We start at the coast (sea level) with a guided paddle trip at Hammocks Beach State Park and wind up in the high country — the highest country, in fact — with a program atop the highest point on the East Coast, 6,684-foot Mount Mitchell.
Coast
One of our favorite paddles is the marshland around Hammocks Beach State Park near Swansboro. It’s a vast, yet somewhat protected sea of sea and cordgrass, a marshy maze that frequently ends with turns down dead-end channels. Which is part of what makes paddling here fun.read more
I love to paddle rivers. But I don’t always have a party to paddle with. That’s a problem for three reasons:
Paddling with others is more fun;
It’s safer, and;
From a purely selfish standpoint, paddling with a party makes setting up a shuttle a whole lot easier.
Usually.
Like most folks, I’m excited about the near completion of Raleigh’s Neuse River Trail, a 27.5-mile greenway following its namesake river from the base of Falls dam south to the Johnston County line. (The missing link, a 3/4-mile stretch below Horseshoe Farm Park is scheduled to open early next year). And, like most folks, I’m excited for the cycling/running/walking potential the greenway offers.read more
Moores Creek. Photo courtesy National Park Service
This weekend in North Carolina you can paddle into the Revolutionary past, you can paddle at night, or you can go camping a mile up.
Coast
Like a paddle with a little history? Thursday’s Moores Creek Kayaking History Adventure paddle on Moores Creek, which meanders through the Moores Creek National Battlefield, is just the ticket. The 88-acre park “commemorates the battle between Patriots and Loyalist militia on February 27, 1776,” according to the Halyburton Park (Wilmington) program guide. “This battle was the first major victory for the Patriots that lead to Cornwallis’ withdrawal from North Carolina. Join us and paddle this historic creek and watch history come alive after your kayaking adventure with a ranger-lead tour of the battlefield.” Fives mile roundtrip.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 or slide show 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
There's great scenery on the Dan (photo courtesy Dan River Co.)
We’re finally catching up with the mail bag — and just in time for what appears to be the first warm weekend in a while.
You write to us for a variety of reasons. To find out where to take visiting kin hiking. To see if we know what the latest bear situation is in the Smokies. To ask if you can optimize our visibility on the Web, for a modest fee. You also write to point out certain … deficiencies in GetGoingNC’s content. Your latest batch of constructive comments comes in time to help others make the most of a weekend that will see sun and temperatures climbing into the mid 60s.read more
