brick foundation, have lunch, then hike back the way you came.
Trailhead: 4770 Pleasant Green Road, Durham.
More info: Find detailed descriptions of the two sections making up this stretch on the Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail website.

7. Mountains-to-Sea Trail at Falls Lake
21.8 miles
Wake and Durham counties
The Mountains-to-Sea Trail runs 60 miles along the south shore of Falls Lake through the Triangle. With the trail broken down into 18 day-hike sections, ranging in length from just under a mile to nearly seven, there are plenty of 20-mile(ish) permutations. Here’s a favorite. Starting from the Falls Lake ranger station off NC 50, hike west. Immediately, you are in the most remote stretch of the MST along Falls Lake, a nearly seven-mile run where signs of your fellow humans are rare (save for the remains of an old tobacco barn and what appears to have been a commercial chicken coop). The trail ducks in and out of coves on the lake, loses sight of it occasionally, has some boardwalked, swampy passages. At Little Lick Creek there’s an impressive pedestrian footbridge followed by an impressively narrow and long boardwalk. From there, it’s more hiking typical of a Piedmont hardwood forest. This 21.8-mile stretch concludes at the Hickory Hill Boat Ramp: no facilities but lots of parking. There is no water along the way; be sure to pack in plenty.
Trailhead: 14700 Creedmoor Road, Wake Forest
More info: For more information on navigating this stretch and for scouting your own 20-mile hike on the MST at Falls Lake, go here.

8. Sauratown Trail
Between Pilot Mountain and Hanging Rock state parks
21.6 miles
Though part of the statewide hiking-centric Mountains-to-Sea Trail, the Sauratown Trail originally was built for equestrians. As a result, it often exhibits a slightly more rugged feel. For instance, instead of a footbridge over every wet spot, you have running creeks that are rock-hopped. Also, horses apparently have less of a problem with direct assaults on climbs, adding a vigorous ascent or two. All of which underscores the particular allure of this trail: its naturalness. The trail is never hard to find, but you’ll know you’re not on a finely groomed state park trail. Starting from Pilot Mountain, the trail heads east, tracing the north flank of Sauratown Mountain. There are some particularly scenic passages, including a waterfall or two that would seem more appropriate about 75 miles to the west, along the Blue Ridge escarpment. There’s a doozy of a climb when the trail reaches Hanging Rock State Park, but you’re rewarded with great views from atop Moore’s Knob. End your hike at the Hanging Rock Visitor Center. Note: Much of this trail is on private land, access generously granted from local landowners. Occasionally, land changes hands and the new land owner may not be as keen about a public trail. Thus, trail rerouting is common, and is well documented on the Sauratown Trails Association website.
Trailheads: Pilot Mountain State Park Visitor Center, 1792 Pilot Knob Park Road, Pinnacle, to the west, Hanging Rock Visitor Center, 1790 Hanging Rock Park Road, Danbury, to the east.
More info: Check out the aforementioned Sauartown Trails Association web site.

9. Pilot Creek Trail

Pilot Mountain State Park

6.6 miles (out and back). 

When this list first appeared we recommended the trails accessed at the summit of Pilot Mountain. But since 2012, those trails have been discovered: on nice weekends it can take a half hour or more just to score a parking spot up top. Now, our favorite Pilot Mountain trail is Pilot Creek, which starts from an access off Boyd Nelson Road north of the park and works its way along the north flank of the mountain to connect with the Grindstone Trail. Pilot Creek offers much of what hikers flock to Pilot Mountain for: rocky terrain and some moderately challenging climbs. You won’t get the views (it sticks to the base of the mountain), but you won’t get the crowds, either.

Trailhead: Pilot Creek Access, Pilot Mountain State Park, 382 Boyd Nelson Road, Pinnacle

More info here.

Blue Ridge Escarpment

10. Mountains-to-Sea Trail at Holloway Mountain Road

Blue Ridge Parkway

7.6 miles

Heading west on the MST from Holloway Mountain Road, the trail goes uphill into an open pasture, then spends a mile or so noodling through smaller pastures; the edge forests through here should be good for early color. Note: when you enter one of these clearings, the trail may not be obvious; if not, take a moment to survey across the way for the next visible white-dot MST blaze. These pasture pockets give way about midway to dense forest, where the evergreens should provide nice contrast to the emerging hardwood color. We suggest turning around just shy of the Boone Fork Parking Area, a popular access spot along the Parkway.

Trailhead: From Milepost 298.6 of the Blue Ridge Parkway, head west on Holloway Mountain

Road for about a mile, to where the MST crosses.

More info here, at the Mountains-to-Sea Trail online trail guide for this section.

11. Rock Castle Gorge

Rocky Knob Recreation Area, Blue Ridge Parkway (Virginia)

10.4 miles

This is one gorgeous hike that the masses aren’t likely to undertake. And they certainly aren’t going to pick it up from this hidden trailhead at the bottom of the gorge. Pick up the trail and hike counterclockwise, hiking up Little Rock Castle Creek through a spectacular hardwood forest. Mellow at first, the trail has a steep climb requiring some scrambling, before entering another mature hardwood forest and, shortly, reaching the Parkway. From there, it’s about 3.5 miles along the ridge, through several open meadows, before descending back into the gorge. The last 2.5 miles is a relaxing downhill along Rock Castle Creek.

Trailhead: Primitive camping trailhead at the base of the gorge, off VA 8. From the Blue Ridge Parkway near the Rocky Knob Campground, take VA 8 headed south. After 3.6 miles, go right on Rock Castle Road, which will terminate shortly at the trailhead. Hike in about 200 feet to pick up the trail.

More info here.

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Cool off-trail hikes

Another thing we like to do when the weather cools: hike off trail. On old roadbeds, on game trail, through areas choked with vegetation in warmer months. We do 5 such hikes in this series of monthly hikes, which begin in November and end in March. Learn more here.

The post Long hikes for cool fall days appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

For late fall we have three backpack trips suited to people who may have burned through their vacation, for the winter, we have three weekend trips to our most iconic locations. Here’s the lineup:

Weekend Quick Escapes

It’s the end of the year, you’ve burned through your vacation time, yet you’ve love to get in another backpack trip or two — maybe three. Our Weekend Quick Escapes are designed for just that: You can work until 5 on Friday afternoon, then drive to the trailhead for a short hike to basecamp and be set up by 8. Saturday is a long day hike, Sunday we do a shorter day hike, before heading home in the early afternoon. A lot of adventure in a little amount of time. 

• Rock Castle Gorge (Virginia), Nov. 13-15. From the primitive camp at the base of the gorge we’ll day-hike the 11-mile Rock Castle Loop on Saturday, then stop for a 5-mile hike at Fairy Stone State Park on the drive home. 10 hikers. THIS TRIP IS SOLD OUT.
• Doughton Park, Dec. 4-6. We’ll hike in a mile to basecamp off Longbottom Road Friday evening, then day-hike the 16-mile Cedar Ridge/Bluff Mountain/Grassy Gap Loop Saturday. Before heading out Sunday, we’ll hike up Cabin Creek to the Caudill Cabin. 10 hikers. Learn more and sign up here.
• Birkhead Mountain Wilderness, Uwharrie National Forest, Dec. 18-20. Friday evening we hike in 3 miles to Camp 5; Saturday, we do an 11-mile day-hike exploring the wilderness; Sunday, we hike out, then do a short hike up to Little Long Mountain for the best view in the Uwharries. Learn more and sign up here.

Winter Series

We’ll do three backpack trips this winter, one likely to have winter conditions, one trying to avoid winter conditions, a third … well, we’ll see.

• GetBackpacking! Neusiok Trail, January 8-10. Our annual trip on this 21-mile coastal trail through the Croatan National Forest. Friday thru Sunday in a forest that ranges from pine savannah to coastal woods to rolling terrain resembling the Piedmont to a finale along beach fronting the mile-wide Neuse River. Registration opens in December. If you’d like early notice about when registration opens, email joe@getgoingnc.com 
• GetBackpacking! Appalachian Trail, Feb. 19-21. It’s our fifth year for this trip, which begins atop Max Patch and ends in the town of Hot Springs. We’ve had snow on this trip, we’ve had 70-degree days. 3 days, 2 nights, 21 miles. Registration opens in December. If you’d like early notice about when registration opens, email joe@getgoingnc.com 
• GetBackpacking! Linville Gorge, March 12-14. We didn’t visit the gorge in 2020 because of its pandemic-provoked popularity. We’re hoping that a visit early in the year will help us find the solitude we seek in this designated wilderness. We’ll basecamp atop Shortoff Mountain Friday evening, then spend Saturday day hiking the gorge’s east wall. Registration opens in December. If you’d like early notice about when registration opens, email joe@getgoingnc.com

The post GetBackpacking! Winter 2020-21 appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Winter is a season disliked more in anticipation than in reality.

That dislike begins the first day of summer. Though we generally do spend the summer solstice reveling in the most daylight of the year — 14 hours, 35 minutes and 8 seconds — in the back of our minds we know that it’s all downhill from here. The day after the solstice we’ll be down to 14 hours, 35 minutes and 6 seconds, two seconds that we won’t actually notice, but two seconds that we’re shorted all the same. 

Sunlight’s demise continues, a matter of mere seconds a day at first, but by a minute a day come mid-July and two minutes a day by the end of August. Before you know it we’re back to Standard Time and you’re leaving work in the dark.

Meanwhile, something else is happening that puts winter in a new light: perihelion. That’s the point at which Earth’s slightly elliptical orbit brings us closest to the sun. Not appreciably closer, thankfully, or there’d be trouble. But just enough that the sun’s rays are a bit brighter. Coupled with it’s more southerly arc through the sky, an arc that lets sunshine knife sideways through the forest rather than from overhead and you’ve got a winter forest brighter and more vivid than at any other time of the year. Think about it: little if any canopy overhead to block the light, light bypassing what canopy there is by sneaking around the side.

Sunday afternoon we hiked the popular Buckquarter Creek/Holden Mill figure-8 loop at Eno River State Park. About half the hike is along a ridge, the other along the Eno. On the Buckquarter Creek ridge segment I stopped and looked down to the Eno, engorged by two days of rain. It ran fast, it churned, it was alive. A lone canoe made its way cautiously downstream. In summer, the view would have been blocked by green, what chatter there might be from the summer-choked Eno absorbed before it could reach the ridge. The season also let me see across the river to the rise leading up to 690-foot Cox Mountain, the highest point in the park. Climbing the Cox Mountain Trail you get a sense of its nearly 300-foot elevation gain, but seeing it in its entirety you appreciate the rise even more so. 

Later, on the longer climb up Holden Mill Trail the trunks of the mature hardwoods cast surprisingly long, surprisingly distinct shadows across the slope rising up from the river. Along the river, the whitecaps off the roiling water managed to sparkle.

Winter isn’t a season enjoyed exclusively along this stretch of the Eno. Other spots where winter is especially good at working its magic:

• Birkhead Mountain Wilderness of the Uwharrie National Forest, Asheboro. More than once I’ve heard the Birkhead area denounced as “not very intersting.” Try it in winter, when long views expose the ancient mountain chain’s still robust slopes. A particular favorite is the Camp 3 Trail, hiking up from North Prong. It’s a gradual mile-long rise through a nearly all hardwood forest nearly devoid of downfall. 
• Eno River State Park: Pump Station Trail, Durham. This trail is best-known for the sheltered basin it skims, which hosts one of the best spring wildflower shows in the region. In winter, you fully appreciate that shelter, in the form of a steep, wooded rim rising high on its south side. How high is a mystery: you can’t see the top.
• Pilot Mountain State Park: Mountain Trail, Pinnacle. Circling much of the base of the mountain, the southern and western exposures capitalize from the direct, sideways sun to illuminate a hardwood forest dominated by chestnut oak, which can grow to more than 100 feet in height. Another plus: most visitors stick to the top of the mountain, further enhancing the winter quiet below.
• Crowders Mountain State Park: Ridgeline Trail. Like Pilot Mountain, the two “peaks” here — The Pinnacle and Crowders — attract the bulk of the adoring masses. That leaves lots of quiet time on the 6.2-mile Ridgeline Trail linking the main part of the park with South Carolina. As its name suggests, it’s ridgeline passage allows plenty of downslope views, to the north and south.
• Butner-Falls Lake Game Lands, north of Raleigh. When we can’t get to the coast for our fix of flat hiking through wide-open spaces, we head to this 40,000-acre preserve located largely along the north shore of Falls Lake. A network of limited-access dirt and gravel roads take you past open fields of corn and millet and through bottomland forest dominated by elderly behemoths, all under a vast, usually blue, sky.

Winter is here, the anxious anticipation is over. Get out and savor the season.

More info

To learn more about the places mentioned today, click the appropriate link, where appropriate:

• Eno River State Park
• Pilot Mountain State Park
• Crowders Mountain State Park
• Birkhead Mountain Wilderness. Your best bet for navigating the entire Uwharrie National Forest, including the Birkhead Mountain Wilderness, is with the “Uwharrie Lakes Region Trail Guide,” by Don Childrey (Earthbound Sports). Learn more here.
• Butner-Falls Lake Game Lands. Resources for exploring any game lands in North Carolina are limited; generalized maps showing boundaries and access points can be found on the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission web site, here. Because getting around here can be a challenge, we’ve added it to our GetHiking! Winter Wild series of (mostly) off-trail hikes. Our Butner hike is this Saturday (Jan. 11). Learn more and sign up here.

The post Winter: Dread it, enjoy it appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

You know the ones: You’re exchanging notes on favorite hikes with a friend and they say, “And, of course, there’s the Birkhead Wilderness.”

The what?

On the one hand, it’s exciting to learn about such trails. It’s also a bit vexing. I can’t wait to hike it, and yet, Why didn’t I know about it?

Don’t beat yourself up. Rather, lace up, do some exploring and introduce yourself. Here are five great hikes that, for whatever reason, have a tendency to fly under the radar.

Birkhead Mountain Wilderness Loop, 7.6 miles, Uwharrie National Forest, Asheboro. What better place to start than with the aforementioned Birkhead Mountain Loop, which covers a goodly chunk of the 5,068-acre Birkhead Mountains Wilderness on the northern tip of the Uwharrie National Forest southwest of Asheboro. The trail spends most of its time along two parallel ridges, passing through maturing  hardwoods that will continue to mature thanks to area’s wilderness designation in 1984. It also dips into troughs of holly and mountain laurel along Hannah’s Branch and Robbins Branch, making for a scenic contrast. Three access points to the loop result in hikes ranging from 7 miles to 12 miles.

White Pines Nature Preserve, Pittsboro. 3 miles. White Pines may have been the first property spared by the Triangle Land Conservancy (in 1987) but it has managed to remain one of its most obscure properties. They “why” of which beats us: it’s hard to imagine more diversity packed into 275 acres. The 3 miles of trail that takes you through White Pines explores a rich bottomland forest (Gilbert Yager Trail), takes you to the surprisingly rocky and roily (and wide) confluence of the Deep and Rocky rivers (River Trail) and takes you through a stretch of southern hardwoods eerily reminiscent of the Pisgah National Forest some 150 miles west.

Rock Castle Gorge, Floyd, Va. 10.7 miles. There’s actually a lot of buzz about Rock Castle Gorge, about the rigorous climb that starts the hike (hey, at least it’s at the beginning), about the vast meadows, along the ridge, about the mellow 4-mile descent at the end. About the fact there’s an Appalachian Trail shelter on the trail, even though the AT is a ways west (the trail was rerouted from here in the 1950s). You’ve got views, you’ve got the rugged intimate beauty of the Blue Ridge Escarpment, you’ve got easy access.

White Oak Mountain Wildlife Management Area, Chatham, Va., 2-3 miles (estimate).  White Oak Mountain is the “What the … ?” mountain you see driving US 29 north of Danville. What the, as in “What the heck is a mountain doing here? Indeed, the mountain rises 400 feet above the surrounding farmland leading one to wonder what the heck goes on there: It’s gotta be some kind of government installation, we’re sure at least one conspiracy theorist has theorized. And it is, kinda, a 2,712-acre wildlife management area open to hunting, fishing and hiking. You’ll hike through mixed hardwoods and pines, past assorted ponds ranging in size from a half acre to six acres. It simply begs to explored the next time you find yourself on U.S. 29 between Danville and Lynchburg.

Doughton Park, Blue Ridge Parkway, Roaring Gap. 18 miles, with shorter options. To the folks familiar with the 30 miles of hiking trail at Doughton Park, this is hiking nirvana. The 7.5-mile Bluff Mountain Trail (pictured above) spends much of its time atop a ridge, entering one vast meadow after another, the Basin Creek Trail explores a deep box canyon, and the Cedar Ridge, Bluff Mountain Primitive, Grassy Gap and Flat Rock Ridge trails spill down the Blue Ridge Escarpment through forests of old hardwoods and mountain pines. A favorite circuit: from the access off Long Bottom Road, get most of your climbing out of the way early by ascending Cedar Ridge. At the top, head south on the Bluff Mountain Trail to it’s conclusion, then return to the trailhead via Flat Rock Ridge (Grassy Gap also makes for nice return that’s a mile shorter). 17 miles total.

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Take action!

Be a Piedmont Explorer. Discover some of the trails mentioned above and more great trails with our monthly Piedmont Explorer series. On the second Saturday of each month, Piedmont Explorer hikes a different area of the Piedmont, some you may have heard of but maybe haven’t hiked, some you may not have heard of at all. Learn more about the hikes in this program and sign up here.

For details on the five hikes mentioned above, click the link.

• Birkhead Mountain Loop
• White Pines Nature Preserve
• Rock Castle Gorge
• White Oak Mountain Wildlife Management Area
• Doughton Park

The post 5 Hikes That Fly Under the Radar appeared first on GetGoing NC!.