nature program Archives - GetGoing NC!

GetOut! It won’t be blazing hot forever!

JoeMiller — Thu, 12 Aug 2021 17:20:52 +0000

It has been warm of late. Hot, even. And humid. Boy, has it been humid. But there’s nothing like working up a good sweat, is there? Even if you’re just dashing to your car to go to the store.

Well savor it while you can, people, because it won’t be summer forever! The fall equinox is just 40 days off, and Labor Day, the emotional start of fall, is just 24 days away. So take advantage of the heat while you can. This weekend, for instance:

Lake Tillery (photo courtesy N.C. State Parks)

Relaxation Paddle, Sunday, 9:30 a.m., Morrow Mountain State Park, Albemarle. “Relaxation paddle” — in our book that’s a bit of an oxymoron: Isn’t paddling all about relaxing? If not, then you can rest assured it will be on this 1-hour leisure paddle on Lake Tillery. Free, but registration is required, by emailing Alden.Early@ncparks.gov. PFDs (personal flotation devices) are required). Learn more here.

Spider Insider, Sunday, 10 a.m., Occoneechee Mountain State Natural Area (pictured at top), Hillsborough. I like this line in the class description: “We will take a moderate hike to see if we can find any [spiders].” “Moderate,” in our experience, would be stepping out of the car and — AHHH! Come and learn about the spiders that live among us and how they benefit the environment. More info here.

Lake James, below Linville Gorge

Owls Among Us, Sunday, 9 p.m., Lake James State Park, Nebo. Says the event description: “Once you recognize the myriad sounds owls make, a whole new world of appreciation opens. Ranger Jamie Cameron will lead a group of curious owl-seekers on a short hike along the Lake Channel Overlook trail at the Catawba River Area side of the park. We’ll start from the campground parking lot at 9 p.m. Bring a headlamp or flashlight, binoculars if you have them and a pair of comfortable hiking shoes for this 45-minute program.” Learn more here.

Lake Johnson Park Nature Explorers, Sunday, 1:30 p.m., Lake Johnson Park, Raleigh. If you’re looking for something to do outdoors with the kids, here’s a good bet, because they’ll spend about an hour and a half getting to “Flip over logs, dig a hole, or sift through leaves .… “ The best $2 you’ll spend all week. Learn more and find out how to register here.

You’ll notice that our recommendations are all for Sunday. Despite our apparent love for the heat as expressed by our intro waxing over the waning days of summer, we recognize that it’s better to be out Sunday, when temperatures throughout the Piedmont will be in the low 80s, as opposed to Saturday, when they’re still expected to top 90. So if you have chores for the weekend, do ‘em Saturday and save your adventure time for Sunday.

GetOut! And enjoy!

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GetOut! Your Nudge for Weekend Adventure

JoeMiller — Fri, 12 Apr 2019 16:11:55 +0000

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.

Beginner-Novice Guided Hike, Saturday, 2 p.m., Grandfather Mountain State Park, Banner Elk. Our GetHiking! program is all about helping the uninitiated get into hiking. So when we see a good opportunity, we’re more than happy to pass it along. This 2-hour hike will cover 1.5 miles on Grandfather’s Profile Trail. Along the way, Ranger Sicard will talk about the mountain’s plant life as well as the basics of hiking. A good introductory outing. Learn more and sign up here.

Hike to Fall Creek Falls, Sunday, 1:45 p.m., Mayo River State Park, Mayodan. Another good beginner opportunity as a park ranger and the Rockingham County Naturalist Club lead this hike past a small cascade at Byrd’s Ledge, then up to the larger Fall Creek Falls. 1.1 miles total, at a leisurely pace. Human and natural history will be shared along the way. Learn more and sign up here.

As always, you can find more opportunities this weekend here:

North Carolina State Parks have a variety of adventures planned for the weekend. Check those options here.
North Carolina Environmental Education Centers has an extensive calendar of what’s happening at its affiliates; check it out here.
You can also find more adventures right here, at GetGoingNC.com

GetHiking! this weekend

What are we up to this weekend? Lots!

GetHiking! Charlottesville: The Priest,Saturday, April 13, 8 a.m. Fontaine Research Park, Charlottesville. Strenuous. 9.2-miles. Hike highlights: Appalachian Trial, Peak wildflowers, swinging bridge over the Tye River. Learn more here.

GetHiking! Virginia Beach: GOPC,Sunday April 14, 9:45 a.m, First Landing State Park, Virginia Beach. Easy. 5-mile loop at First Landing State Park. Learn more here.

Live the video

This week’s video is from our hike last weekend at Brumley Forest North Nature Preserve, a Triangle Land Conservancy property east of Hillsborough. The North section has three miles of hiking-only trail, the South has more than 11 miles, much of which is also open to mountain biking. For information on Brumley Forest, including directions, go here.

GetOut and enjoy!

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GetOut! Your Friday Nudge for Weekend Adventure

JoeMiller — Fri, 27 Jul 2018 16:56:16 +0000

What to do on the last weekend of July? We have a thought or two …

Geology of Stone Mountain, Saturday, 9 a.m., Stone Mountain State Park, Roaring Gap. No doubt you’ve looked at that strange forehead protruding from the ground, the one from which Stone Mountain gets its name, and wondered, How did that happen? Here, at this one hour program at the Hutchinson Homestead, is your chance to find out. And if you’re left at the end yearning for more, eager to know all about Stone Mountain, then stick around until 2 p.m. for “All About Stone Mountain.” (You can do some hiking in between to pass the time.) For more info on both programs and to register, go here.

Night Hike Along the Great Blue Heron Trail, Saturday, 8 p.m., Haw River State Park Iron Ore Belt Access, Greensboro. We love a night hike, and we especially love one where we’re not compelled to watch our every footstep to avoid rocks and roots in the trail. On the smooth-as-sandstone 3.8-mile Great Blue Heron Trail you’ll be able to focus on the wonder of the night. Bring a flashlight/headlamp with red or blue filter, bring bug spray and water. For more info and to register, go here.

Guided Hike: Balsam Nature Trail, Sunday, 11 a.m., Mount Mitchell State Park. Visiting Mount Mitchell, which tops out at 6,684 feet, is like visiting another world — so many unusual things to see at that elevation. Sunday, let a ranger explain what it is your seeing and why it’s there on this guided hike on the Balsam Trail. More info and register here.

You can find more opportunities this weekend here:

North Carolina State Parks have a variety of adventures planned for the weekend. Check those options here.
North Carolina Environmental Education Centers has an extensive calendar of what’s happening at its affiliates; check it out here.
You can also find more adventures right here, at GetGoingNC.com.

And learn more about where we spent this past week, featured in the video, by visiting the web sites for Umstead State Park and Eno River State Park.

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This weekend: Escape the wintry mix (or embrace it)

JoeMiller — Wed, 12 Feb 2014 01:00:28 +0000

Carolina Beach State Park (photo courtesty N.C. State Parks)

One thing about the recent weird winter weather: the breaks are, mercifully, falling on the weekends. Our upcoming one, for instance, is supposed to be dry with temperatures that’ll defrost your winter-weary soul. At least in the Piedmont and at the coast. The mountains, on the other hand, promise more winter fun.

Coast

Even Carolina Beach, where you can find the occasional palm tree (albeit an immigrant) was icing over midweek this week. Saturday, though, the high is expected to flirt with 50, and the sun is even scheduled to make an appearance in the afternoon. Sounds appealing, no?

Appealing enough, in our opinion, to check out Saturday’s Biological Wonders program. “Join a park ranger on this hike to see and learn about all the different plant communities here in Carolina Beach State Park,” promises the program description. Some of those plant communities — the brackish marshes, the cypress pond — will make the temperature seem a good five degrees warmer.

Logistics: Saturday, Feb. 15, 2 p.m. Carolina Beach State Park. For more info: 910-458-8206

Saturday forecast: Partly cloudy by afternoon, high of 48.

Piedmont

Modesty aside, the best hike on the books for this weekend is our GetHiking! hike Sunday in the Birkhead Mountain Wilderness of the Uwharrie National Forest. The Birkheads present a nice challenge (bigger climbs than you’ll find elsewhere in the Piedmont) and long stretches of solitude. And, they’re centrally located in what the local boosters like to call North Carolina’s Central Park. All three of our GetHiking! groups — GetHiking! Charlotte, GetHiking! Triad and GetHiking! Triangle — will be participating in this hike.

For the more aggressive hiker we have an 11.5-mile option, for the stop-and-smell-the-flowers crowd we have a 7.4-mile option. Both start at noon, albeit from different locations.

Logistics: Sunday, Feb. 16, noon, Birkhead Mountain Wilderness area of the Uwharrie National Forest. For more info, check out the GetHiking! chapter nearest you: Charlotte, Triad, Triangle.

Sunday forecast: Partial sunshine with a high of 47.

The view from near Pot Cove Gap

Mountains

Sunday’s Carolina Mountain Club hike at Montreat has the potential to memorable on several fronts. On its merits alone, this is a fine way to spend most of a Sunday. This 7.5-mile circuit takes in Lookout Mountain and the Old Mount Mitchell Toll Road up to Pot Cove Gap. From there, it heads back down the mountain on the Graybeard Trail.

The kicker comes if the forecast holds true. Up to a foot of snow is forecast for the area through Friday evening, and light snow is forecast for the hike. Got snowshoes? Bring ‘em.

Logistics: Sunday, Feb. 16, 9 a.m. (carpool meeting time, from Asheville). Montreat. For more info, go here.

Sunday forecast: Light snow early, then clearing with a high of 48 at lower elevations.

* * *

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 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

Great Outdoor Provision Co.
Calendar includes three weekly events for each of its seven markets: Chapel Hill, Charlotte, Greensboro, Greenville, Raleigh, Wilmington and Winston-Salem. Search by market.

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.

U.S. National Wildlife Refuges
Rundown, by month, of regular activities at the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service refuges in North Carolina.

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