Yeah, there’s a little rain in the forecast for the weekend. However:
It’s a forecast, which is essentially an educated guess, which is subject to not being accurate;
There do appear to be some less wet spots in the forecast; and,
Why should that keep us from having a little fun at least planning for the weekend?
That said, here three ideas for getting out and exploring:
B.W. Wells Heritage Day, Saturday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., Falls Lake State Recreation Area, Wake Forest. There’s a cool area of Falls Lake State Recreation Area on the east side of the lake that few people know about: the B.W. Wells area. It’s where B.W. Wells, a botany professor at N.C. State and one of the state’s foremost early ecologists lived and peppered his land with a variety of plant life. The area is usually closed, but is open for touring on Heritage Day. Learn more about B.W. Wells here, learn more about B.W. Wells Heritage Day here.read more
Hey, not to put any pressure on you but it’s August and summer won’t be around forever. Our way of saying you should look hard at this weekend’s tempting options: a hike at the coast, a view that informs in the Piedmont and one exhausting three-day weekend in the mountains.
Coast
Within just 58 acres, Halyburton Memorial Park is representative of the wide-ranging ecology in the Wilmington area. It’s this biological diversity that makes it easy for park naturalists to have a different focus for each of the park’s bimonthly Discovery Hikes.
The next hike in this series is Saturday at 10 a.m. The hike is on the park’s 1.5 miles of path and is appropriate for ages 5 and up: an entertaining and informative start to the weekend.
Logistics: Saturday, Aug. 15, 10 a.m., Halyburton Memorial Park, 4099 S. 17th St., Wilmington. Free. For more info, call 910.341.0075 or visit the park website.
Looking ahead: Summer Paddle, Dismal Swamp State Park, South Mills, Sunday, Aug. 29, 1 p.m. 252.771.6593.
Piedmont
How many times has this happened to you: You’ve made the climb to 2,579-foot Moore’s Knob at Hanging Rock State Park and stood atop the observation tower to enjoy the vast 360-degree view. It’s peaceful — until the know-it-all gets fired up: Look, up north — that’s Pennsylvania! You can see all the way to Pennsylvania from here! People think that’s Winston-Salem down to the south there, but actually it’s Atlanta! And if you squint real hard looking west you can see right past the Appalachians to the Rockies!
Now, you’re pretty sure that’s Virginia to the north, that Winston-Salem is indeed on the southern horizon, and not even Superman could see the Rockies from here. But you aren’t entirely sure, so you say nothing.
Well, hold your tonuge no longer. Make the 4.2-mile (roundtrip) hike to the top of Moore’s Knob Saturday at 2 p.m. and an environmental educator will be waiting to tell you with certainty what you’re looking at. And not just the seemingly obvious (Atlanta!? Seriously?): learn the peaks you’re observing in the Blue Ridge.
Logistics: Saturday, Aug. 15, 2 p.m., Moore’s Knob observation tower, Hanging Rock State Park, Danbury. Free. More info at 336.593.8480.
Looking ahead: Edible / Medicinal Plant Hike, Elk Knob State Park, Todd, Saturday, Aug. 22, 2 p.m.. 828.297.7261.
Mountains
As the clock begins to tick on summer, are you suddenly fretting about opportunities lost? The 10K you’ve yet to race? The triathlon you’ve promised to do? The mountain road ride that remains unchecked off your list?
Make amends, big time, this weekend at the 11th annual Lake Lure Olympiad. Starting Friday and running through Sunday, three days of all that: a 10K, a tri, a 25-mile bike ride plus a 5K. All in the idyllic Hickory Nut Gorge. (Read more about the event in this Asheville Citizen-Times article.)
Logistics: Friday – Sunday, Aug. 14-16, Lake Lure/Hickory Nut Gorge. For all your details, go here.
Weekend forecast: Highs in the mid-80s, chance of a thunderstorm Saturday.
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Looking ahead: Guide Profile Trail Hikes at Grandfather Mountain State Park, various hikes lead by the Chargers & Rechargers Hiking Club starting at 8 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 22. 828.963.9522
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Those are our thoughts on the weekend. Find more options at the sources listed 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 coastal 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).
The second weekend of summer is perfect for paddling a Carolina Bay, for a taking a high-country hike and for running five races in one.
Coast
Summer is ideal for paddling. But it you don’t have your own canoe or kayak, a leisurely day on the water takes on potential hassles. First, you have to find a place to rent a boat (which we’ve made easy with this handy list). Then you have to get the boat to decent place to paddle (again, we’ve got help with that). And you have to watch the clock to make sure you get the boat back on time (sorry, no help there).
Unless, of course, you take advantage of one of the numerous free boating programs offered throughout the state. Saturday’s Half-Day Paddle at Lake Waccamaw State Park, for instance. Lake Waccamaw is a Carolina Bay, one of numerous such lakes formed under yet-to-be-understood circumstances, mostly in the Southeast. While most bays are small, Waccamaw covers more than 9,000 acres and has 14 miles of shoreline, ensuring a full half-day’s worth of paddling.
Logistics: Saturday, June 19, 9 a.m. Call 910.646.4748 to pre-register and for more info. Check out the park here.
How many times have you run a 5K or a 10K, finished, and thought, “Dang, I feel like running some more”? Wouldn’t it be great if there was a race that actually was two races? Or three? Or five?
Five!? Madness, you say? Actually, it’s called the Ultimate Runner and it’s this Saturday at Hanes Park Track in Winston-Salem. You start by running a mile. Then you run a 400-meter race, then 800 meters, then 100 meters and finally, a 5K. We’re guessing that after the 5K you’re appetite for running will be sated. At least for the day.
Logistics: Saturday, June 29, 4:30 p.m. $50. More info here or by calling 336.782.0957
Our favorite place to be in summer is the mountains on a cool, cloudy day. It’s the ultimate escape from summer’s oppressive weather, and it’s what’s in the forecast this Sunday at Elk Knob State Park near Todd (between Jefferson and Boone). And Elk Knob on Sunday is the site of a nature hike to the park’s mile-high summit.
The flora here is unlike what you’ll find throughout much of the Southern Appalachians: the mountain’s rich, amphibolite soils coupled with the altitude support flora more common to northern hardwood forests. A nice escape.
Logistics: Sunday, June 30, 2 p.m. More info by calling 828.297.7261. For more info on the park, go here.
Those are our thoughts on the weekend. Find more options at the sources listed 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 year’s edition of the annual Great Backyard Bird Count is Feb. 15-18. On those days, amateur birdwatchers — or Citizen Scientists, as joint sponsors The Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Audubon refer to them — take as little as 15 minutes a day to record the bird activity around them. Count the number of different species you see in a given location, enter your findings at the GBBC Web site.
The count is open to even the most inexperienced birder. But if you are that inexperienced birder, you’d like to have at least some idea of what you’re looking at. If you can’t tell a robin from a wren, then you might benefit from an Armchair Birding class, which they just happen to be offering Sunday at Dismal Swamp State Park. Tips on how to ID birds and “make a contribution as a Citizen Scientist … in next week’s Great Backyard Bird Count.”
Dismal Swamp State Park!? Isn’t that up in the way far northeast corner of the state? those of you more centrally located in the Tar Heel state may protest. It is. And it turns out you needn’t travel so far for a little bird 411. In fact, instruction can be found as close as 336 — in the Greensboro area. Specifically on Lake Townsend, one of the three watershed lakes rimming the north side of Greensboro, where Greensboro Parks & Rec. runs a weekly Waterfowl Birding Tour. This week’s tour is Saturday afternoon and includes binoculars and expert consultation from a local birding club.
Logistics: Saturday, 1:30 p.m., Lake Townsend Marina. $4. Reservations required by calling 336.373.3741
In the spirit of Andy Rooney, did ya ever wonder why some plants stay green all year? Sure you have. And you can get an answer to this age-old question Saturday on the Wintergreen Hike at South Mountains State Park. Entails a “leisurely walk along the Hemlock Nature Trail.”
Logistics: Saturday, 11 a.m., meet at the Jacob Fork Parking Area. More info on the park here.
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.
The view from atop Cliffs of the Neuse (photo courtesy N.C. State Parks).
A self-guided nature hike at Cliffs of the Neuse and a do-it-yourself canoe paddle at Haw River State Park leave you in control of your entertainment destiny. And if you’re not feeling particularly self-motivated, sleep in and let a ranger tell you about the fireflies at Elk Knob State Park.
Coast
I can’t count the number of times I’ve been walking in the woods, in a familiar spot, and suddenly surfaced and thought, Where the heck am I? Lost in thought on a hike — happens all the time. Apparently, the folks at Cliffs of the Neuse State Park are familiar with this phenomenon, for on Saturday they’re holding a Silent Hike. “Enjoy the summer sounds and get lost in your own thought,” says the coastal plain park’s Web site. “The silent hike is a self-guided tour. There will be cards posted along the trail giving you a task to do or think about.”
I like the sound — or lack thereof — of that.
Logistics: Since it’s self-guided, you can do it whenever. Based on the forecast for Saturday (see below), you might want to do it earlier rather than later.
Saturday forecast: High of 90, 40 percent chance of rain and a thunderstorm in the afternoon.
Piedmont
It’s a laid-back weekend in the North Carolina State Parks system: Show up after 12:30 p.m. at Haw River State Park on Sunday and you can take a canoe for a spin on Robin’s Nest Lake. Especially good for the inexperienced as a ranger will be on hand to show you the basics of paddling. Eight canoes means there’s probably no waiting, a bevy of PFDs and paddles means all the equipment is provided.
Logistics: Starts at 12:30 Saturday afternoon. Free. Meet at the main lodge. Here’s how to get there.
You, light up the night … oh, sorry. Didn’t realize you were back FROM checking out the Haw River State Park Web site (above). I was just in a little reverie about my favorite summer insect, the firefly. And it looks like I’m not alone in my love of the luminous lampyridae, those winged beetles that light the summer night: Saturday evening Elk Knob State Park offers Fireflies — a Beacon in the Night. Come learn about what fires them up, then take a hike in search of the little flashing flits.
Logistics: 8 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 4. Meet at the park office.
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).
