Even with the temperature living in the 90s this summer, it’s been hard to find solitude on the trail. Everyone, now, is a hiker.

But not everyone knows to look for the more subtle stretches of trail. Trail, for instance, that doesn’t start from a visitor center, that doesn’t have a privy, that doesn’t even have paved parking — official parking, period. Finding these gems is tricky. But they’re out there.

One such stretch is the 3.2 miles of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail along Falls Lake from the Hickory Hill Boat Ramp west to Red Mill Road. The stretch offers great nature: from rich bottomland forest to an old farm pond. It offers amusement, from passage along a grass airfield, to a selfie opportunity beneath a billboard, to tunneling under I-85. The usual and unusual, all in one hike. 

So why does hardly anyone hike it? Beats us — it’s even got paved parking!

We can’t guarantee that you’ll have the trail to yourself when you hike it. It is, though, a good bet that you won’t be constantly stepping into the brush to let others safely pass. An especially good hike for the times.

Hike it!

Intrigued? You can get a copy of our GetHiking! Guide to Mountains-to-Sea Trail at Falls Lake, Day-Hike Sections Q & R, by going here. Enter code D5QCPJN2 before Thursday, Aug. 6 and you can download the guide for free.

The post Solitude on the trail? You’ll find it here appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Eno River State Park is appreciated year-round, but appreciated to death on weekends, especially the areas with good access to the Eno. Now, with the temporary closing of the Eno Quarry downstream, perhaps no area has more immediate access to recreational water than the Fews Ford Access. There you’ll find pools and riffles, especially popular with families with young kids, as well as Class II rapids, where the more comfortable swimmers hang out. 

The easiest way to get there is from the Piper Cox parking area, which sits less than a hundred yards away. Trouble is, the same lot feeds some of the park’s most popular trails. Show up to the small lot feeding both and you’re likely to think that the jammed lot means the trails will be crawling with hikers. 

In summer especially, though, at least three-quarters of those cars are ferrying folks to the ford. Sunday morning, it was the site of a GetHiking! Triangle Small Batch hike, hikes open to a limited number of hikers (first come, first served), usually 8 to 10, depending upon the nature of the hike. Outside of the Buckquarter Creek Trail, we saw only occasional hikers on the 7-mile route we stitched together consisting of the Buckquarter Creek, Ridge, Shakori, Fieldstone and Holden Mill trails. 

We saw some hikers on the Buckquarter Creek portion of this hike, but as we hiked farther from the river we had this gorgeous terrain largely to ourselves: the Shakori Trail with its passage through bottomland woods; the Ridge Trail, where we caught a nice breeze thanks to a marginal understory; the Holden Mill Trail, where some stout climbs and rock scrambling keep the casual hikers away. Best of all, this five-trail loop teams to give you seven miles of scenic, and mostly solitary, hiking to enjoy. 

Solitude along the Eno on a pandemic Sunday. Who would have guessed?

Hike it yourself

We’ve put together a guide for this 7-mile escape that includes Key details, including trailhead location, blaze colors, kid- and dog-friendliness, difficulty, whether there are facilities at the trailhead and more; a map of the route, route description to help keep you on course, a 206-second video virtual tour. The 3-page pdf guide is normally 99 cents, but if you order before Thursday and enter code ZHNESAPF, it’s free. Get your guide here.

Small batch it with us

Our next Small Batch hike, posted moments ago, is to Horton Grove Nature Preserve in northern Durham County on Sunday, July 12 at 10 a.m. Distance is about 5 miles, difficulty is moderate. Learn more and sign up to join us here, on our GetHiking! Triangle Meetup page. If the hike is full, join the waitlist: we may add another hike.

The post Monday, Monday: Finding quiet along a busy Eno River appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

We offered some thoughts yesterday, in our weekly Weekend Plans segment: we’re back today with additional thoughts and direction.

Hiking

We start with hiking because once the hot weather sticks, one of the last things we’re inclined to do is hike. Copious sweating and being encased in spider webs aren’t on the American Hiking Society’s list of reasons to hike.

We won’t tell you where to hike, but we will tell you where to go to figure out where to hike. Four suggestions:

• Mountains-to-Sea Trail. It’s Mountains-to-Sea Trail Month, so hiking a stretch of the 550 miles of completed MST seems a natural. You’ll find about 50 miles down in the coast and coastal plain, nearly 200 miles in the Piedmont and a little more than 300 in the mountains. You can find helpful descriptions of where to take a hike on the Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail website.
• GetHiking! Our three GetHiking! groups — in Charlotte, the Triad and the Triangle — all have hikes planned for Sunday, all on the MST: Charlotte on an eight-mile stretch along the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Triad will be doing 6.5 miles along the Watershed Lakes in Greensboro, the Triangle as a 15-miler planed along Falls Lake. If you’d like to explore the MST but would also like some company, click on the appropriate link and join us.
• Great Outdoor Provision Co. Over the past two years, the Great Outdoor Provision Co., with assistance from GetGoingNC, has been developing an online trail guide. So far, we’ve got 55 trails in North Carolina and 15 in Virginia. All the information you need to assess, plan and execute a hike. Start your search here.
• Carolina Mountain Club. This venerable (formed in 1923) hiking club offers at least three hikes a week and has an extensive database of hikes in the Appalachians. A great resource.

Paddling

First, a warning: all that rain means the local rivers are running high, local lake levels are up. Unless you’re an accomplished paddler, you might want to steer clear of rivers in particular this weekend. Your best bet: Get a copy of Paul Ferguson’s “Paddling Eastern North Carolina,” find the river you’re interested in paddling, check Paul’s recommendation for maximum runnable river level, then check the latest USGS streamflow numbers.

Lakes may also be a challenge; if possible, call before throwing the boat on the car to check on conditions. And if you need to rent a boat, don’t forget our “51 Places to Rent a Canoe, Kayak or Standup Paddleboard in North Carolina.”

Mountain biking

This is one activity you may be shut out of this weekend. Most trail networks close when wet; even those that don’t might be impassable in spots due to the rain. Again, before throwing the bike on the roof rack, call to see if your destination is open. Find a list of statewide mountain biking destinations here.

Running

This is the time of year when a race can either be sublime or a sufferfest. Most runners are in pretty good shape at this point in the spring, but that first hot race can easily bring even the best-trained to their knees. With morning temperatures forecast in the low 60s  this weekend, it’s PR time.

If you’re a runner and don’t have a race scheduled for this weekend, you might reconsider. The North Carolina Running Calendar has 38 races listed for this weekend, starting with tonight’s Hopewell Hustle 5K in Monroe and The Great Glow Run 5K in Raleigh, to Sunday’s Greensboro Half Marathon (and 5K and 10K). You may have to pay a premium to enter at this point, but it could be well worth it.

Learn about the natural world around you

There’s a lot going on this time of year in the natural world; gain some insight at one of the numerous free nature programs offered by North Carolina state parks.  to the meat-eating plants at Carolina Beach State Park. Check out this weekend’s curriculum here.

Plan for the future

A personal plug here: Yes, get out and explore this weekend. But also take a few minutes to think about your next adventure, by, say, joining me at one of this weekend’s “Adventure Carolinas” talks. Saturday at 11:30 p.m., I’ll be discussing my new book from UNC Press at the Country Bookshop in Southern Pines, while on Sunday from 2-3 p.m. I’ll be at the Barnes & Noble in Burlington, at Alamance Crossing off I-40/85.

Can’t make it this weekend? I’ll be making the rounds for a while. Here’s my schedule.

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