Work in the form of hikes.

One of the many objectives of Year of the Trail, as this year has been designated by the N.C. General Assembly, was to have a trail-related event in all 100 North Carolina counties. Going into this month, 91 counties had hosted Year of the Trail events. For those of us not gifted in mental math, that leaves 9 counties to go. All of which are in more remote, rural areas of the state. Since I was hired by the state last year primarily to promote Year of the Trail in rural counties under Gov. Cooper’s Hometown Strong initiative, I’ve taken it as my goal to make sure a Year of the Trail events gets done in those 9 remaining counties.

Next week, I either will be leading or assisting with 5 hikes. I would love to see you on those hikes, which are:

• Calloway Forest Preserve, Aberdeen (Hoke County), Tuesday, Dec. 19, 10 a.m. 3.2 miles. This nearly 3,000-acre The Nature Conservancy preserve sits in the sandhills, one of the best places we know of for a winter hike. It will be lead by TNC’s Jeff Marcus, NC Longleaf Applied Scientist, and Rhonda Sturgill, TNC Conservation Coordinator. If you care to hike farther, you can up the total to around 6 miles. Learn more and sign up here.
• Boney Mill Pond at Farrior Park, Wallace (Duplin County), Friday, Dec. 22, 10 a.m. 1.2 miles. We will hike the Little Pond Loop from Farrior Park to Boney Mill Pond, then around the pond and back. The trail is especially good for kids, as it is a Kids in Parks’ TRACK Trail featuring 8 Animal Athlete activities. Learn more and sign up here.
• Kinston’s Riverwalk, Kinston (Lenoir County), Friday, Dec. 22, 1 p.m. 1 mile. We’ll take a leisurely pace hiking this roughly 1-mile out-and-back along the Neuse River. The trail is paved and relatively flat, making it kid and stroller friendly. Come early and explore the nearby CSS Neuse and Gov. Richard Caswell Memorial State Historic Site (open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.), the Neuseway Nature Park and downtown Kinston. Learn more and sign up here.
• Caswell’s Landing Nature Park, Hookerton (Greene County), Friday, Dec. 22, 2:30 p.m. Roughly 1 mile. Caswell’s Landing Nature Parkis a well-kept secret along Contentnea Creek in Hookerton. Join us for a short hike on trail and gravel road as we wind through bottomland forest. A winter visit means we’ll be able to peer deeper into the naked woods to learn its secrets, both natural and of the area’s human past.Learn more and sign up here.
• Franklin County’s de Hart Botanical Garden, Sunday, Dec. 24, 1:30 p.m. 3 miles. The de Hart Botanical Garden south of Louisburg might be the most ecologically diverse 92 acres in the Piedmont. From the bamboo forest protecting a small creek, to two waterfalls, to the boulder-bordered pond known as a scenic outdoor wedding venue, to the ancient white oak in the preserve’s far reaches, you won’t be disappointed. Founded by Allen de Hart, the noted outdoor author and the man who jump-started the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, the preserve has something in bloom every month of the year. Learn more and sign up here.

Ok, 91 – 5 means there are four counties to go. They are:

• Currituck
• Hertford
• Northampton
• Pamlico

Those hikes will likely be the week between Christmas and New Year’s. I have some thoughts on locations, but if you have any favorites in these counties, pass them along, to joe.miller@hts.nc.gov. I will post the remaining four hikes in the next week.

In the meantime, I hope to see you on one of next week’s Year of the Trail hikes!

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You’re eager to show your visiting friends and family why you love living in the region: the outdoor opportunities that make this such a wonderful place to explore. You also don’t want to alienate your guests — or worse, harm them! — by taking them on an outing beyond their capabilities. Fortunately, you can do the former while avoiding the latter with the 10 hikes below, hikes that offer considerable esthetic bang for minimal physical exertion. 

We give a short description of why these hikes are suitable for the non-adventurous in your life, then provide a link for additional information.

Coast, coastal plain

The Basin Trail

2.2 miles (out and back)

Fort Fisher State Recreation Area, Kure Beach

Spending time at the coast this holiday season? This hike, just outside Wilmington, starts at the Atlantic Ocean and makes its way through open marsh (the soggier parts are on elevated boardwalk) to The Basin on the sound side. At the midpoint, visit an old World War II munitions bunker that was later home, for more than a decade, to the Fort Fisher Hermit.

More info here.

Bay Trail

4 miles

Jones Lake State Park, Elizabethtown

Need to get your beloved visitors out of the house for the day? Send them to Jones Lake southeast of Fayetteville for a 4-mile meander around a regional oddity: a Carolina bay. No one is quite sure how these shallow, oval-shaped bays originated (the result of a meteor shower is the best bet), but there were once a half million of them along the East Coast. The hike around this surviving bay is half pine savanna, half swampy bay forest, all flat.

More info here.

Charlotte area

The Boulders Access

0.5 miles

Crowders Mountain State Park, Kings Mountain

Lure your hiking-recalcitrant crew to The Boulders with the promise of seeing the boulders just a short hike from the car. Then, when they’re smitten, suggest hiking just a little farther, a little farther, a little farther on the Ridgeline Trail, which will take you either south into South Carolina or north for about six miles to the main part of Crowders Mountain State Park.

More info here.

Triangle

The Peaks Loop

1/2 mile

Horton Grove Nature Preserve, Bahama

This half-mile trail is especially alluring in late fall, with the mature beech forest casting a brilliant yellow glow over a carpet of copper leaves. Ridgeline and valley hiking, with a short drop in, a short climb out on well-groomed trail. Want more? Tack on the 0.8-mile Holman Loop through a recovering Piedmont prairie.

More info here. 

Seven Mile Creek Natural Area

2 miles

Orange County southwest of Hillsborough

You’ll find some of the foot-friendliest trail around on this ramble through mature upland woods and down to Seven Mile Creek, a spritely creek that, shortly, feeds into the Eno River. The preserve’s difficult-to-find trailhead all but insures you’ll avoid holiday crowds.

More info here.

Pump Station Trail

1.5 miles

Pump Station Access, Eno River State Park, Durham

An especially good hike for kids — closely supervised kids — because it takes in the ruins of the old Durham waterworks. Brick foundations, an old dam, and other remnants of the long-abandoned water plant make for great kid exploring. The trail includes a stretch along a particularly rocky run of the Eno.

More info here.

De hart Botanical Garden

up to 4 miles

Louisburg

A short hike in gets you to a waterfall, a bamboo garden and a lake with a rock outcrop perfect for hanging out on. Venture farther and you’ll find another waterfall and one of the oldest white oak trees in the region. Something is always in bloom at this 92-acre preserve off U.S. 401 between Raleigh and Louisburg.

More info here.

Triad

Cane Creek Mountains Natural Area

2.5 miles

Snow Camp

Live in the Triad or Triangle and don’t have time to visit the mountains? How about the mountains in our midst, the Cane Creek Mountains south of Burlington? You’ll get an Appalachian-type experience on this 2.5-mile loop that traverses surprisingly rocky terrain before topping out just below 1,000 feet. A bit more of a physical investment, but the payoff is worth it.

More info here. 

Horne Creek Trail

2.5 miles

Bean Shoals Access, Pilot Mountain State Park, Pinnacle

The main parking area atop Pilot Mountain gets so crowded on weekends that hikers are now shuttled from the base to the summit. Avoid Pilot’s plenty by heading to the Bean Shoals Access and hiking this flatter stretch of trail that includes intimate Horne Creek and the expansive Yadkiin River.

More info here.

Little Long Mountain

1.6 miles (out and back) 

Uwharrie National Forest, Asheboro

From the Joe Moffitt Trailhead it’s a 0.8-mile hike up the north side of the 922-foot mountain (you’ll pass a spring midway, on your left) to the best on-trail view in the Uwharrie range. From the summit meadow you have a 240-degree view from the east to the south to the west; early risers can catch sunrise, night-owls sunset and the rest of us an expansive view of this relict central North Carolina mountain range.

More info here.

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