Look! Up in the Sky! Saturday night, Haw River State Park (8 p.m.) and Pettigrew State Park (8:30 p.m.). If it’s August it must be the Perseid meteor showers. Grab your camp chair or a blanket, sit (or lay) back and watch the best light show around. Remote Pettigrew, located in the remote coastal plain, an area with minimal light pollution, seems an especially good bet for a night of brilliant sparklers. More info here.

On the water. The dog days of August: the perfect time to be on the water. Here are three opportunities:

• Canoe the Mayo, Saturday, 10 a.m. – 2:30 p.m., Mayo River State Park, Mayodan (Triad). A rate opportunity to test drive a canoe on an intimate river. Canoe, paddles, personal flotation device provided; you need to provide a shuttle to get back to your car. More info here.
• Kayak Tour, Sunday, 8:30-11 a.m., Hammocks Beach State Park, Swansboro (coast). Follow a ranger and explore the marshland and ecosystems around this coastal state park. Kayaks, paddles, pfds provided. Free, but preregistration required, by calling 910.326.4881.
• Tubing at the Park, Sunday, 1 p.m., New River State Park, Connelly Springs (mountains). With paddling, you’re above the cool water, with tubing part of you is in it. More info here.

Find more adventure at the following:

• North Carolina State Parks has a variety of adventures planned for the weekend. Check those options here.
• North Carolina Environmental Education Center represents environmental ed centers across the state and has a calendar complete with every class and trip these centers are conducting. Find it here.
• Right here, at GetGoingNC.com.

The post GetOut! Your Friday Nudge to Weekend Adventure appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

After a teasing blast of fall early in the week, we’re back to the realities of July in the Southeast this weekend. Not a bad thing, just something to take into account as you plan your weekend. We share our thoughts on what might make for a grand weekend of adventure below.

Canoe 101, Merchants Millpond State Park, Gatesville. Saturday, 2:30 – 4:30 p.m. One of our favorite paddles anywhere is on this 760-acre millpond that is slowly evolving into swamp. Tupelo gum, bald cypress, Spanish moss … this trip’s got it all. And the 101? For you newbies, a short intro to paddling kicks off the trip. $5 fee. More info here.

Stars and Planets, Mayo River State Park, Mayodan. Saturday, 9:30 p.m. Being outside at night is pretty awesome, especially when you have the friendly folks from the Greensboro Astronomy Club on hand to share their sophisticated telescopes and knowledge of the night sky. It’s cooler at night, too. More info here.

Guided Canoe Trip, New River State Park, Laurel Springs. Sunday, 1 p.m. Nothing says keep it cool like canoeing a mountain river. The New River is wide and friendly on this stretch — you’d have to work hard to capsize. (Don’t work too hard!). Small fee to cover the cost of a shuttle. More info here.

As for us, you’re welcome to join us on a 4.5-mile hike Saturday morning at Eno River State Park: we’ll be hiking the Buckquarter Creek, Shakori and Ridge trails, the latter two of which are rare, for Eno River, trails less traveled. You can learn more about this hike and sign up to join us here.

You can find more events at the following:

• North Carolina State Parks has a variety of adventures planned for the weekend. Check those options here.
• North Carolina Office of Environmental Education, here.
• Right here, at GetGoingNC.com.

Whether you join us along the Eno, grab a paddle in a state park or do some star gazing, just be sure to do one thing:

GetOut!

The post GetOut! Your Nudge for Weekend Adventure appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Coast

So many mysteries contained in Merchants Millpond, the nearly 200-year-old, 760-acre water assemblage that spreads throughout the State Park bearing its name. Is it a pond or a swamp (sure seems like the latter)? What are those weird, prehistoric fish you occasionally see near the surface? Are there alligators?

These questions and more answered Saturday afternoon on a 2-hour guided canoe trip on the pond. Canoe, paddle, pfd and guide provided free; you bring the sunscreen and questions.

Logistics: Canoe the Pond, Saturday, June 17, 1 p.m., Merchants Millpond State Park, Gatesville. More info and sign up — it’s free, but there are a limited number of canoes — by going here.

Saturday forecast: High of 85, chance of afternoon thunderstorms.

* * *

Looking ahead: Black Bears of Pettigrew State Park, Saturday, July 1, Pettigrew State Park, Columbia. More info here.

Piedmont

Wondering what to get Dad for his big day, Father’s Day, which is Sunday? You know what he’d love, don’t you?

A big ‘ol hike!

For instance, the Father’s Day Jomeokee Hike at Pilot Mountain State Park. It’s the perfect hike for darn near any dad: it’s a mellow distance — just under a mile — and he’ll learn all sorts of facts that he can pepper his conversations with for years to come. Facts like where the trail got its name, how the Pilot Mountain pinnacle got its distinctive shape, why birds of prey are always circling overhead.

Logistics: Father’s Day Jomeokee Hike at Pilot Mountain State Park, Sunday, June 18, 10 a.m., Pilot Mountain State Park. More info here.

Sunday forecast: High of 85, chance of a thunderstorm.

* * *

Looking ahead: Basic Orienteering, Weymouth Woods-Sandhills Nature Preserve, Saturday, July 16, Southern Pines. More info here.

Mountains

You do the Sunday morning Father’s Day hike at Pilot Mountain and Dad emerges really jazzed about the outdoors. His sense of adventure kindled, suggest that you drive the hour and a half to New River State Park for the 2 p.m. paddle trip on the New River. You needn’t have paddling experience; you’ll get basic canoe instruction at the start. Then, enjoy a couple hours on this mellow mountain river.

Logistics: Guided Canoe Trip, Sunday, June 18, 2 p.m., New River State Park/US 221 Access. Free, but boats are limited; call 336.982.2587 to reserve a spot.

Sunday forecast: High of 77, chance of a thunderstorm.

* * *

Looking ahead: Night Hike, Mount Jefferson State Natural Area, Friday, July 7, West Jefferson. More info here.

* * *

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

Coast

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The post This weekend: Fun with Dad  appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Weird weather (Friday snow in the mountains?) precedes a mellow, springlike weekend. A weekend good for so many adventures, from heeding the advice of Edgar Winter and taking a free ride to gazing into the night sky.

Coast

A satellite view of the eastern seaboard at night is startling not so much for the artificial light that illuminates the region, but for the one spot that remains dark: far eastern North Carolina. A blink here and there, but mostly darkness. One night around 11, lying on a gravel road just outside Columbia, we saw the Milky Way with nearly the clarity I’d seen it years earlier camping at 9,000 feet in the Rockies.

Which is why Saturday evening’s Night Skies at Pettigrew State Park program is so appealing. Members of the Tar River Astronomy Club, with telescopes in tow, will be on hand to help decipher the brilliant night sky (with only a quarter moon’s worth of light to contend with).

Logistics: Night Skies at Pettigrew State Park, Saturday, April 8, 7-10 p.m. Columbia. Free, but preregistration is requested, by calling 252.797.4475.

Saturday forecast: Clear skies, event-time temperature around 50, so don a wrap.

* * *

Looking ahead: Flight of the American Woodcock, Saturday, April 29, New River State Park, Laurel Springs. More info here.

Piedmont

We once heard someone refer to a bike demo as “cheap fun.”

Ha!

To the uninitiated, a bike demo occurs when a local bike shop teams with one of its bike suppliers to bring in a fleet of demo bikes for folks to take a free ride. “Free” my saddle sores! You take one lap on a bike so superior to yours that you can no longer call what you’ve been doing as “riding” and you wind up the day $3,000 poorer. But with a new bike!

Think it can’t happen to you? Then we invite you to check out Galactic Bikes of Greensboro’s Pivot Cycles Bike Demo Saturday at Country Park. Bring your kit, helmet and shoes (and pedals) — and your checkbook, if you dare!

Logistics: Pivot Cycles Demo Day, Saturday, April 8, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., Country Park, Greensboro. More info here.

Saturday forecast: Sunny with a high of 67.

* * *

Looking ahead: Moonshine Still Hike, Sunday, April 23, Stone Mountain State Park, Roaring Gap. More info here.

Mountains

Another good excuse to visit Black Mountain: Saturday’s Black Mountain Greenway Challenge. The Challenge comes in two sizes — 5K and 10K — and celebrates the town’s greenway system with a run to and around Lake Tomahawk.

The Black Mountain News tells us the race is in its 10^th year, and that the town’s greenway ”is now part of a much larger system, known as the Fonta Flora State Trail. That trail will one day connect Morganton to Asheville.” Cool!

In the meantime, we can think of few places we’d rather run than in Black Mountain (especially in a race in which the Pisgah Brewing Company is an active participant).

Logistics: Black Mountain Greenway Challenge, Saturday, April 8, 2 p.m., Black Mountain. $35 for the 5K, $40 for the 10K. More info and register here.

Saturday’s forecast: Mostly sunny with a race-time temperature of 57.

* * *

Looking ahead: 3^rd Annual Gateway to the Smokies Half Marathon, Saturday, May 6, Paynesville. More info here.

* * *

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

Coast

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The post This weekend: Free ride?  appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Coast

Deep down, you really do have a sense of adventure. All you need is a little push to let it bloom, a knowledgeable, supportive guide to help you test the waters. And who could be better at providing such a reassuring introduction into the wild than a state park ranger?

Friday, a ranger at Hammocks Beach State Park will do just that on a two- to three-hour guided kayak tour of the marsh around Hammocks Beach. Once you get those first few strokes under your lifejacketed self, you’ll be ready to set sail into a world of new adventure. An especially good option if you’re already at the beach, a little too relaxed and looking for something more challenging than toddling down to the surf and sticking in your toe.

Logistics: Friday, May 30, 8:30 a.m., Hammocks Beach State Park near Swansboro. Free, all equipment (boat, paddle, lifejacket) provided. More info and to pre-register, which is required: 910-326-4881.

Friday forecast: High of 78, a chance of rain that increases as the day wears on.

Piedmont

Here’s something you don’t get to do — legally, at least: explore a state park after dark. But Saturday evening (and again on Saturday, June 28 if you can’t make it this week), the gates to Morrow Mountain state park will stay open to 11 p.m., a little more than two hours past sunset. That means if the evening is clear, you an climb Morrow Mountain and check out the lights as far off as Charlotte.

Of course, seeking signs of civilization isn’t the purpose of exploring in the dark, learning about what the natural world does after hours is. And if you have questions — say, about that surprise noise next to you that made you set a PR in the 40 — a park ranger will be on hand.

Logistics: Saturday, May 31, until 11 p.m., Morrow Mountain State Park, Albemarle. More info: 704.982.4402.

Saturday forecast: Daytime high of 84, chance of rain that diminishes into the evening.

Mountains

This notion of exploring at night — which we’ve long been a fan of, especially during the steamy days of summer — is catching on. Friday night, New River State Park hosts a night hike along its namesake river. The hike is about a mile and a half long and is on easy to moderate trails. Sturdy shoes and a headlamp or flashlight are required.

Logistics: 8:30 p.m., Friday, May 30, US 221 Access, New River State Park, Laurel Springs. More info: 336.982.2587.

Friday forecast: Daytime high of 70, chance of rain increasing as the night wears on.

* * *

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

The post This weekend: Cool paddles, night hikes appeared first on GetGoing NC!.