The reason for this sudden compulsion? Probably the fact that December can be so busy it’s easy to not hike. And that’s trouble, because this is precisely when you need to get out and hike — to deal with the stress of the season.

To ensure that the five hikes are doable, I’m observing two ground rules: the hikes, with one exception, are no more than an hour’s drive, and none are more than 5 miles in length. Some can be done in about an hour (including the drive), none should take more than three hours total. Four are to places I haven’t hiked in a while, the fifth is new terrain altogether.

I’ll start with the hike I know I’ll be doing New Year’s Day.

Rendezvous Mountain State Park

Purlear, NC

Trail: 3.75-mile Amadahy Waterfalls Trail

It’s been more than 20 years since I hiked Rendezvous Mountain, and back then it was called Rendezvous Mountain Educational State Forest. But the memory of this 1,800-acre tract clinging to the Blue Ridge escarpment is strong: one side a forest decimated by a vicious wind storm years ago, the other a mature hardwood forest with trail following Purlear Creek to the Amdahl Waterfalls. This is my First Day Hike destination, which will be a 1-mile hike at 2 p.m. I’ll likely stick around and hike more. A 2-hour drive, but hey’ it’s New Year’s Day.

Learn more here

Mayo River State Park

Mayodan, NC

Trail: 1.7-mile Mayo Mountain Loop Trail

The hike is close, about a 20-minute drive, and while I hiked this trail last month, I haven’t hiked the new trail connecting to it. In part, that’s because it’s being built and, technically, not open. But I’ve spied it through the trees from the loop trail, and, unlike love, which The Supremes told us you can’t hurry, I believe you can hurry a new trail — by hiking it. And who doesn’t like a good adventure? I can almost get this one done over lunch.

Learn more here

Hanging Rock State Park

Danbury, NC

Trail: Mountains-to-Sea (future), 5 miles (roughly)

Speaking of trails that aren’t quite open, this stretch that goes over Hanging Rock’s Three Sisters is, perhaps, my favorite “off trail” hike in the state. From a park access on the east end of the town of Danbury, at the end of Sheep Rock Road, the sometimes hard-to-follow trail climbs for more than two miles, to the second Sister, before offering much in terms of vertical relief. For the most part, the trail follows old roadbed (though you need to keep a close eye to stay with it). It’s the one place at Hanging Rock you probably won’t encounter a soul.

Learn more about Hanging Rock State Park here

White Oak Mountain Wildlife Management Area

Chaham, VA

Trail: Not sure

White Oak Mountain rises nearly 400 feet above the surrounding piedmont of southern Virginia, a curious geologic protrusion that begs to be explored. Though it’s a Wildlife Management Area and its prime recreational focus is hunting (wear blaze orange, refrain from the antler dance), a series of gravel roads explores this plateau north of Danville. It’s taunted me since moving the North Carolina town of Eden; from the top of a nearby game land I can see White Oak 30 miles distant. No idea what’s there; all the more reason to make the 50-minute drive.

Learn more here

Night Hike on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail

Durham, NC

Trail: Falls Lake, Day-Hike Section P (3-mile stretch)

I’ve spent a good 10 years leading night hikes and promoting the concept — yet it’s been about 9 months since I’ve strapped on a headlamp and plunged down the trail. I vow to make that happen this month. This stretch is a favorite because the trailhead is at the Hickory Hill Boat Ramp, where post hike there’s a grand view of the night sky. The hike itself is pretty swell, too.

Learn more here.

The post 5 Hikes before the year is out appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Coast

Lake Waccamaw State Park, Lake Waccamaw. Lakeshore Trail, 5 miles. More info here.
This coastal plain trail takes in a little of everything on its journey from the Visitors Center along the shore of this Carolina Bay to the Waccamaw River. According to the park website, the trail “cuts through a pine forest, past one of the oldest stands of cypress trees in the area, under towering hickory trees, alongside grass beds in the lake that provide cover for a variety of fish species and beside sandy beaches perfect for picnicking or pausing to gaze across the lake.” Expect a variety of color. Learn more about the park — including where the heck it is and how to get there — at its website. Enhance your visit by going on Saturday, Dec. 21, and signing on for the Holiday Hike, a ranger-led hike focusing on winter tree ID.

Piedmont

Uwharrie National Recreation Trail, Uwharrie National Forest, 40 miles, with shorter options (Trip No. 36, “Backpacking North Carolina,” Hike No. 37, “100 Classic Hikes in North Carolina”). Details on the forest here. Back in the 1970s, when the Uwharrie Trail was originally blazed, it covered 50 miles and was a popular backpack destination for regional scout troops. Fittingly, it was those very troops who helped build the trail. Parts of the trail later fell into disrepair; the useable part of the trail dropped by half. But the Uwharrie Trail is on the rebound: Early this month a new 4-mile run opened linking the 20-mile Uwharrie National Recreation Trail to the south with a trail network in the Birkhead Mountain Wilderness Area, creating 40 miles of continuous trail. The growing trail provides access through the Uwharrie National Forest, site of an ancient mountain chain where peaks once climbed to 20,000 feet but today fall short of 1,000. Quick climbs through this Southern Appalachian hardwood forest are greeted not with peaks but rounded ridgelines featuring chunks of exposed granite. Lower passages are often along several creeks that penetrate this mid-state national forest. Three roads cross the trail, making for shorter, shuttled options.

Greensboro watershed lakes, 42 miles total, short hikes of as little as a mile. Details here. Falls is a great time for hiking. Alas, it’s also a great time for several other activities, starting with watching college and pro football. Much as you’d like to hit the road for a day trip in the mountains, kickoff is at 1. What’s a sports fan to do? Hike closer to home. 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.

Mountains

Doughton Park: Basin Cove Loop, Blue Ridge Parkway near Boone, 7-18 miles (Trip No. 11 “Backpacking North Carolina”). This trip has all sorts of options. Starting from Longbottom Road at Basin Creek you immediately have three: To the north, Cedar Ridge Trail takes you up to the Parkway near the Brinegar Cabin, where you can catch the Bluff Mountain Trail south through the vast meadows and balds that make Doughton Park a popular Blue Ridge Parkway destination. To the south, Flat Rock Ridge Trail traces another ridgeline up to the Parkway, where you’ll take Bluff Mountain Trail north through Doughton Park. Straight takes you up Grassy Gap Trail to a primitive campground where three options await. The 2-plus-mile Bluff Mountain Primitive Trail takes you straight up the escarpment to Doughton while the southern veering Grassy Gap Trail, following old roadbed, is the most mellow way to reach the top. Or, take the Basin Creek Trail up a narrow canyon where falls seem to trip over themselves for your attention. The trail ends at the one-room Caudill cabin, where a determined couple raised 13 kids more than a century ago. Not a bad option in the bunch.

Sam Knob Loop (Trip No. 14, “Backpacking North Carolina”). This loop off the Blue Ridge Parkway on the edge of the Shining Rock Wilderness is the ideal spring opener. It’s not too long (8.2 miles), water is assured but, at this altitude (between 5,000 and 6,000 feet) not an obstacle, and there’s just enough climbing to wake your hibernating legs, but not enough to make them wake grumpy. Plus, mile-for-mile it may be the most scenic trip in the book, taking in just about every type of southern Appalachian landscape — from balsam forest to rocky knob to open meadow and tight rhododendron passage — imaginable. A good overnight trek.

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