Mother’s Day means time spent with mom — preferably in the great outdoors. Take mom on a coastal hike, unravel the mysteries of Grandfather Mountain, or run with her through a vineyard. Whatever you do, it’s bound to be memorable.

Coast

Nothing says Mother’s Day outing more, to us, than a relaxed ramble through a coastal wetland. Which is no doubt what the folks at Goose Creek State Park outside Washington on the Pamlico Sound had in mind when they scheduled Sunday’s Mallard Creek Hike. “Enjoy a fresh breath of air and experience nature at its best. The hike will be an easy 1.5 miles and taken at a pace which will allow you to relax and enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of nature.” Hallmark couldn’t have said it better.

Logistics: Hike commences at 2 p.m. Sunday, meet at Parking Lot #3 (the last lot inside the park). More info at the park Web site or by calling 252.923.2191.

Sunday forecast: High of 75, mostly cloudy.

Piedmont

Here’s something for the whole running family, especially mom and dad: Saturday’s Running of the Vines 10K on the grounds of the Yadkin Valley’s Shelton Vineyards. No mention of wine tastings at the aid stations, but each runner age 21 or older does get two free tickets to a sunset concert that evening. Besides, running through a vineyard? Every barefoot runner’s dream.

Logistics: $35, race starts at 8 a.m. Saturday. Race day registration from 7-7:45 a.m. Free kids fun run at 9:30 a.m. Benefits the Mount Airy and Surry County parks and rec departments. More info here.

Saturday forecast: High of 75, clear early.

Mountains

You always hear about how ecologically diverse Grandfather Mountain is, but just how diverse is it? There’s no better time to find out than on this, the Grandfather Mountain Naturalist Weekend. A spring bird count and owl prowl on Friday; wildflower hike, birds of prey, crayfish research, “Nature on the Edge,” and trees and shrubs on Saturday; and geology, birding along the profile trail, a NASA climate workshop, animal tracking, flora disease and more on Sunday. All with the price of admission.

Logistics: Friday, Saturday and Sunday, park admission ($18 for adults, $15 for seniors $60 and up, $8 for kids 4-12) gets you into all events. More info here.

Weekend forecast: Dry weekend with highs in the upper 60s.

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Those are GGNC’s thoughts for an active weekend. Find out other ways you can get out this weekend by browsing our super calendar, a collection of events calendars from throughout the state, below.

Coast

CapeFearCoast.com
Comprehensive calendar for the Cape Fear/Wilmington/southern N.C. coast searchable by date and event name.

Coastal Guide
Comprehensive calendar including nature programs from a variety of costal conservation and research agencies that offer nature programs. Covers the entire coast.

Crystal Cost Tourism Authority
Comprehensive calendar focusing on the Crystal Coast. Good source for programs offered by N.C. Coastal Federation, Cape Lookout National Park, N.C. National Estuarine Research Reserve and other costal conservation and research agencies that offer nature programs.

NCCoast.com
Comprehensive calendar including programs for the Outer Banks and Crystal Coast.

North Carolina Coast Host
Comprehensive calendar for the entire coast that lets you search for events by day, by region, by county, by city or by event (based on key word).

This Week Magazine
Primary focus is the Crystal Coast (North Carolina’s coastal midsection).

Mountains

Asheville Citizen-Times
From the main page, click on “Outdoors,” then WNC Outdoors calendar.

Blue Ridge Outdoors
Searchable calendar lets you extend your reach to events throughout the mid-Atlantic and Southeast (or you can just limit it to North Carolina). Also lets you search a boatload of categories, ranging from Hiking, Mountain Biking and Climbing to Trail Running, Triathlon and Road Walking.

The Mountain Times
From the main page, click on “Calendars,” then Main Events.

Todd’s Calendar

Piedmont

Charlotte

Charlotte Observer events calendar
Comprehensive calendar searchable by category, including Nature, Recreation, Recreation & Wellness, Running

Charlotte Parent
Comprehensive calendar concentrating on things the family can do together.

Triad

GoTriad.com
Comprehensive calendar includes a Sports & Recreation category.

Piedmont Parent
Comprehensive calendar concentrating on things the family can do together.

Triangle

Triangle.com
Comprehensive calendar searchable by category, including: Birding, Boating, Cycling, Nature, Rec & Wellness, Recreation, Running, Swimming, Tennis, Yoga.

Carolina Parent
Comprehensive calendar concentrating on things the family can do together.

Statewide

Office of Environmental Education
One calendar for the numerous Environmental Education Centers statewide.

North Carolina State Parks
Lets you search for programs at the state’s parks, recreation areas and natural areas by location, by month, by topic. To reach the calendar from the home page, click on “Education,” then “Fun & Free Programs at Parks.”

National Forests in North Carolina
From the home page, click on Carolina Connections for news updates on the state’s four national forests as well as hints on recreational opportunities and a detailed rundown of recreation areas and the amenities at each.

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The post This weekend: Take a coastal hike, learn about Grandfather, go on one vine run appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Then the Triangle Greenways Council came up with the Circle the Triangle Trail concept.  Circle the Triangle basically called for linking these disparate stretches of trail to create a trail network linking the Triangle’s various communities. Roughly 15 years later, the Triangle has more than 180 miles of greenway comprising a system — a true system — where it will soon be possible to, for instance, ride a bike from Clayton in Johnston County to Raleigh, to Umstead State Park, to Cary, to Chatham County and on to downtown Durham. Amazing what a little focus can accomplish.

In 2005, the Charlotte area found itself where the Triangle was 15 years earlier, with a mile or so of greenway here and there. Wouldn’t it be great, 40 or so regional leaders brought together by the Foundation For The Carolinas thought, if we could have an extensive network of trails — paved, natural surface, wet — linking communities in 15 counties representing 2.3 million people? A “green interstate system,” as it were? Two years later, in 2007, the Charlotte area’s version of Circle the Triangle was launched.

The Carolina Thread Trail, “rooted in a region with a rich heritage of weaving fabric,” is the region’s carrot for developing a secondary, non-motorized transportation network. It’s an aggressive effort that has since raised $16.8 million in cash donations, $3.77 million in land donations and $17.8 million in committed public funds. It’s goal: blaze at least 1,200 miles of trail to link its communities. (“At least” 1,200 miles, says Amanda Anderson, CTC’s grants and volunteer coordinator, because that’s how many miles are covered in the trail master plans approved by 12 of the 15 Thread counties. The total will grow when the remaining three counties adopt their master plans.)

Most of those 1,200-plus miles of trail will be built by local municipalities, counties, parks & recs — the various public agencies that typically do such things. The Carolina Thread Trail brings two crucial elements to the table.  One, that most crucial of elements, money to build the trails. To complete the Thread Trail will require an estimated $150 million. By serving as coordinator/cheerleader, the CTT has been able to attract significant financial support: chipping in $1 million or more are The Bank of America Foundation, C. D. Spangler Foundation  Duke Energy The Duke Energy Foundation, Foundation For The Carolinas, John S. & James L. Knight Foundation, Turner Family Foundation, The Wachovia Wells Fargo Foundation and the Clean Water Management Trust Fund.

Significantly, too, the Carolina Thread Trail brings a sense of unified vision to trail efforts in the 15 member counties. In the Triangle in the mid-1990s, Circle The Triangle prompted local greenway and trail planners to take note of what their neighbors were doing. That  focused efforts that helped one municipality’s 5-mile trail become part of a much larger network. In Raleigh, for example, where it is now possible to hop on a greenway in the southeast part of town, ride up through the N.C. State and Meredith College campuses, continue on to Umstead State Park, ride through the park to Cary’s Black Creek Greenway, which hooks up with the town’s White Oak Creek Greenway, which — with a brief road connection — links to the American Tobacco Trail into Chatham County and Durham — a roughly 50-mile ride through six jurisdictions.

“We have two community coordinators who work with the counties to keep track of what’s going on,” says Anderson of the CTT’s effort to make similar connections. “They know each county and what’s expected to come on line in the near future.”

Anderson says the Carolina Thread Trail plans to launch construction of 2 miles of trail at Long Creek in October, and that the entire network should grow by 10 to 12 miles by February, putting it near the 90-mile mark.

A backhanded positive of this growth: No printed trail map exists for the Carolina Thread Trail.

“By the time we’d put one out,” says Anderson, “it would be out-of-date.”

For now, you can find a quick rundown — including name, location, length and suitable recreational activities — of the 26 trails in the Carolina Thread Trail network below. You can find additional details on each property at the Carolina Thread Trail site.

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Current members of the Carolina Thread Trail

Baxter Village Trail
Fort Mill, S.C.
2.25 miles
Natural surface
Mountain biking, running, walking

Bakers Creek Greenway
Kannapolis
2.0 miles
Paved
Walking, running, paved surface bicycling, rollerblading, skateboarding

Blue Star Trail
Fort Mill, S.C.
1.0 miles
Natural surface/gravel
Hiking, walking

Broad River Greenway
Shelby
3.0 miles (adjoining 17 additional miles)
Natural surface
Walking, running, biking, horseback riding, fishing, canoeing

Catawba Creek Greenway
Gastonia
1.8 miles
Paved
Walking, running, paved surface biking, skateboarding

Catawba River Greenway at Tuckaseege Park
Mt. Holly
1.0 mile
Paved
Walking, running, paved surface bicycling, rollerblading, skateboarding, fishing

Highland Rail Trail
Gastonia
1.5 miles
Paved
Walking, running, paved surface bicycling, rollerblading, skateboarding

Irwin Creek/Stewart Creek Greenway
Charlotte
2.1 miles
Paved/gravel mix
Walking, jogging, biking

Kings Mountain Gateway Trail
Kings Mountain
2.26 miles
Paved/gravel mix
Walking, running, biking, rollerblading, skateboarding

Landsford Canal
Chester, S.C.
0.75 miles
Crush-and-run gravel
Paddling, running, walking

Little Sugar Creek Greenway
Charlotte

— Cordelia Park to Alexander Street Park
0.7 miles
Asphalt/sidewalk
Walking, running, biking

— Freedom Park (Morehead Street to Brandywine/Westfield Road)
2.6 miles
Paved
Skateboarding, running

— Huntingtowne Park
0.8 miles
Paved
Skateboarding, running

— Morehead Street to Brandywine/Westfield Road
2.2 miles
Paved
Walking, running, paved surface bicycling, rollerblading, skateboarding

Lower McAlpine Creek/Campbell Creek
Charlotte
4.1 miles
Paved
Walking, running, biking
Detailed information also at GetGoingNC.com

Mallard Creek/Toby Creek Greenway
Charlotte
8.5 miles
Paved
Walking, running, paved bicycling, skateboarding
Detailed information also at GetGoingNC.com

Manchester Meadows Trail
Rock Hill, S.C.
1.1 mi.
Paved
Walking, running, biking

Marcia H. Cloninger Rail-Trail
Lincolnton
1.1 mi.
Paved
Walking, running, paved surface biking

McDowell Creek Greenway
Huntersville
1.5 mi.
Paved
Walking, jogging, biking

McEachern Greenway
Concord
1.42 mi.
Paved
Walking, running, biking, dog walking
Rollerblading, skateboarding

Nation Ford Greenway /Springfield Section
Fort Mill/York, S.C.
2.1 mi.
Natural surface single track
Mountain biking, running, walking

Riverside Greenway
Cramerton
1.2 mi.
Paved
Walking, running, paved surface bicycling, paddling, fishing

Rocky Creek Trail
Great Falls, S.C.
2.4 mi.
Natural/gravel
Walking, running, biking, paddling

Southeast Greenway
Davidson
2.3 mi.
Paved
Walking, running, biking, skateboarding, rollerblading

Spencer Mountain/R.Y. McAden blueway
Spencer Mountain
5.5 mi.
River
Paddling

Torrence Creek Greenway
Huntersville
0.8 mi.
Paved
Walking, running, biking,

Wylie Walking and Biking Trail
Chester, S.C.
1.0 mi.
Paved
Walking, running, paved surface bicycling

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