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.

The post Trails made for a December hike appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

We rode at Umstead Tuesday morning and noticed nothing different. We rode Thursday morning and couldn’t help but notice the difference.

Fall had finally begun gracing the Piedmont with its festive palette.

Poplars were suddenly popping yellow, sourwoods were flashing crimson, red maples were glowing red. Real color, the first of the season. And who knows how long it will last.

Which is why we encourage you to get out this weekend and take in the color while you can. Incentive, too, is the fact that daytime temperatures throughout the Piedmont are forecast to crest around 70s under sunny skies. Enough blah blah. Six thoughts on where to check out the color this weekend:

1. Triangle: Mountains-to-Sea Trail/Falls Lake Trail, 60 miles. Is there a better way to check out fall than on a 60-mile-long hiking trail that hugs a shoreline most of the way?  From the Penny’s Bend Nature Preserve in Durham County to the Falls Lake dam in Wake County it’s possible to hike non-stop on the Moutains-to-Sea Trail. If that’s more than you have time

for this weekend, worry not: the trail is broken down into 24 day-hikeable sections ranging from less than a mile to 5.4 miles in length. The Falls Lake MST ducks in and out of coves along the lake, briefly brushing backyards in spots, and escaping civilization entirely in others. Learn more about the trail here.

2. Morganton: South Mountains State Park, 11.8-mile loop. I was reminded of South Mountains State Park as a great place for a quiet fall getaway when I overheard one hiker trying to explain to another where the park is. After several aborted attempts, he finally said, “It’s near Morganton. Sorta.” One of the beauties of South Mountains is its vague location, sorta near Morganton (in fact, South Mountains State Park is about 16 miles south of Morganton on backroads), keeps the masses away. That leaves lots of solitude for you on the 40 miles of trail that penetrate this 18,000-acre playground. A favorite loop is the 11.8-mile counterclockwise traverse of

Raven Rock, HQ, Possum, Horseridge, Lower CCC, Fox, Jacob Branch and Upper Falls trails. A nice, long dayhike or an overnighter. Helpful info here.

3. Charlotte/Triad: Sugarloaf and Morrow Mountain Trails, Morrow Mountain State Park, 5.4 miles. This 5.4-mile hike bags two peaks at Morrow Mountain State Park. And yes, I say “bags two peaks” without reservation. Both the climb up 843-foot Sugarloaf and 906-foot Morrow Mountain are legitimate climbs. The first climb gains more than 350 feet in a relatively short distance, the second even more. And while the views are minimal from Sugarloaf, you’ll have numerous Kodak moments from the top of Morrow Mountain. You’ll also have company: your summit celebration is tempered slightly by the fact the peak is covered by a very large parking lot. Details here.

4. Greensboro: watershed lakes, 42 miles (short hikes of as little as a mile). 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. Details here.

5. Roanoke Rapids/northeast: Medoc Mountain State Park, Discovery/Stream/Summit loops, 6 miles. You aren’t the only one in North Carolina with hiking on his/her mind come the cool, colorful days of October, which brings up the one downside to hitting the trail this month — with the exception of Medoc Mountain, which sits happily off the beaten track in Halifax County. Ten miles of trail meander through the park, which sits on the eastern fringe of the Piedmont; this recommended 6-mile trek takes you through a good portion of it, including a climb up Medoc’s 325-foot summit and a stroll through what was once the first wine operation in the country. More info here.

6. Triad: Sauratown Trail, linking Pilot Mountain with Hanging Rock north of the Triad, 35 miles. A total of 35 miles make up this trail network that was designed primarily with equestrians in mind, but the actual link between the Tories Den portion of Hanging Rock State Park and the Surry Line parking area of Pilot Mountain is 21.7 miles, making for a nice, long day hike, if you choose. The advantage to Sauratown is that it takes in some of the same scenery as Hanging Rock and Pilot Mountain (though, granted, without the aerie vistas), but with a fraction of the people. Plan your trip through the helpful Sauratown Trails Association website.

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