If your knee-jerk response to finish this thought is “… not enough adventure,” we hear you. It’s a common sentiment this time of year. The leaves nearly gone, the cycle of another calendar year is fast coming to a close. We begin looking ahead to next year with thoughts of big plans for the year ahead. And that’s when it hit: “What were our plans for this year?” And what the heck happened to them?

If you’re waiting for us to say it’s not too late to redeem 2022 with a quick adventure or two, expect a long wait. Instead of thinking about salvaging this year, an approach that carries with it an air of desperation, think instead of getting a jump on 2023. Go ahead and work in a couple of memorable forays into the wild. But think of them as revving your engine for the year ahead.

We make this suggestion in part because the year ahead, 2023, is Year of the Trail in North Carolina, and you’ll be really bummed if you find yourself feeling this way this time next year. With all the opportunities that lie ahead in 2023, you’ll have no excuse to look back back on the year with regret. 

We make the suggestion in large part, though, because salvaging 2022 is an exercise in looking  back. Getting a jump on 2023 is about moving forward.

Here are two ways we can help you move forward in the year ahead.

Go Wild on the Weetock

Two things we love about winter hiking: 

1. You can head off trail because the undergrowth has died back and you can get into areas otherwise inaccessible.
2. It’s prime time for hiking at the coast, what with the cooler temps keeping the bug and snake populations at bay. 

Both are good incentives on their own. But when you combine the two, then you’ve got a real adventure. Such is the case with the 11-mile Weetock Trail in the coastal Croatan National Forest. At its northern trailhead off NC 58 near Maysville, the Weetock seems like just another trail: there’s parking, an obvious trailhead, even an informational kiosk. And there’s easy-to-follow trail — for the first few miles. But then you cross the gravel Long Point Road,  and … is that the trail on the other side? Or does it head down the road for a spell? And if so, which way? The trail’s uncertainty is one of the things we love most about the Weetock; that and the fact it dives deep into woods that are oddly comforting on a cold, sunny day. (We also like that there are bail-out options should sunset — at 5:07 p.m. on the day of the hike — keep us from trail’s end.)

A challenging hike from a way-finding standpoint. And a really fun hike as well. 

Not up for quite that much adventure? There’s a 7-mile option that forgoes the off-roading.

What: GetHiking! Exploring the Coastal Croatan National Forest’s Weetock Trail

When: Friday, Dec. 30, 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Where: Maysville, NC

Cost: $45 (includes a Zoom planning meeting, 7-page trail guide, lunch and trail snacks.

Learn more and sign up here.

Weekend hiking the Blue Ridge Escarpment

Here’s something that could really get you revved up for 2023: a weekend of hiking 20-plus miles on the Blue Ridge Escarpment — with great camping to boot! For this adventure, we hike 1.5 miles along the flat Basin Creek at Doughton Park and set up base camp for the weekend in a spacious, tree-covered primitive campground. Saturday, we do a loop hike of either 12 or 15 miles (depending upon the weather), a hike that gains three-quarters of its elevation in the first 4.5 miles and yields miles of panoramic views from mountaintop meadows. Sunday, it’s a 3.3-mile hike along Basin Creek to a one-room cabin once home to 13 people. 

While Doughton Park is part of the Blue Ridge Parkway, we spend less than a mile and a half within view of scenic highway (where you’ll be distracted by the aforementioned views, anyway). For the most part, we’ll be on the well-tended trails that make this part of the Blue Ridge Parkway National Park less about driving, more about hiking. (Doughton Park has about 30 miles of hiking trail, btw.)

You do need to have a bit of camping gear for this trip, though we can help with a backpack if you need one. Probably your best bet for late-season mountain hiking in the Southeast.

What: GetBackpacking! Weekend Escape: Doughton Park

When: Friday, Dec. 2-Sunday, Dec. 4.

Where: Doughton Park, Blue Ridge Parkway

Cost: $105

Includes: Zoom planning trip, eguide (including custom maps and route descriptions), camping.

Learn more and sign up here.

Don’t look back. Get a jump on 2023 with these year-end adventures.

The post Jump-start 2023 with a year-end 2022 adventure appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

We generally refrain from hiking at the coast from late March through October. But once Halloween has passed and the flitting and slithering things that give us pause re subdued, our thoughts turn to the coast and some of our favorite hikes in the state. To hikers, this is the region’s real peak season. Pack a camera, a notebook, a handful of nature guidebooks. Camp, stay in cheap motels. Cook dinner over a camp stove, linger over breakfast, eat lunch on the go. And listen.

November especially is the time to listen to the outdoors. The seemingly constant breeze lets the trees, the grass, the plants tell their stories. Stories that began with a colorful birth in March, that celebrated the lazy days of summer, that grew melancholy come early fall and that ended, much like they began, in an explosion of color. The circle of life lived in just eight months. But what a story to be told at season’s end.

It’s a story told in one of three ways.

Long trails

If you’ve got the time, two coastal trails would love you stay a spell and listen.

• 

  Neusiok Trail, 22 miles, Croatan National Forest, Havelock. The Neusiok runs from the Pine Cliffs Recreation Area southeast to Oyster Point Landing. No need to rush: there are three shelters/camping areas along the way where you can camp and take the time necessary to experience the pine savannah, the bay woods, the bluff overlooking the mile-wide Neuse River, the boggy areas traveled (mostly) by boardwalk. It can also be hiked in sections, the most diverse of which is the northernmost 6.8 miles, from Pine Cliffs south and east to NC 306. Read more here.

• Weetock Trail, 11 miles, Croatan National Forest, Maysville. Such a tease, the Weetock. From its northern trailhead of N.C. 58 south of Maysville, it’s an open book for the first 6 miles. Maybe there’s a time or two where it plays coy and becomes discrete. But for the most part, no secrets. Then, right when you think you’ve got it understood, it crosses the gravel Jones Landing Road and spends the rest of its way trying to ditch you. This part of the Croatan has been ravaged by numerous hurricanes, the downfall covering large swaths of trail. Seemingly important swaths, because the only clues the trail shares from here on out are the unique metal-strip blazes (old newspaper printing plates) that catch the sun here and there. A challenge, but hey, who doesn’t love a good mystery? Read more here.

Easy beach hikes

Just as we love a good novel to read at the beach, so, too, do we love an easy winter hike — easy in the sense that it’s simple to follow but has a compelling plot. Some of our favorites:

• 

  Carolina Beach State Park, 9 trails, 9 miles, Carolina Beach. Carolina Beach is the Reader’s Digest condensed version of exploring the coast: in just 761 acres nestled between the Cape Fear River and Atlantic Ocean you’ll hike over forested dunes, through forests of turkey oak and live oak, around pocosins, past cypress swamps and through a carpet of carnivorous plants. The ecological sampling here is not to be matched. Learn more here.

• Fort Fisher Hermit Trail (a k a Basin Trail), 2 miles, Fort Fisher State Recreation Area, Kure Beach. Just down the road from Carolina Beach is a trail that exposes you to one of the more unique views in the state: water in nearly every direction. At the midpoint, the trail passes a World War II bunker, a sturdy concrete structure that, after housing ordnance in WW II, housed Robert E. Harrill, the Fort Fisher hermit who fled here in 1956 and stayed until his unexplained death in 1972. More info here.

• 

  Cedar Point Tideland Trail, Croatan National Forest, Cedar Point, 1.3 miles. No need to get your shoes mucky—an elevated boardwalk traverses much of the 1.3-mile Cedar Point Tideland Trail, in the wetlands where Dibbling and Boathouse creeks dissolve into the White Oak River (then, shortly, into Bogue Sound). In addition to keeping you dry, the boardwalk gives you get a bird’s-eye view of the fiddler crabs and other marsh life below. It is also an especially good spot for birding. More info here.

• Nags Head Woods Ecological Preserve, 4 miles, Kill Devil Hills. At 1,100 acres, Nags Head Woods wrote the book on maritime forests. It’s one of the best examples of such along the East Coast, hence the reason The Nature Conservancy elected to save it beginning in the 1970s. Nearly four miles of trail take you through densely vegetated terrain that includes 11 separate species of oak alone. Also calling the preserve home are 5 species of salamander, 14  species of frogs and toads, at least 50 nesting birds, assorted turtles, lizards and snakes. More info here.
• Patsy Pond Nature Trail, 4.5 miles, Newport. Before the European invasion, about 90 million acres of the Southeast were covered with longleaf pines. Today, that number is closer to 3.3 million. Which makes walking the Patsy Pond Nature Trail like diving into a good history book. A good history in that the forest isn’t just about the longleaf, but also about its supporting characters, including the red-cockaded woodpecker, Carolina gopher frog, bladderwort, sundew and a cast, literally, of thousands. Learn more here.

Coastal plain

There’s nothing plain about these hikes, other than their coastal plain setting.

• 

  Jones Lake State Park, 4 miles, Elizabethtown. Every time I’ve hiked here it’s been: 1) in winter, 2) 40 degrees, 3) under cloudless skies. In short, perfect. Such a great experience has hiking the 4-mile Bay Trail been that I go back every couple of years to experience the open pine forest on the west side of Jones Lake, the dense bay forest on the east side. A Jekyll and Hyde hike with a total elevation gain of 3 feet. And if I’m hungry for more I can hop across the road (N.C. 242) and continue hiking at Turnbull State Educational Forest. Learn more here.

• 

  Merchants Millpond State Park, 9 miles, Gatesville. Every time I visit I think of the 1950s schlock sci-fi flick, “Creature from the Black Lagoon.” Although there might be alligators here, there have been no confirmed Gill-Man sightings at Merchants Millpond, despite the eerie similarity in swampy surroundings. The park may be known for canoeing on its 760-acre millpond, but the hiking here exposes you to some of the same treats, including bay woods and cypress and tupelo gum swamps. A great day trip. Learn more here.

• Pettrigrew State Park, 4.2 miles. Creswell,. When it comes to hiking you can go for distance or you can go to be awed. At Pettigrew State Park on the shores of Lake Phelps, the Morotoc Trail will certainly awe you with a collection of some of the oldest and largest trees of their kind in the state. Among the ancient oddities are various bay trees, sweet gums, persimmons, and pawpaws; the trunks of some bald cypress trees measure up to 10 feet in diameter; and, poplar trunks exceed six feet. “Vines as wide as human thighs wind their ways up trees as tall as 130 feet.” You’ll also see Atlantic white cedars that reach heights of 100 feet. Prepare for the slowest 2.8 miles of hiking in your life. Learn more here.

*  * *

Explore with us!

We’re ending 2022 with a hike that embodies the best hiking has to offer: carefree passage through peaceful terrain and bushwhack-driven way-finding through lush woods … .

GetHiking! Exploring the coastal Weetock Trail, Friday, Dec. 30, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. This trip includes:

• Zoom planning session to make sure you’re prepared for the hike
• 7-page eguide for the hike including custom map, route description, what you’ll need and general information about the hike and the forest.
• Lunch
• Trail snacks
• The hike

Read the trail description above; then go here to learn more and to sign up.

The post Coastal hikes beckon, with cooler weather appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

It also makes for a great day hike — a great long day hike.

When the weather turns cold and daylight is diminished, we tend to abandon thoughts of a long hike. But why? That cold air is ideal for staying on the move, and while there is a premium on sunlight, we’ve still got a minimum 10 hours of serviceable daylight to work with. (Not that we should be limited to daylight with 200 lumens at our immediate and affordable disposal.)

The key: you just have to know the right place to take your long hikes. That place being the warmer, flatter coastal region. As luck would have it, there are some great long-hike options along the North Carolina and Virginia coasts. Another reason to give these a try in wintry weather: it’s the only time you won’t be joined by flitting, biting, slithering, stalking creatures who keep a low profile below 60 degrees.

Some of our favorites:

• Neusiok Trail | Croatan National Forest, 21 miles, Havelock, N.C. Part of the statewide Mountains-to-Sea Trail, this hike has a ripple or two on the northern end; otherwise, it’s smooth, flat sailing on a mix of trail and sandy roads penetrating pine savannah and the occasional bay bog. The ripple at the north end? The trail begins beneath a stout bluff overlooking the mile-wide Neuse River, then rolls through seemingly displaced terrain that includes a run of holly and a patch of galax, among other Appalachian flora you don’t expect to find at the coast. Keep an eye peeled for the rusted stills that once bolstered the local economy. More info here.

• 

  Weetok Trail | Croatan National Forest, 11 miles, Maysville, N.C. Ever wish you lived back when the very first human explorers reached the coast? When everything was a mystery, when there were no maps and no blazes to help you make your way? Well, good news, friend — the days of true adventure live on on the Weetok Trail. The Neusiok’s lesser-known Croatan cousin, the Weetok starts marked (there’s event a sign!), and then … . After that, here’s hoping you have a good map, a compass and the skills to use them. (Good indicator of the trail’s navigability: the 2014 Weetock Trail Race gave participants engraved machetes.) The easiest (possibly only?) place to pick up the trail is from the Haywood Landing Boat Ramp off NC 58; details here. More info here.

• Merchants Millpond State Park, 10 miles, Gatesville, N.C. We’d been paddling at Merchants Millpond for 15 years before we even knew the park had hiking trails. But trails they have, and by looping together the Bennetts Creek, Coleman and Lassiter trails, you can loop together a 10-mile hike through very gently oscillating terrain that includes a brush with Lassiter Swamp, the 760-acre millpond for which the park is best known, to a rich ecosystem thick with pines and lowland hardwoods conjoined at the trunk via a dense web of understory. A great spot for birding and wildlife viewing in general. More info here.

• 

  Great Dismal Swamp NWR, 80 miles, Suffolk, Va. Look at the trail map of the Great Dismal Swamp NWR and the ruler-straight trails occasionally teeing into one another or meeting at right angles may not seem all that appealing. But for sheer escapism on a winter’s day, it’s hard to beat these gravel roads that demand little attention and allow the mind to drift in whatever direction it chooses. These long corridors through the 175-square-mile swamp invite a variety of wildlife sightings, from the more than 200 species of birds that either reside permanently or visit for the winter, or, if you’re fortunate, a black bear. More info here.

• False Cape State Park, 7 miles+, Virginia Beach, Va. Talk about a daylong commitment: just to get to the park, you have to hike 3.5 miles through the adjoining Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge. From there, the 6.2-mile Sandy Ridge Trail goes down the center of this barrier island, with various short (generally less than a mile) trails spinning off of it. Some take you to Back Bay through maritime woods, some take you out to the Atlantic. Go from November through February and you’ll likely see few other souls: the tram service that otherwise hauls visitors in runs only occasionally in winter. More info here.

• 

  Holly Shelter Game Lands, 19 miles, Hampstead, N.C. There’s something almost midwestern in the wide-open spaces that define this 63,500-acre gameland between Wilmington and Jacksonville: stand at the corner of the dusty Lodge and New roads, look north, and you half expect to see a crop duster gradually materialize and take a swipe at you. The stretches of barren terrain are offset by dense coastal forest, making for an interesting contrast on this 19-mile run, part of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail. More info here.

For information on our December Neusiok backpack trip, visit GetHiking! Triangle here. And keep an on your local GetHiking! site for more long hikes at the coast this winter.

Happy trails,

Joe

The post This winter, go long appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Ah, time for a beach vacation! Time to frolic in the sun and surf, read, eat. But, eventually, you’d like to move, right?

Luckily, trails abound at the coast. Below are five trails we enjoy at the beach—and all of these trails are well away from the current blackout zone of Hatteras and Ocracoke.

1. First Landing State Park, Virginia Beach, Va. With more than 20 miles of trail, First Landing gives you options, really good options. For a long escape, take the 6.1-mile Cape Henry Trail, which spends some time along Broad Bay, some time navigating bald cypress swamps and forested dunes. Various shorter options do the same. Usually, a hike at the beach is a diversion, at First Landing it can your entire vacation. More info here.

2. Nags Head Woods Ecological Preserve, Kill Devil Hills. At 1,100 acres, Nags Head Woods is one of the best examples of a maritime forest along the East Coast, hence the reason The Nature Conservancy elected to save it beginning in the 1970s. Nearly four miles of trail take you through densely vegetated terrain that includes 11 separate species of oak alone. Also calling the preserve home are five species of salamander, 14  species of frogs and toads, at least 50 nesting birds, assorted turtles, lizards and snakes. More info here.

3. Cedar Point Tideland Trail, Croatan National Forest, Cedar Point. No need to get your shoes mucky—an elevated boardwalk traverses much of the 1.3-mile Cedar Point Tideland Trail, in the wetlands where Dibbling and Boathouse creeks dissolve into the White Oak River (then, shortly, into Bogue Sound). In addition to keeping you dry, you get a bird’s-eye view of the fiddler crabs and other marsh life below. It is also an especially good spot for birding. More info here.

4. Fort Fisher Hermit Trail (a k a Basin Trail), Fort Fisher State Recreation Area, Kure Beach. Here’s a hike just about everyone will like. For one, it’s flat (OK, total elevation gain is 7 feet). It also exposes you to one of the more unique views in the state: water in nearly every direction. At about the midpoint, the trail passes a World War II bunker, a sturdy concrete structure sunk into the sand that, after housing ordnance in WW II, housed Robert E. Harrill, the Fort Fisher hermit who fled here in 1956 and stayed until his unexplained death in 1972. You’ll almost always find a nice breeze, too. More info here.

5. Stones Creek Game Land, various trails, Sneads Ferry. One of the many things we love about the Mountains-to-Sea Trail is that it ferrets out public lands often known for something other than hiking. The 3,537-acre Stones Creek Game Land, managed by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, is best known for hunting and birding, but the collection of trails herein not only piece together to accommodate the MST, but they also provide access to otherwise impenetrable coastal environments. At Stones Creek, you can explore ponds, bog-bearing-pitcher plants, pine savannah and coastal hardwoods on about 4 total miles of trail. More info here.

* * *

Learn more about most of these trails and trails throughout the state in “100 Classic Hikes in North Carolina” (UNC Press, 2007)

The post This beach vacation, take a hike appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

In 2015, we launched our GetHiking! Classic Hikes program with GetHiking! North Carolina’s Classic Hikes. Over the course of the year we hiked a dozen of North Carolina’s most notable areas: Shining Rock, Mount Mitchell and the Black Mountains, Panthertown Valley, the Mountains-to-Sea Trail and the Appalachian Trail, to name a few.

Now, if there were only a dozen Classic Hikes in North Carolina, we could declare mission accomplished and be done. In fact, there are so many more than a dozen Classics in the state (I’ve written a book that documents 100, “100 Classic Hikes in North Carolina,” Mountaineers Books). And there are so many more Classics throughout the Southeast.

Thus, our mission continues in 2016, with the expanded GetHiking! The Southeast’s Classic Hikes series.

First, we’re not abandoning North Carolina. In fact, we’re only adding two out-of-state hikes in 2016, both in Virginia (a stretch of the Appalachian Trail near Lynchburg and the Grayson Highlands/Mount Rogers area). And while we are repeating two hikes from 2015 (Panthertown Valley, by popular demand, and Doughton Park, because it’s a good late winter mountain hike), we’ve got a North Carolina lineup that will expose you to even more great hiking than you thought possible. We’ll get to a full calendar of hikes, with descriptions, in a sec. But first … .

Why join this fee-based hiking program? We had about 90 hikers participate in the 2015 program, all with their own personal motivation. Basically, though, they boiled down to two key motivators: the challenge, and the chance to explore more of the state’s wild areas.

The Challenge

Right about now you’re likely thinking what most people are thinking on the cusp of a new year: how can I be more active in the year ahead? Hiking is a great option. First, just about anyone can do it, and unlike many other “active” options, it’s something you can be active at late into life. (Of our 90 or so 2015 hikers, at least half are over 50.) Hiking requires some basic equipment: hiking boots/shoes, good socks, a day pack, for starters. But once you’ve got the basics, it’s cheap fun: transportation and food are your key expenses.

If you’re new to hiking, you might be intimidated by the “Classic” designation, equating “Classic” with epic and visions of a death march rather than an enjoyable day in the woods. First, our hikes are actually two hikes, a longer hike and a shorter hike. For instance, our first hike, on the Neusiok Trail in the coastal Croatan National Forest, gives you the option of hiking the entire 20.4-mile trail, or a 6-mile stretch. Start with the shorter options, maybe you’ll want to go longer after three or four hikes. Plus, the monthly hikes are good incentive to do shorter, local hikes in the interim.

If you’re looking for an activity you can embrace for the longterm and one that doesn’t seem like work (as is often the case with a traditional “workout,” hiking is a good option. Likewise, if you seek a sense of accomplishment and reward, you’ll find it in a hike (just ask the folks who did our 13.4-mile hike on the Appalachian Trail north of Carvers Gap in September).

And if you’re worried about being left in the woods, don’t be. Our hikes are led from the rear, guaranteeing that no one, not the slowest hiker, is dropped. This approach benefits our more experienced hikers as well; with direction supplied before the hike, they become more confident in their ability to navigate in the backcountry.

Explore New Trails

Even if you’re an avid hiker, how many of the state’s — and region’s — trails have you hiked? Or are even familiar with? Drop down and take a look at our lineup for 2016: if you’ve hiked half of these trails, you’re doing pretty good. Odds are there are one or two you haven’t heard of.

We aim to expose you to the wealth of hiking opportunities in the Southeast. Take the October hike. Perhaps you’ve heard of, even hiked in the Shining Rock area. But Sam Knob? Its neighbor to the west offers a more varied hike: the views, meadows and black balsam forests Shining Rock is known for, plus rock outcrops and waterfalls. As for the July Standing Indian hike, we’re guessing that one’s got you scratching your head. After the weekend of July 16-17, 2016, you’ll be boasting it’s one of the best circuit hikes around.

Again, check the schedule below for descriptions of 2016’s hikes.

New in 2016

If you’re a veteran of GetHiking! North Carolina’s Classic Hikes, we’ve added a few new twists to GetHiking! The Southeast’s Classic Hikes:

• Weekend trips. Over the past year, several of you commented that you loved the mountain trips, but you wished there was more hiking to justify the long drive. This year we’ve added six camping weekends in the mountains. Drive up Friday afternoon/evening, camp, hike Saturday, camp Saturday night, hike Sunday. Camping will be in group campgrounds near the trails we will hike; in some cases we can hike directly from camp. Our one group camp experience in 2015, at Mills River, was a big hit, highlighted by a potluck dinner Saturday evening.
• Aren’t a camper — but you’re interested? This year, we’ve added a Discover Camping option to our weekend trips. We provide the tent and sleeping mattress, give you a list of household items you can use to supplement your other camp needs, and are there to help take the mystery out of camping.
• Lodge/hostel weekend on the AT out of Hot Springs. Over the three-day Veteran’s Day weekend (November 11-13) we’ve reserved the Laughing Heart Lodge in Hot Springs, North Carolina. Hike the Appalachian Trail during the day, return to the lodge/hostel for a civil evening of rest in a warm environment (see schedule for details).

Membership: what you get

Basic membership to GetHiking! The Southeast’s Classic Hikes is $75, which applies to your first three hikes. (If you’re first three hikes are weekend trips, that’s a savings of $30). Your membership includes:

• Three hikes, as mentioned above. After that, each single-day hike is $25, weekend trips are $35.
• Monthly emagazine with detailed information on that month’s hike, including an overview touching on the trail’s highlights; map of the hike with points of interest; elevation profile; photos; info box with key information, including trail access, length, elevation gain and more. Also in each emag: information on camping and lodging near each hike, as well as hiking tips and resources pertinent to this particular hike.
• Swag bag for each hike. For each hike you’ll get a goody bag filled with hiking-appropriate swag.
• Joining gift. TBD. Last year, members received either hiking socks, a camp towel or a GetHiking! T-shirt, courtesy Great Outdoor Provision Co.
• Loaner gear. Curious about trekking poles but never tried them? Here’s your chance. We’ll also have loaner headlamps (if you’re worried about finishing after sunset).
• Ten percent discount on hiking gear at Great Outdoor Provision Co.

If you think you’ll make all the hikes, save $60 by joining the Classics Club for $300. That covers all the hikes, plus the Discover Camping program, and get a $35 gift card from Great Outdoor Provision Co.

How to join

Sign up today and we will send you pertinent information about the program, as well as details on our first hike, on January 24 on the Neusiok Trail. Pay via PayPal, below, or send a check to GetGoingNC, 4909 Waters Edge Dr., Suite 206, Raleigh, NC 27606.

Hike schedule

Here’s the full schedule of our 2016 GetHiking! The Southwest’s Classic Hikes.

January: Neusiok Trail, Croatan National Forest
Havelock
Sunday, Jan. 24
Long Hike: 20.4 miles (entire length)
Short Hike: 6.4 miles (northern trailhead to NC 306)
$25
We start the year in a coastal forest, on a lowland trail that spends much of its eastern length in pine savannah and on boardwalk elevated above a shrubby bog, its western end in forest that has odd flashes of the Appalachians. The Neusiok is a trail best hiked in winter, when the flying pests common to the coast are less pesky. As you might guess, there’s little elevation on this hike, making it a good hike to start the year.

February: Uwharrie National Recreation Trail, Uwharrie National Forest
Asheboro
Saturday, Feb. 20
Long Hike: 17.8 (Sections 3-8)
Short Hike: 6.3 (Sections 3-4)
$25
The Uwharries, in the heart of the rolling Piedmont, may have long since eroded from their 20,000-foot peak, but they still present a nice challenge. A challenge not without its reward: especially Sections 3 and 4, where the trail reaches its high point (King Mountain, at 1,013 feet) and offers its best view, a 360 from the top of Long Mountain. Both hikes include this stretch; the longer hike lets you build endurance as you probe deeper into this largely hardwood forest.

March: Doughton Park, Blue Ridge Parkway
Roaring Gap
Saturday, March 19
Long Hike: 18 miles (Longbottom Loop)
Short Hike: 10 miles (Longbottom to Bluff Mountain)
$25
One of the few repeats from the 2015 Classic Hikes season, and for good reason. For starters, it’s an early-season opportunity to get into the mountains. Located on the Blue Ridge escarpment north of Wilkesboro, both hikes begin with a steady 4.5-mile climb before topping out in the rolling mountain meadows of Doughton Park. The short hike finishes at Bluff Mountain, the long brings it back around down a descending ridgeline to the Longbottom Trailhead. Great views from the top — and early spring wildflowers to boot.

April: Appalachian Trail, Virginia
Lynchburg, Va.
Saturday, April 2
One hike: 10 miles (Punchbowl on the Blue Ridge Parkway to James River)
$25
Think of day hiking the Appalachian Trail and you immediately think of driving half the day to western North Carolina. In fact, the AT is closest to the Triad and Triangle, at least, in Virginia. Where the AT crosses the James River west of Lynchburg is an especially scenic stretch of this iconic trail. From the Blue Ridge Parkway, the trail climbs to Punchbowl, then stays along a ridge for about 7 miles, offering an ongoing supply of views, both east to the Piedmont and west to the Shenandoah Valley and George Washington National Forest.

May: Mountains-to-Sea Trail: Craggy Mountains
Pisgah National Forest
Saturday/Sunday, May 7-8
Group camping: Briar Bottom Group Campground
Saturday: Buck Creek Gap to campground (hike lengths to be determined)
Sunday: NC 128 to Craggy Gardens (hike lengths to be determined)
$35
The first of six weekend hikes with group camping. Arrive Friday night, set up camp at the Briar Bottom Group Campground at the base of Mount Mitchell, then hike from Buck Creek Gap back to the campground on Saturday. A potluck Saturday night, followed by more hiking, at Craggy Gardens on the Blue Ridge Parkway, Sunday. A good sampling of a stretch of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail that doesn’t get hiked much because of its remote location.

June: Davidson River / North Mills River
Brevard
Saturday/Sunday, June 18/19
Group Camping: White Pines Group Campground
Saturday: Art Loeb (hike lengths tbd)
Sunday: Fish Hatchery / John Rock loop (7 miles)
$35
Our lone group camping experience in 2015 at Mills River was a hit. We return to the area, this time to the White Pines Group Campground in the adjoining Davidson River area of the Pisgah National Forest for a weekend of hiking. Saturday, we’ll hike a stretch of the Art Loeb Trail heading down from the Blue Ridge Parkway, then return to camp to kick back and enjoy a pot-luck dinner. Sunday, we’ll do the popular 7-mile John Rock Loop, enjoying lunch and views of Looking Glass Rock from the trail’s namesake attraction.

July: Standing Indian / Appalachian Trail
Franklin
Saturday/Sunday, July 16/17
Group camping: Kimsey Creek Group Campground
Saturday: Kimsey Creek/AT/Lower Trail Ridge (hike lengths tbd)
Sunday: Timber Ridge / AT / Bear Pen Gap loop (hike lengths tbd)
$35
On our third Saturday/Sunday hike we visit the Standing Indian area west of Franklin. The Standing Indian group campground is ideally situated for our purposes. Saturday morning, head out your tent door and onto the Kimsey Creek Trail for a climb up to the Appalachian Trail, returning via Lower Ridge Trail. Sunday, we do another AT loop, up Timber Ridge to the AT and back via Bear Pin Gap.

August: Great Smoky Mountains National Park /Deep Creek
Bryson City
Saturday/Sunday, Aug. 13/14
Group camping: Deep Creek Group Campground
Saturday: Noland Divide Trail/Pole Road Creek Trail/Deep Creek Trail (hike lengths tbd)
Sunday: Indian Creek/Deeplow Gap/Thomas Ridge trails (hike lengths tbd)
$35
August too hot for hiking? What if your hike ends with a tube trip down a mile-long stretch of mountain creek. That’s an option both days, on hikes that start and end from our group campsite at Deep Creek, just outside Bryson City.

September: Grayson Highlands / Mount Rogers

Saturday/Sunday, Sept. 23/24
Group Camping: Grayson Highlands State Park
Saturday: AT/Mount Rogers (hike lengths tbd)
Sunday: AT (hike lengths tbd)
$35
Our second trip of the year to Virginia is our first to the Grayson Highlands / Mount Rogers area of southwest Virginia. Grayson Highlands/Mount Rogers is one of the most popular trail networks in the Southeast, in no small part because the rocky and open terrain has more of a western U.S. feel. Also, the wild ponies.

October: Sam Knob / Panthertown Valley
Cashiers
Saturday/Sunday, Oct. 22/23
Group Camping: Kuykendall Group Campground
Saturday: Sam Knob (8 miles)
Sunday: Panthertown Valley (12 miles, with shorter options)
$35
Our last weekend group camping trip of the season sees us return to Panthertown Valley for waterfalls, views and great fall color, then head up to the Shining Rock Area for a diverse 8-mile loop at Sam Knob. Both areas are known for rock outcrops, open spaces and waterfalls.

November: Appalachian Trail: Max Patch to Rich Mountain
Hot Springs
Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Nov. 11-13
Friday: AT (5 miles)
Saturday: AT/Rich Mountain Loop (12.7 miles)
Sunday: Max Patch (7 miles)
Lodging: Laughing Heart Lodge in Hot Springs
$35 (does not include lodging)
Three days of hiking (it’s over Veteran’s Day weekend) and two nights at the Laughing Heart Lodge in Hot Springs. The hiking includes various stretches on the Appalachian Trail, from Max Patch to Hot Springs. The lodging is at the laid-back Laughing Heart Lodge, where we’ve blocked out space for the weekend. Stay in the lodge, stay in the cabin, stay in the economical hostel. Off trail, we’ll explore one of the AT’s classic trail towns.

December: Mount Mitchell
Pisgah National Forest / Mount Mitchell State Park
Saturday, Dec. 31
$25
We wrap up the year with a celebratory climb up the highest peak in the East, 6,684-foot Mount Mitchell.

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