That transition underscored how quickly fall color comes and goes. Meaning there’s no time to tarry: get out this weekend and enjoy the show. Incentive, too, is the fact that daytime temperatures throughout the Piedmont are forecast to offer something for everyone: Saturday, in the Triangle area, don your shorts and t-shirts and enjoy temperatures in the upper 70s under mostly sunny skies; Sunday, get out the fleece and hike in temperatures ranging from the 40s to upper 50s, also under mostly clear skies.

Where to hike? We offer 5 Piedmont favorites:

1. Triangle: Mountains-to-Sea Trail/Falls Lake Trail, 60 miles. Is there a better way to check out fall than on a 60-mile-long hiking trail that hugs a shoreline most of the way?  From the Penny’s Bend Nature Preserve in Durham County to the Falls Lake dam in Wake County it’s possible to hike non-stop on the Moutains-to-Sea Trail. If that’s more than you have time for this weekend, worry not: the trail is broken down into 24 day-hikeable sections ranging from less than a mile to nearly 7 miles in length. The Falls Lake MST ducks in and out of coves along the lake, briefly brushing backyards in spots, and escaping civilization entirely in others. Learn more about the trail here.

2. Charlotte/Triad: Sugarloaf and Morrow Mountain Trails, Morrow Mountain State Park, 5.4 miles. This 5.4-mile hike bags two peaks at Morrow Mountain State Park. And yes, I say “bags two peaks” without reservation. Both the climb up 843-foot Sugarloaf and 906-foot Morrow Mountain are legitimate climbs. The first climb gains more than 350 feet in a relatively short distance, the second even more. And while the views are minimal from Sugarloaf, you’ll have numerous Kodak moments from the top of Morrow Mountain. You’ll also have company: your summit celebration is tempered slightly by the fact the peak is covered by a very large parking lot. Details here.

3. Greensboro: watershed lakes, 42 miles (short hikes of as little as a mile). 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. Details here.

4. Roanoke Rapids/northeast: Medoc Mountain State Park, Discovery/Stream/Summit loops, 6 miles. You aren’t the only one in North Carolina with hiking on his/her mind come the cool, colorful days of October, which brings up the one downside to hitting the trail this month — with the exception of Medoc Mountain, which sits happily off the beaten track in Halifax County. Ten miles of trail meander through the park, which sits on the eastern fringe of the Piedmont; this recommended 6-mile trek takes you through a good portion of it, including a climb up Medoc’s 325-foot summit and a stroll through what was once the first wine operation in the country. More info here.

5. Triad: Sauratown Trail, linking Pilot Mountain with Hanging Rock north of the Triad, 35 miles. A total of 35 miles make up this trail network that was designed primarily with equestrians in mind, but the actual link between the Tories Den portion of Hanging Rock State Park and the Surry Line parking area of Pilot Mountain is 21.7 miles, making for a nice, long day hike, if you choose. The advantage to Sauratown is that it takes in some of the same scenery as Hanging Rock and Pilot Mountain (though, granted, without the aerie vistas), but with a fraction of the people. Plan your trip through the helpful Sauratown Trails Association website.

Great color, great weather — the yard work can wait. Get out and enjoy!

The post Find peak color on these Piedmont trails appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Content from Old Salem

All that said, here’s a short slideshow from Old Salem and a list of five urban walks where you can get an eyeful of color in the next few days:

1. Old Salem, Winston-Salem. From north-to-south, Old Salem, the Moravian community dating back 250 years is a half mile long and three blocks wide. Toss in the graveyard and cemetery and you’ve got a good two-plus miles of streetwalking (so to speak). You’ve also got a lot of great color, with an emphasis on brilliant orange sugar maples.
Plan a visit by starting here. 

2. Guilford Courthouse National Military Park, Greensboro. Guildford Courthouse is known for vicious Revolutionary War battle fought here on March 15, 1781. Two and a half miles of trail — some paved, some a foot-friendly natural surface — take you to key battlefield sites as well as through a mature hardwood forest bright with fall color.
Plan a visit by starting here.

3. Bollin Creek Greenway, Chapel Hill. Chapel Hill is ripe with fall color, making just about anywhere you walk a delight in fall. Bollin Creek is a little extra special, in part, because like many greenways it follows a floodplain/drainage where older, grander trees are more prevalent.
Plan a visit by starting here.

4. Neuse River Trail, Raleigh. At 27.5 miles, the Neuse River Trail offers lots of paved parking through a riparian corridor, where trees have been spared from the development that dominates nearby. Short walks, long walks are all easily accommodated here.
Plan a visit by starting here.

5. McAlpine Creek/Campbell Creek greenways, Charlotte. This 4.1-mile path, most of which is paved, is centrally located yet offers a quick escape into a colorful, floodplain forest. Part of the Carolina Thread Trail.
Plan a visit by starting here.

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How long it will take to complete such an ambitious work is hard to say, says Carolina Thread Trail Executive Director Karl Froelich. But within five years, he adds, those threads should start to take the recognizable form of perhaps the nation’s largest urban trail network.
“We should have 350 to 400 miles in five years,” says Froelich. “And that might be the most significant part of the Thread Trail because that’s where people will want it the most. Right now, we’re going where the interest and energy is.”
Interest in the Thread Trail was sparked in 2005 by the Foundation for the Carolinas. Energy soon followed and the project was launched in 2007 with the support of regional financial heavyweights Bank of America, Duke Energy, Wells Fargo, and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, in addition to the Foundation. The timing was fortunate, coming just before the financial implosion of 2008.

220 miles in seven years
In the Thread Trail’s first seven years, 14 counties have developed Thread Trail master plans and 220 miles of Thread Trail have been built. Most of that mileage is in sections of two or three miles scattered across the 7,300-square-mile 15-county region. Those threads are great if you live nearby, but far from the economical, environmental and recreational juggernaut that an interconnected 1,500-mile network will create.
Most obviously, the Thread Trail would add enormous recreational value to the region, the health benefits of which would be a big plus in a time of mounting concern over our expanding waistlines. The trail would bring environmental benefits, adding protection to the waterways that many trails tend to follow. And there’s the potential economic impact such a trail network would bring.
“Property values would go up near where the trail goes,” says Froelich. “The trail would also generate festivals, attract tourists and result in new business creation, from bike shops to restaurants. The added tax revenue alone would be $7 to $8 million.”
“Within 10 years,” Froelich adds, “the trail would pay for itself.”

Making the connections
In order for all that to happen, the trail needs to become more connected. Currently, the longest continuous strip is 15.5 miles, a stretch known as the Ridgeline Trail running from Crowders Mountain State Park near Gastonia to Kings Mountain State Park across the line in South Carolina.
In addition to the seed money provided at the Thread Trail’s inception, funding comes from a variety of sources. So far, $16.8 million has come from private sources, $27.5 million from public (federal, state and local), and $7.6 million in land donations.
Many of the land donations come through the five regional land trusts working with the Thread Trail (Catawba Land Conservancy, Davidson Lands Conservancy, Foothills Conservancy, Katawba Valley Land Trust, Land Trust for Central North Carolina and the Nation Ford Land Trust).
The land trust involvement is emblematic of how these preservation groups have evolved over the past decade or so.
“It’s a symbol of the way land trusts are changing what they do,” says Reid Wilson with the Raleigh-based Conservation Trust of North Carolina, which acts as an umbrella group for the 24 land trusts operating in North Carolina. “Trying to connect all of these communities is a real change. It’s smart of them to embrace that approach.”

Building communities
In lean times for government support, local communities have gotten creative in finding funding.
Concord, for instance, plans to run Thread Trail greenway down a 14-mile stretch of the Rocky River through town. A segment in the Moss Creek neighborhood opened earlier this month, says Mark Kincaid, deputy director with Concord Parks & Rec., and because neighborhood kids can use it to get to and from school, they were able to secure partial funding through a Safe Routes to Schools grant through the N.C. Department of Transportation.
Kincaid says another stretch of the greenway will help make possible safe pedestrian passage through the traffic-saturated Concord Mills/Charlotte Motor Speedway area.
There is no one type of trail being pushed for the Thread. Of the 220 miles now down, Froelich says 28 percent are natural surface, 30 percent are “improved surface” (such as paved greenways), and 42 percent are sidewalk connectors.
Froelich’s organization operates as a support group for the 15 counties and 76 local governments that have signed on to the Thread so far. In general, he says, the trail is growing where there’s the most enthusiasm for it.
Developers are also contributing to the Thread. In Rock Hill, S.C., near the recently opened 2.2-mile Catawba Indian Nation Trail, Newland Communities plans to build a three-mile trail that will help extend the Thread.

Tipping point: the north-south spine
That five-year figure Froelich mentioned earlier isn’t when he expects the Thread to be complete. Rather, that’s when he hopes to reach the “tipping point,” at which enough of the basic Thread will be complete that local communities will be scrambling to make a connection. That tipping point will come, he says, with completion of the north-south spine. That spine would the north-south backbone of the trail, running from Statesville on the north, south into uptown Charlotte, on into York and Lancaster counties in South Carolina, and finally to Great Falls, S.C. That’s a 140-mile run, about 40 miles of which is finished.
“When the spine is finished, 1.8 million people will be within five miles of the Thread Trail,” says Froelich. “That would make it one of the longest urban trails in the country.”
(One of the longest urban trails in the country currently exists in the Triangle, where a 110-mile stretch of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail runs from near Hillsborough east and south to Clayton.)
Whether the Thread Trail reaches Froelich’s goal of as many as 400 miles in five years, he says, depends on one thing:
“It will all be dictated by how quickly the communities want to move forward.”

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Thread Trail by the numbers

• 2005 Year conceived
• 2007 Year launched
• 15 No. of counties involved
• 76 No. of communities involved (to date)
• 1,500 Estimated miles of trail eventually
• 220 No. of miles currently complete
• 28 percentage of completed trail that’s natural surface
• 30 percentage of completed trail that’s “improved surface” (such as paved greenway)
• 42 percentage of completed trail that’s “sidewalk connector”

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More on the Thread Trail

For a quick rundown of existing Carolina Thread Trails, check out our online guide here.
For a breakdown of Thread Trails by city, check out our guide here.
For more on the Carolina Thread Trail, go here.

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Coast

Since moving to the state 22 years ago, we’ve been especially intrigued by the opportunities for adventure in Eastern North Carolina. Unfortunately, our curiosity has not been matched by action.

That’s about to change, though, as we launch a joint exploration project with Great Outdoor Provision Co.: GetExploring! Greenville. The program’s goal is to help both experienced and novice explorers get out and discover the adventure potential east of I-95. Saturday is our first GetExploring! Greenville foray: a two-hour paddle trip at Goose Creek State Park.

We’ll spend a couple of hours paddling the intimate waters of Goose Creek, just east of Washington, N.C. Goose Creek is a classic swamp/marsh paddle, complete with all manner of ecological eye candy. It’s a great introduction to exploring Eastern North Carolina.

Logistics: Saturday, Aug. 9, 10 a.m., Dinahs Landing boat access, Goose Creek State Park. Learn more about Saturday’s paddle and sign up at GetExploring! Greenville.

Saturday forecast: Morning highs in the 70s, raining moving in in the afternoon (once we’re off the water).

Piedmont

Continuing your search for activities that ignite your passion? Have you given badminton a try?

Badminton is one of those intoxicatingly alluring pursuits that sucks you in with its apparent simplicity, then, several hours later, spits you out exhausted. Several years ago we bought a badminton set, set it up in the yard. Eventually, about three months later, we stopped playing — but only because the net had been reduced to tatters, our rackets wrought with gapping holes and the last shuttlecock had landed on the neighbor’s roof.

Experience the addiction of badminton yourself Saturday at the Marion Diehl Recreation Center in Charlotte. From noon to 2 p.m. there will be open play for the 18- to 54-year-old set. Learn a new activity, meet new people to play with. And it’s free.

Logistics: Saturday, Aug. 9, noon-2 p.m., Marion Diehl Recreation Center, Charlotte, 2219 Tyvola Road. For more info, call 704.544.2417.

Saturday forecast: High of 79 with a goodly chance of rain (but the badminton is indoors).

Mountains

Craggy Gardens along the Blue Ridge Parkway — at Milepost 363 — is known for its rugged terrain and great views. But it’s also a unique ecological oasis perched high in the Southern Appalachians. Discover what all makes this area unique on a two-mile hike lead by a Blue Ridge Parkway park ranger on Saturday morning.

Logistics: Saturday, Aug. 9, 10 a.m., Graybeard Mountain Overlook, Milepost 363, Blue Ridge Parkway. Free. More info: 828.298.5330, ext. 304.

Saturday forecast: High of 71, 60 percent chance of rain.

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The post This weekend: GetExploring! GetVollying! GetCraggy! appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Last Thursday on a trip down east  was my first day on the water and it put me of a mind to spend more time paddling. The quiet, save for the birdsong and the occasional gal-lump of a turtle inelegantly abandoning sunny log for murky water. The wildlife, including an alligator that was even more distracted by the sun and warmth. The emergence of spring, with the pastel buds of green, white and crimson giving the world a soft focus field. The unique calm that only paddling flat water can offer.

Milltail Creek in the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge and the Dillard’s Creek tributary feeding the Chowan River north of Edenton are both on my list for return trips. But where to go next? That got me to thinking of some other great paddles in the state, places I’d like to get to this year, places you might like to explore as well.

Here are 10 such places. I’ve included a quick description and location. If you’re intrigued, click on “More info here” and you’ll find nearly everything you’ll need to plan a trip.

Charlotte area

1. Lake Wylie Dam
Rock Hill, S.C.

There’s a Jekyll-and-Hyde nature to the 31-mile stretch of the Catawba River below the Lake Wylie dam just over the South Carolina line. At nominal water flow, the stretch is friendly flatwater river paddling, a few rocks here and there, a Class I rapid but no more. But when the volume gets cranked up this stretch requires a whole ‘nother paddling skillset. What exactly do we mean by that? Click on More info here.
More info here.

Triad

2. Lake Brandt
Greensboro

Lake Brandt is one of three main watershed lakes rimming the north side of Greensboro. The lakes were created for drinking water, revered in these modern times for their vast recreational value. Brandt is the middling of the three lakes — Townsend is the biggest ( at 1,542 acres, Higgins the smallest at 226 acres. All are open for paddling.
More info here.

3. Yadkin River (Old 421 Park Access)
Winston-Salem

The 125-mile-long Yadkin River Trail includes 15 access points to help make exploring the river easier. It begins small out of W. Kerr Scott Reservoir in Wilkes County and gains steam as it meanders past Pilot Mountain, Boone’s Cave Park and Tanglewood Park before giving it up to High Rock Lake. Forsythe County’s Old 421 Park Access 20 minutes west of downtown Winston-Salem is close, but it also affords easy access to an easy stretch of the river. This is a 5.4-mile run where a steady current takes you through typical Piedmont countryside.
More info here.

Triangle

4. Falls Lake (Beaverdam Recreation Area)
Wake Forest

There’s a bit of dues paying associated with this paddle. It’s big, open water for the most part, but that changes after you paddle under Old Weaver Dairy Road. You begin paddling amid reedy grass and rushes, and clumps of red maple and oak. You’ll paddle into what looks like a promising channel only to be rebuffed by downfall or a simple dead end. If the lake level is up you paddle another mile and a half and improve your chances of seeing the waterfowl known in the area, the wood ducks and mallards, the osprey and bald eagles.
More info here.

5. Haw River (Swepsonville River Park to Saxapahaw0
Swepsonville

This dammed 5.8-mile stretch of the Haw River is good, reliable paddling year round, but it may be best in summer. Put in at Swepsonville River Park, warm up with a 0.7-mile paddle downstream to the Puryear Dam, then portage — a portage made fun, funky and easy with a set of slides (for your boat, not you). The rest of the trip is on wide, slow-moving water. Take-out is river left, just above the dam above Saxapahaw, which makes for a great after-paddle visit.
More info here.

6. Neuse River (Falls Dam to Buffaloe Road)
Raleigh

Raleigh is often called a city within a park. But did you know there’s a navigable river within the city within the park? From the tailrace of the Falls Lake Dam, the Neuse River flows east and south to the Atlantic Ocean. Along those first 17 miles through Raleigh the city has installed 5 boat launches, divvying up the relatively peaceful Neuse into easily paddlable stretches. A favorite is the 10-or-so miles from the Falls Dam Access downstream to Buffaloe Road, where dense foliage along the river’s banks shields you from the civilization beyond.
More info here.

Coastal plain

7. Black River (Section 5)
Ivanhoe

The Black River may be the most beloved place to paddle in eastern North Carolina, and for good reason. It’s remote, making its way through the Down East farmland of Sampson, Bladen and Pender counties. Despite the fact it passes numerous hog farms, it also has some of the cleanest water in the state, earning Outstanding Resources Waters designation in 1994. And the blackwater swamps through which it passes have some of the oldest living trees in Eastern North America. I shouldn’t need to say more, but I can and will. Read on, by following the link below.
More info here.

8. Merchants Millpond
Gatesville

The 760-acre millpond is peppered with bald cypress and tupelo gum trees that make every stroke an adventure. Sidle up to a trunk and see what creatures might be living in this microclimate. Or, conversely, let the enormity of the swamp wash over you and, before you know it, you’ll have no idea where you are or how you got there. A great place to paddle with a compass and map, though there is a marked trail. Canoes available for rent as well, at $5 an hour.
More info here.

Coast

9. Brunswick River Trail
Wilmington area

Only at the coast could you do a loop trail — on a river. This 16-miler begins at the Davis Creek Estuarine Water Access Area on Cartwheel Branch. After just over a mile, hang a right at the Cape Fear River. At the four-mile mark the Northeast Cape Fear intersects; continue downstream and you’ll be paddling along the Wilmington waterfront. To finish the trip, follow the link below.
More info here.

10. Zeke’s Island (The Basin)
Wilmington area

You’ll find true exploring within the Zeke’s Island area, a lagoon surrounded by Zeke’s Island, North Island, No Name Island, a beach, a barrier spit and fringing marshes and tidal flats. This unusual combination results in a small area — the Zeke’s Island National Estuarine Research Reserve consists of 1,635 acres — with a variety of habitats, from tidal flats, salt marshes, shrub thicket and maritime forest to sand dunes and beach. Great paddling.
More info here.

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Need a boat? Check out our list of 51 places to rent a canoe or kayak in North Carolina.

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