Since the early 1990s, the first Saturday in June has been recognized by the American Hiking Society as National Trails Day. It’s a day set aside to honor our favorite trails, hiking or paddling, mountain biking or equestrian.

Around the country, hundreds of events will be held as part of the observation. At some events, folks will gather to spruce up their favorite trails, or to clear new favorites. At other events, folks will gather and hike/bike/paddle/ride.

In North Carolina, 26 National Trails Day events have been registered with the sponsoring American Hiking Society. That number doesn’t include many of the events going on Saturday at North Carolina’s State Parks, nor a number of the workdays scheduled around the state; the Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, for instance, has multiple workdays going on across the length of this 1,150-mile trail.

For this weekend, we suggest you search the sites listed below to find a National Trails Day event near you. Identify an event, then spend the day in devout observance.

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Find an event near you:

• American Hiking Society, with at least 26 events listed in North Carolina.
• Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, with workdays scheduled statewide
• North Carolina State Parks, with events planned at most state parks.
• North Carolina Land Trusts, in addition to being National Trails Day, it’s also Land Trust Day, and many of North Carolina’s 24 land trusts have activities planned. Find your local land trust at the Conservation Trust for North Carolina site and go from there.

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That’s our thought for the weekend. Find more options at the sources listed below.

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The post Your weekend: It’s National Trails Day — salute your favorite trail appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Also: Next Wednesday, April 6, is National Walking Day, sponsored by the American Heart Association. Learn more here.

Coast

What motivates us to be active is an individual thing. Some folks are motivated by their genes: a family history of heart disease is sometimes the prod needed to lead an aerobic — and thus, hopefully longer — lifestyle. Some are motivated by their jeans: These skinny straightlegs would be a lot more comfortable if I lost a few pounds.

A lot of the folks we know are motivated by nature, by the need to get out and explore. By the chance to see the unusual, to experience first-hand something not everyone else can or will. That’s why we’re drawn to Saturday’s Flytrap Family Fun Day at Carolina Beach State Park. After a presentation on the curious carnivorous plant at the Visitor Center, there’s a hike to to where the Venus flytrap flourishes and a chance to see the plant in action.  A short hike that pays off four your child in such an unusual display today could launch a lifetime of outdoor adventure in search of nature’s menagerie of other unique occurrences.

Vital Stats: Flytrap Family Fun Day, Saturday, April 2, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Carolina Beach State Park, Carolina Beach. More info here.

Saturday forecast: High of 72 with a chance of thunderstorms.

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Looking ahead: Oak Island Lighthouse Run, half marathon, 10K, 5K, 1-mile fun run; April 16, Southport. More info here.

Piedmont

Into each life, some rain must fall. And sometimes, when the rain is heavy, it acts as a big broom, sweeping up everything in its path that isn’t anchored and dumping it, often, in a lake. In the case of a big chunk of the Triangle, Falls Lake.

And a lot of rain fell, heavy at times, this winter, leaving the banks of Falls Lake with a bathtub ring of cans, tires, balls and styrofoam, to name but a smidgen of the detritus. It’s both unsightly and, in the case of a water supply such as Falls Lake, unhealthy. Which is why you should join the Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail Saturday as they hope to collect 400 trash bags of stuff along the Mountains-to-Sea Trail portion of Falls Lake. As added incentive, some of the stuff that washes up can be quite interesting … .

Intrigued, aren’t you? See below for details.

Vital Stats: Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail Falls Lake Spring Cleaning, Saturday, 9 a.m. Meet at the Upper Barton Creek Boat Ramp off Six Forks Road just south of NC 98. For more information and to sign up, contact FMST Volunteer Leader Jeff Brewer at jdbrewer104@gmail.com.

Saturday forecast: High of 66 with a chance of rain.

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Looking ahead: Eagle Count, Jordan Lake State Recreation Area, Apex, Sunday, April 10. More info here.

Mountains

The beauty of an early season event ride in the mountains is that you have no expectations: no overwhelming compulsion to place in your age category, no internal drive for a PR … heck, you’ll be happy just to finish. And, for you more competitive types, an early season ride is one you can actually and enjoy and take in the scenery.

You can have that early-season experience Saturday on the Tour De Lure, a “ a scenic yet hilly 71-mile route with 5600’ of total ascent [that] … winds through scenic farmland in McDowell County, climbs up Stone Mountain, passes through Chimney Rock and around beautiful Lake Lure, and finally heads back into McDowell County via the Assault on Mt. Mitchell route.”

In fact, you can be so laid back that you opt for the early-season-friendlier 23-mile Corpening YMCA Fun Bike Ride.

Vital Stats: Ture De Lure, bike rides of 71 and 23 miles, Saturday, April 2, Lake Lure., $60 on-site registration. More info here.

Saturday forecast: High of 66, mostly sunny.

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Looking ahead: Grandfather Mountain State Park Spring Wildflower Hikes, starting this Friday and running through June 12. Find a schedule here.

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Those are our thoughts on the weekend. Find more options at the sources listed below.

The post Your weekend: Hike the coast, clean a lake, ride the mountains appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Mountains: 4th Annual Polar Plunge

One of the iconic winter sporting events that might be on a bucket list or two is the polar plunge. If you find the prospect of immersing your already cold body into cold water intriguing, check out this weekend’s 4th Annual Polar Plunge Benefit-t-t-t-ing Kids in the Creek and Youth Education at Lake Junaluska benefitting Kids in the Creek and Environmental Education.

Participants get a free t-shirt to boast of their bracing bravado for all of eternity. Plungers will have two options: a spotlight solo plunge off the dock, or to be part of a group run into the beach. Costumes are encouraged, with prizes for best costume as well as for top fundraisers. Indoor changing and eating facilities will be available, as well as a bonfire!

Vital stats: 4th Annual Polar Plunge, Saturday, Feb. 6, 11:30 a.m., Lake Junaluska Aquatic Center, Lake Junaluska. $25, $10 ages 18 and under. More info: 828.476.4667, info@haywoodwaterways.org or go here.

Saturday forecast: High of 44 degrees and mostly sunny. Event happens rain or shine.

Looking Ahead: Valentine 5K and Kids Fun Run on Feb. 13. in Black Mountain. More info here.

Piedmont: Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail Annual Meeting

Somehow, the Mountains-to-Sea Trail remains one of North Carolina’s best-kept secrets. Surprising, considering the trail runs more than 1,000 miles, linking Clingman’s dome on the Tennessee line with Jockey’s Ridge at the coast.

A good way to acquaint yourself with the MST is at this Saturday’s annual meeting of the Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail. Learn about the trail first hand, from keynote speaker Sharon “Mama Goose” Smith, who thru-hiked the trail in 2014. There also will be workshops on how to hike the trail, the trail’s marketing plan and trail work, and a panel discussion on how the trail can be used for education. Lunch included with reservation fee.

Vital stats: Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail Annual Meeting, Saturday, 10 a.m.- 3 p.m., Elon Univeristy, Elon. $25 for members, $15 for students, $50 for non members (includes discounted membership). More info: 919.518.1713 or go here.

Saturday forecast: A guaranteed 70 degrees and well-lit (since it’s indoors)

Looking ahead: Umstead Trail Marathon, March 5, Umstead State Park, Raleigh. More info here.

Coast: Carolina Chocolate Festival (and 5K)

We run 5Ks for various reasons. For some, it’s a carrot justifying the drudgery of daily training runs. Others are drawn by the pageantry of the event and, in most cases, the opportunity to help out a good cause.

And this Saturday, there is perhaps the best reason of all to race: a finish line dipped in chocolate. Chocolate cakes, tortes, bars, ice cream, pudding  — everything chocolate, at the Cocoa 5K/Fun Run, part of the Carolina Chocolate Festival, two days of chocolate-coated fun at the Crystal Coast Civic Center in Morehead City. Check the web site below for a complete rundown of events.

Vital stats: Cocoa 5K/Fun Run, Saturday, 7 a.m., Carteret County Community College, Morehead City. $25, $45 for a family of four. More info: 252.393.2011, or go here.

Saturday forecast: Mostly sunny, high of 38 at race time.

Looking ahead: Bird Hike, Feb. 8, Fort Macon State Park, Atlantic Beach. More info here.

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The post Your Weekend: Plunge, Meet the MST, Run for Chocolate appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Today’s 90-Second Escape: A Month of the MST

May is Mountains-to-Sea Trail Month. We plan to celebrate North Carolina’s statewide trail with a series of hikes along its 1,000-mile width. First up: a 10.6-mile hike along a stretch of the MST along Falls Lake north of Raleigh. (Find details of that hike and sign up, here.)

To get you in the mood for hiking the MST this spring, we take you back to spring 2014 for a hike on the MST, also along Falls Lake.

Enjoy, and we’ll see you on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail this month.

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The post 90 Second Escape: A month of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

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For more coverage of the Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail annual meeting:

• “Mountains-to-Sea Trail Shedding its Anonymity,” Great Outdoor Provision Co. blog
• “To Tom Earnhardt, Mountains-to-Sea Trail is ‘a thousand miles of discovery’,” Great Outdoor Provision Co. blog

The post The MST: A completed path or a work in progress? appeared first on GetGoing NC!.