The longest of the long: the 60-mile Falls Lake portion of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail.
Sometimes you just need to stretch your legs — really, really stretch your legs. If you live in the Triangle and love a good, long stretch, you are in luck, because for an urban area it has more than its share of long trails. And varied long trails to boot. Some are paved and suitable for wheeled sports from cycling to rollerblading to stroller pushing. Some are a foot friendly, finally crushed natural surface, especially good for running. Some are the narrow, intimate singletrack perfect for hiking.
We’ve put together snapshots of five such long trails, ranging from the recently 7.1-mile Black Creek Greenway in Cary to the 60-mile section of the Falls Lake portion of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail (which will soon connected to the Eno River section of the MST and does connect to the Neuse River Trail, which will soon run nearly 33 miles into Clayton). Check out the snapshots. If you’re intrigued, click the recommended link for additional information.read more
The highlight of my weekend: handing a bottle of water to someone.
Close second: taking an hour to clear a two-foot wide, 15-foot-long swath of forest.
Slow weekend?
Hardly.
Not long ago I decided I should become more giving to the various outdoors communities I benefit from. I’ve written three books about hiking trails, so that seemed a good place to start. And last week I got a Facebook message from a bike team I once belonged to asking for help. Why not? I thought.read more
Volunteers build a bridge on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail.
Saturday is National Trails Day, a day set aside for us to appreciate the more than 200,000 miles of trail in the U.S. Officially, National Trails Day dates back to 1991, when the American Hiking Society deemed that one day a year be set aside to honor our trails; the first NTD, however, didn’t occur until June 5, 1993.read more
It’s the longest trail in the state. Eventually, the trail will run about 950 miles, from Clingman’s Dome on the Tennessee border east to Jockey’s Ridge on the coast. At present, about 550 miles of the trail are complete (the remaining 400 miles are on temporary routes, primarily secondary roads).
If you live in one of the state’s metro regions that starts with a “T”, you’re just a short drive from the trail. In the Triad, a 22-mile stretch of the MST piggybacks on the 22-mile Sauratown Trail, running from Pilot Mountain State Park east to Hanging Rock State Park. In the Triangle, a 60-mile stretch of the MST runs along the south shore of Falls Lake and another 10 miles is done along the Eno River, from Durham’s West Point on the Eno city park upstream to the Pleasant Green Access of Eno River State Park.
It’s growing practically by the day. On May 18, for example, a volunteer workforce will strive to blaze a three-mile stretch of the MST near Penny’s Bend that will link the aforementioned 10 miles along the Eno with the 60-mile Falls Lake stretch, creating 73 miles of continuous trail. (More info on that workday, here.)
It’s becoming more accessible.
It’s on the latter point that we write today. The Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, with assistance from GetGoingNC.com, has just completed in-depth trail descriptions to help you find and enjoy those completed stretches along Falls Lake and the Eno. In both cases, the trail has been broken down into easy day-hikes, complete with trailhead information, difficulty rating, connecting trails, maps, photos, a description and other helpful information. For those of you who like a detailed account of where you are on the trail, there’s a step-by-step account of each trail provided by FMST volunteer Mark Edelstein.read more
Monday — never an easy time for the outdoors enthusiast. After a weekend of adventure, returning to the humdrum work-a-day world can make one melancholy. To help ease the transition, every Monday we feature a 90 Second Escape — essentially, a 90-second video of a place you’d probably rather be: a trail, a park, a greenway, a lake … anywhere as long as it’s not under a fluorescent bulb.read more
