Coast

You wouldn’t think that a nature preserve would be a suitable venue for a “brawl.” But when that   preserve is the Brunswick Nature Park in Winnabow, with nine miles of singletrack mountain bike trail, then the venue does indeed seem appropriate for Saturday’s Brunswick Brawl endurance race.

Sponsored by Cape Fear SORBA, the brawl consists of six-hour, three-hour and one-hour mountain bike races. Racing is by sex and age group, and registration includes food and a T-shirt for all who preregister. How do you do that? you ask. Keep reading …

Logistics: 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 11, Brunswick Nature Park, Winnabow. Registration ranges from $40 (for the one-hour race) to $100 (for duos in the six-hour race). Find out more about the race and sign up here.

Saturday forecast: High of 85, sunny.

Piedmont

Now’s an especially good time to get to know your trees, what with them changing color and all. Instead of returning to work Monday and saying, “Yeah we went for a hike and saw all these purty-colored trees,” you can say, “The deep crimsons of the sourwood were a sight, and the resplendent oranges of the sugar maples may have been the richest hues I’ve yet witnessed in the woodlands.” Or something like that.

Saturday, you can put a name to the color on a Tree ID Hike at South Mountains State Park south of Morganton. We were there last weekend and the color was just beginning to pop, boding well for this weekend. The hike is on the Hemlock Nature Trail; we suggest following that up with a loop hike on the 2.7-mile High Shoals Falls Trail. Lots of great scenery in an under-appreciated state park.

Logistics: 11 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 11, South Mountains State Park, Connelly Springs. More info at 828.433.4772.

Saturday forecast: High of 75, chance of afternoon thunderstorms.

Mountains

Ever on the lookout for new hiking trails? Especially in the mountains?

Saturday, help christen the new Beech Tree Trail at Elk Knob State Park with a ranger-led hike at 10 a.m. After helping to break in the new trail, hike the Summit Trail which takes you to great 360-degree views atop 5,520-foot Elk Knob. A good hike any time of year, especially rewarding with fall color beginning to peek in the area.

Logistics: 10 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 11, Elk Knob State Park, Todd. More info at 829.297.7261.

Saturday forecast: High of 70, chance of thunderstorms.

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Those are our thoughts on the weekend. Find more options at the sources listed below.

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Coast

Among the coastal plains numerous outdoors attributes: less light pollution. That’s especially groovy if you like stargazing. If you’re not sure you like stargazing, find out Saturday evening at Cliffs of the Neuse State Park when park rangers encourage you to spread out on a blanket and learn the constellations and others things astronomical.

Logistics: Saturday evening, July 26, 9 p.m., Cliffs of the Neuse State Park, Seven Springs (south of Goldsboro). More info here.

Saturday forecast: High of 92, dropping to 75 overnight. More importantly: only spotty clouds.

Piedmont

Lately, we’ve been talking with a lot of folks interested in paddling. But how to do it with a limited investment — both in time and money — to see if it’s really something to pursue?

Thanks to your local and state parks, options abound. Options such as Saturday’s Paddle the Pond adventure at Yates Mill Pond, the nexus of Historic Yates Mill County Park in Raleigh. It’s an hour-long program, it’s just $10 per boat and all equipment is provided. You can’t beat that.

Logistics: Saturday, July 26, 10 a.m., Historic Yates Mill County Park, Raleigh. $10. Preregistration required, by dialing 919.856.6675.

Saturday forecast: Great for paddling, with a high of 91 and a smattering of clouds.

Mountains

This week’s high country recommendation isn’t for an event; rather, for a destination: Lake James State Park.

The park’s been getting some buzz of late for its action-oriented expansion: 20 new boat-in only campsites will open this fall, design just began for a new 30-site drive-in campground (this in addition to its existing 20 backpack camp sites along the lake), and more to the point, the park this past spring opened a 14-mile mountain bike trail network — big news in a park system that’s been slow to respond to mountain biking. The park also has 10 miles of hiking trail and canoe and kayak rentals on the 6,800-acre lake. Check it out; it’s worth the ramble.

Logistics: Lake James State Park, Nebo, summer hours are 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Learn more here.

Weekend forecast: Pretty good!

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Those are our thoughts on the weekend. Find more options at the sources listed below.

The post This weekend: Hot, dry fun appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Today’s 90-Second Escape: First Light on the Trail

There are things we’d rather do first thing in the morning than workout. Read the paper over coffee and sleep longer both come to mind.

But what gets us out of bed and on the trail first thing is the prospect of savoring the first light of the day. Knifing through the woods and illuminating the forest floor, the day’s first sunlight offgers a dreamlike quality to an early morning run or ride — and dreamlike not from the fact you’re still half asleep.

Tag along for a 90 second early morning escape on the trails of Umstead State Park and see if you aren’t inspired to set the alarm a half hour earlier.

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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 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.
Today’s 90-Second Escape: Fat Tire Frolick

Is it one of those Monday’s where you just feel like going full speed through a forest? (Or at least my full speed?) Then you’re in luck.
Let’s take a ride.

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Piedmont

I usually don’t throw out mountain bike races as a weekend option because they’re typically targeted to a more adrenaline-influenced crowd and they can be expensive to enter. None of that applies to the venerable Huck-A-Buck this Sunday at Lake Crabtree County Park in Morrisville. The Huck-A-Buck has a competitive element, to be sure, but race founders Chris Pappas and Pat Lundergan with Happy Fun Racing have done a great job ensuring that the Huck remain a Race for the People — meaning people like me, who can show up and not be obviously out of place in the aforementioned adrenaline-happy crowd. I’m especially glad to suggest the Huck-A-Buck considering last year’s 10th edition was rumored to be the last. Long live the Huck!

There’s racing in a variety of categories, from Kids and Juniors 11-18, to Clydesdales (200+ pounds) to Cat 1. The course is a 7-mile loop of fast, beginner/intermediate singletrack, and the entry fee is ridiculously cheap, at $25 ($15 for Juniors, free for pre-Juniors).

Logistics: Racing begins at 9 a.m., with categories going off at 9, 10:30 and noon. Registration begins at 8 a.m. Details here.

Sunday forecast: A brisk 82, “Mostly cloudy and cooler with some showers and storms possible,” according to WRAL.

Coast

With cooler weather moving in, what better way to start a day at the coast than with a quick 5K around Wilmington’s Bellamy Mansion, which, according to itself, is “one of North Carolina’s most spectacular examples of antebellum architecture built on the eve of the Civil War by free and enslaved black artisans, for John Dillard Bellamy (1817-1896) physician, planter and business leader; and his wife, Eliza McIlhenny Harriss (1821-1907) and their nine children.” The Bellamy Mansion Race for History starts at 8 a.m. Do your 3.1 miles, then return to the mansion for breakfast before launching the rest of your day.

Logistics: Race is at 8 a.m., preregistration fee is $25, day of is $30. Details here.

Saturday forecast: High of 84, 70 percent chance of rain.

Mountains

Unless you’re a bike racer (in which case you likely already know about this) this likely is more of a spectator event. But spectating often leads to involvement, so every once in a while we offer such an opportunity. This weekend, that opportunity is the French Broad Cycling Classic, three days of racing featuring top pro and amature riders. Racing is in the Asheville area. See “Logistics” for details on where to look for details.

Logistics: Go here for details.

Sunday forecast: Highs around 80, chance of precip ranging from 40 to 60 percent.

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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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