This weekend may finally solve the dilemma of how to get your kid off the couch and into wild. It’s also a great time to celebrate Mountains-to-Sea Trail Month, and a good time as well to indulge the many recreational opportunities of Lake James State Park.
Tag Archives: Hammocks Beach State Park
This weekend: NC Smorgasbord
This weekend, enjoy a feast of North Carolina adventure, with a guided paddle at the coast (in a salt marsh at Hammocks Beach State Park), a wildflower-themed hike in the Piedmont (at the Triangle Land Conservancy’s Horton Grove Nature Preserve), or all things mountain at one of the first mountain festivals of the season (at Elks Knob State Park).
This weekend: Learn, learn, learn
To everything there is a season — and in this season of winter, the thing is making sense of the natural world. Learn your birds at the coast, your amphibians in the Piedmont, your naked trees in the mountains.
Coast
Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird —
Yes, but what kind?
It’s a question that perplexes many of us when we spy an avian friend flying overhead. And it’s a question you can find answers to Saturday at 9 a.m. at Hammocks Beach State Park. There, a ranger will lead the group in identifying and counting birds as part of the annual Great Backyard Bird Count. It’s a massive exercise in citizen science, as people around the country report who’s flying in and out of their backyards. Binos and bird guides available, bring your own if you’ve got ‘em.
This weekend: Cool paddles, night hikes
You know you had a good weekend — and a three-day one at that — when you start planning the coming weekend on Tuesday. So much to do as the weather warms, so little time to plan for it.
Coast
Deep down, you really do have a sense of adventure. All you need is a little push to let it bloom, a knowledgeable, supportive guide to help you test the waters. And who could be better at providing such a reassuring introduction into the wild than a state park ranger?
This weekend: Paddling at the coast, getting spanked in the mountains
The three-day Crystal Coast Paddle Festival opens in Swansboro Friday while the inaugural Green River Games promises to offer some of the most challenging competition the state has seen. Meanwhile, in the Piedmont, it’s the Big Muddy Challenge, big muddy fun for parents and kids.