60 degrees!

I knew it was supposed to cool off this week, but 60? I couldn’t remember the last time it had been so cool in this summer of record heat. A good two months, at least. 

A spirit-lifting temperature, but still shy of my fall benchmark. Then, an hour later I took out Dog #2 (she likes to sleep in) and it was 58. Within a half hour it would drop another degree, to 57.

I have a standing deal with myself as summer wears on: When the temperature finally drops below 60, I drop what I’m doing and go for a hike. Psychologically, that first sub-60 breaks summer’s spell; I can finally let myself think about fall and the fall hiking season. I will hike when it’s hot, up to 90, maybe 92. But in this summer of sustained upper 90s, the spirit hasn’t been willing. This morning, though, I dropped my guard and thought of the first 5 hikes I wanted to do come fall. And because I don’t like wasting time, I went out that morning and did two of them. 

My top 5 Hikes to kick off fall:

Ruben Mountain Loop Trail

Hanging Rock State Park

5.6 miles 

Moderate

Trailhead: Tory’s Den parking lot, 1185 Charlie Young Road, Westfield, NC

This distance gets an asterisk. Two, in fact. First, the loop is advertised on the State Park website as 2.9 miles — but first you have to get to the trailhead. The shortest way to do that: take the Tory’s Den Trail for 1 mile from its namesake parking lot. OK, you say, a mile to get there, a mile to get back, that’s 2 miles, for a total of 4.9. Hang on: the loop doesn’t exactly connect; you need to tack on another seven-tenths of a mile on the Tory’s Den Trail to make that happen. All that said, this was my first time on Ruben Mountain, the first, I suspect, of many. AllTrails says there’s a 715-foot total elevation gain on this hike; I’m guessing 75 percent of that is on the 1-mile hike in. The loop itself is surprisingly flat. The trail is also open to equestrians, so it’s a good social hiking trail, accommodating hikers side-by-side. It also has great fall color potential and, I’m guessing, is sparsely hiked, even in Hanging Rock’s busy fall hiking season. 

More info here.

Off trail

Your choice; in my case Hanging Rock State Park

2 miles (in this case) 

Moderate to strenuous

Trailhead: The end of Sheep Rock Road in Danbury,  NC 36.408063, -80.215629

This may be my favorite hike — and there’s not even a trail. From the east end of the park in Danbury, at the end of Sheep Rock Road, is a modest entry point into the park. A chain keeps cars off the gravel roadbed that disappears downhill past a tobacco barn, then climbs 2.5 miles to and along the ridge marking the eastern extent of the park. In summer, you can follow the road up to and along the ridge past the second of three unnamed peaks referred to as the “Three Sisters” (there are actually four). The route has all the character of Hanging Rock — the rock outcrops, the oak and pine woods — but no people: In 20 years of hiking I’ve never seen anyone other than myself and the hikers I’ve been with. Plus, the elevation is high enough — about 2,000 feet at the top — you can get a jumpstart on fall color.

More info here.

Mountains-to-Sea Trail at Falls Lake

Day-hike Section S (Red Mill Road to Red Mill Road)

4.8 miles (one way)

Moderate

Trailhead: Red Mill Road, Durham

The whole 60-mile stretch of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail along Falls Lake’s southern shoreline says fall to me: the trail here is dominated by hardwoods that come alive with color in fall, the season’s quiet is underscored along the lake, open meadows let the season’s angling sunlight slip through. But the 4.8-mile run of MST that starts and ends off Red Mill Road seems especially appropriate for the season. It travels a bit further from civilization than much of the rest of the MST along the lake, it has numerous meadows for sungazing, it offers peeks at the more remote stretches of Falls Lake, and it’s relatively flat. In short, it’s easy to lose yourself in thought on this hike.

More info here.

Rock Castle Gorge Trail

Rocky Knob Recreation Area

Blue Ridge Parkway, Floyd VA

10.8 miles 

Strenuous

Trailhead: BRP MP 169

The entire 10.8 miles may be a bit to chew off this early in the season. If so, concentrate on the roughly 3.5 miles that stays along or just below the ridge along the Parkway, passing through vast mountain meadows and Southern Appalachian hardwoods. There’s elevation in spots, but generally this moderate section of the trail will get you excited for fall. At 3,000 feet you’ll experience early fall color as well as crisp fall air. Looking for something more remote and less crowded? Hike the 3-mile stretch that follows Rock Castle Creek at the base of the gorge. 

More info here.

Confluence Natural Area

Hillsborough

4 miles (recommended; 5 miles total) 

Moderate

Trailhead: 4214 Highland Farm Road, Hillsborough

Let us not forget the natural areas brought to us by our land conservancies, in this case the Eno River Association. Confluence comes to mind because the Eno River Association recently added another 2 miles of trail with the Poplar Bend Loop. When I lived in Hillsborough, I spent a lot of time on this 270-acre preserve’s main trail, Two Forks, which offers an intimate encounter with both the East and West branches of the Eno River. The just-opened Poplar Bend Loop is more of an upland ramble through a maturing hardwood forest, that should offer good color followed by great sightlines through a naked forest. Four miles of diverse hiking.

More info here.

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Hiking Guidance

Looking for hiking tips, gear reviews, resources and info on podcasts, videos, books and additional media? Check out our help guides at GetGoingNC.com. 

The post 5 Hikes to Welcome Fall appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Saturday

Carnivorous Plant Hike, Carolina Beach State Park, Carolina Beach. 10 a.m. If you can’t make this Saturday’s hike on the Flytrap Trail to learn about the various carnivorous plants in this coastal park, worry not: this hike will run every Saturday at 10 a.m. through Nov. 6. If you have a trip to the beach planned for this year, work it into your schedule. More info here.

Occoneechee Mountain Geology Hike, Occoneechee State Natural Area, Hillsborough, 2 p.m. Again, already got plans? This hike lead by local geologist Jean-Michel Margot is conducted monthly, year-round. On this hour-and-a-half hike you’ll learn geology on the mountain from A (andalusite) to Q (quartz). Learn more here.

Hike with a Ranger on a Nature Hike at Eagle Rock Access, Chimney Rock State Park, Chimney Rock, 2 p.m. According to the State Parks post for this hike: “This moderate 2 mile hike should provide excellent exercise  in the crisp winter air of the Hickory Nut Gorge.” It should also be fun on Saturday, the first day of spring. Learn more here.

Sunday

Hike with a Ranger on a Nature Hike at Rumbling Bald Access, Chimney Rock State Park, Chimney Rock, 2 p.m. Rumbling Bald is located on the north side of the Hickory Nut Gorge, in a wild setting away from the from the touristy portion of Chimney Rock. Great views. For more information go here.

To check on upcoming hikes and events at North Carolina State Parks, go here.

Hike on your own

Weatherwise, it’s a good looking weekend. Rain leaves the region Friday ushering in cooler temperatures — highs mostly in the 50s — and mostly sunny skies. Three hikes we particularly like for this weekend, from our hiking guide arsenal:

• Brumley Forest North Nature Preserve (pictured at top), Chapel Hill. Just over 3 miles of trail takes you through a variety of terrain, including several open areas — meadows, farm ponds — where you can take in the warming sun. Check out our guide, here.

• 

  Confluence Natural Area, Hillsborough. Where the east and west branches of the Eno River meet you’ll find this 200-acre preserve operated by the Eno River Association. About 2 miles of trail, much of it along the Eno’s more intimate beginnings. Check out our guide, here.

• Eno River Fews Ford 7-Miler, Eno River State Park, Durham. We crafted this hike out of five trails in the park’s Fews Ford Access with the goal of quickly escaping weekend crowds and enjoying a quieter, more laid-back Eno. Check out our guide, here.

Need more incentive to get out? Saturday is the first day of spring. It kicks in at 5:37 a.m.

The post GetOut! Enjoy the first weekend of spring appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

From its origins in the late 1960s, the Eno River Association, known then as the Association for the Preservation of the Eno River Valley, has been saving land along the Eno River in Orange and Durham counties. In that time, they’ve preserved more than 4,000 acres along the Eno and its tributaries. Much of that land has gone into creating Eno River State Park, some into Little River Regional Park. The Confluence Natural Area, which opened a couple years ago, is the only land the ERA has purchased that it operates as its own.

A little under 3 miles of trail explores this 200-acre sanctuary at the confluence of the east and west forks of the Eno. It’s remarkable for the mix of vast, open meadows, tight passage through lush bottomland forest, and open beech bluffs. Perhaps most remarkable is something that takes a minute to notice. Hiking clockwise — the recommended direction right now to help you social distance from other hikers — on the Two Forks Trail as it drops down to the Eno’s east fork, you notice something’s … different. At first, you can’t put your finger on it: the lush woods are indeed lush, a dense sea of green from forest floor to the canopy. But look a little harder and you see it’s a more varied green, especially nearer the ground. Rather than a constant carpet of weedy grasses or bamboo-like brush, there’s a varied mix, of mayapple and native ferns, of dogwoods and redbuds, of beech and oaks. The exotic plant invasion so evident throughout much of the rest of the region, from the endless runs of Japanese stilt grass to the tree-climbing kudzu, is absent. The landscape is more in synch with what it was before the European invasion. It’s a hike back in time.

The Confluence Natural Area is a jewel, one that until a few weeks back was on display only on weekends. But when the coronavirus began shrinking our supply of trails, the Eno River Association decided to open the preserve seven days a week. Yet another gift from the grass roots group that’s been giving us the gift of nature for more than a half century.

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Confluence Natural Area

Orange County

Address: 4214 Highland Farm Road, Hillsborough

Trail: 2.75 miles (Two Forks Trail, 2.25 miles, Shepherd Mill Trail 0.5 miles)

Size: 20 acres

Hours: dawn to dusk, daily. 

Facilities: Restroom, pavilion (both currently closed as a result of COVID-19)

Learn more about the Confluence Natural Area here.

Eno River Association

Learn more about the Eno River Association and its mission, as well as how you can support it, by visiting their web page, here.

Explore Your Neighborhood

For more on exploring your neighborhood during these shelter-in-place times, check out our new “Explore Your Neighborhood: A Guide to Discovering the World Immediately Around You,” available in both ebook and paperback. Includes guidance on everything from how to scout your neighborhood for hidden gems to how to execute your neighborhood treks.

And don’t forget to join us weekday mornings at 7:30 for Morning Walk with Joe, about 10 minutes of Joe’s half-hour morning ramble. You’ll find it on our GetGoingNC Facebook page.

The post Explore Your ‘Hood: Confluence Natural Area appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Last weekend, we explored the longest uninterrupted stretch of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail along Falls Lake in Raleigh: the 7 miles from NC 98 to Creedmoor Road. We were struck by how, seemingly overnight, the woods had gone from a hint of green to full-blown leaf-out. We caught glimpses of the lake; mostly, though, we were enveloped in green.

That was Saturday. Sunday, we hiked a little farther west on the MST, along the Eno River from the Pump Station Access to Pleasant Green, about 5.5 miles. While the Eno coursing through its rocky valley wasn’t quite as shy as Falls Lake a day earlier, it was likewise subdued, swallowed in green.

Prevalent in that green, fyi, was poison ivy: you can ID the culprit in the photo to the right. Steer clear: this ivy is irritating and itchy. On to this weekend.

Every Friday, we give you a glimpse into our weekend past to give you a nudge to get out and explore the weekend future (this one). Our suggestions:

Saturday, May 5, 8 a.m. Confluence Natural Area Grand Opening, Cedar Grove in Orange County. For a half century, the Eno River Association has been saving land along its namesake river (and tributaries). Most of that land has become Eno River State Park. Saturday, the association opens the 200-acre Confluence Natural Area where the east and west forks of the Eno converge. Festivities begin with a Pre-Celebration Bird Hike at 8 a.m., followed by guided hikes at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Live music and food as well. Learn more and sign up here.

Saturday, May 5, 9 a.m. Vade Mecum Trails at Hanging Rock State Park, Danbury (north of the Triad). The first weekend of every month, Hanging Rock and the Friends of Sauartown Mountains open the trail network at the park’s Vade Mecum addition. The 716-acre former Camp Sertoma 4-H Educational Center, with miles of trail, was added to the park in 2014. Learn more and sign up here.

Sunday, May 6, 9 a.m. Lake Norman State Park, Troutman (north of Charlotte). I Can Canoe, and So Can You. Paddling a canoe is one of those things that isn’t complicated, but can be a little intimidating the first time: the boat’s tippy, you aren’t sure which way to face, how does the paddle work? So many questions. And so many answers in this 1-hour ranger-led clinic. No experience necessary, all equipment provided. Learn more and sign up here.

But wait, there’s more

• Several hikes are on tap this weekend with Hike NC, the BlueCross Blue Shield of North Carolina hiking program. Check out those mostly beginner-oriented hikes at gohikenc.com.
• North Carolina State Parks have a variety of adventures planned for the weekend. Check those options here.
• Our GetHiking! program also has several hikes planned, including a return to the Mountains-to-Sea Trail along Falls Lake on Saturday and a hike at Doughton Park Sunday. Learn more about those adventures and sign up here.
• Intrigued by our adventures last weekend on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail? Plan your MST adventure starting here.
• You can also find more adventures right here, at GetGoingNC.com.

The post Get Out! Your Nudge for Weekend Adventure appeared first on GetGoing NC!.