Oh yeah — a hike!

Technically, I’d taken one earlier in the day, but it was more a traditional get-your-miles-in-and-heart-rate-up hike. What I hadn’t done was a true adventure hike, the kind I had vowed to do more of in 2026: An off-trail hike.

In year’s past, all my hiking resolutions had been blazed-trail centric. Hike a new (blazed) trail every month. Do at least one 10-mile (blazed) trail hike every quarter. Do a new stretch of the (very obviously blazed) Appalachian Trail. 2026 would be the year I eschew the blaze.

I checked to see how much time I had: sunset was at 5:14 p.m.; it was a 10-minute drive to my local off-trail stomping grounds, the Dan River Game Lands, and if I left now I’d have just about an hour of sunlight to work with. On a regular trail, a blazed trail, that would translate to about 3 miles of hiking, and if I overshot sunset by 10 or 15 minutes, no big deal. Not so when you’re exploring off-trail. In fact, depending upon your location you could be hiking in the dark well before sunset. That gave me pause, reminding me that especially when heading off trail it’s wise to think before you leap. A few thoughts on thinking, based on my New Year’s Day hike:

Thought 1: Late in the day? Choose a west-facing location. This thought in mind, I entered from the Riverside Drive access, which sits on a plateau sloping west down to the Dan River..

Thought 1a: Late in the day? Choose a mature hardwood forest. Why? Because such a forest is likely to have minimal canopy in winter and thus, let more light in. That proved a bit of a challenge on this 1,700-acre game land, which was farmed as recently as 20 year ago and consists largely of young, pines and hardwoods elbowing branch-to-branch for precious sunlight. 

I set off down a dirt road closed to the public and used only occasionally by the Wildlife Resources Commission for maintenance. I hiked a third of a mile down a gentle slope, then the road dropped nearly 100 vertical feet in a third of a mile. The road fizzled into brush; it was time to head truly off trail. 

Thought 2: Be cognizant of the time. It was about 4:25 p.m.; sunlight wasn’t an immediate factor, but it time was important to factor it into my decision. To the north, the forest floor was relatively clear of growth. The slope was also catching the waning sunlight and it was in the direction I needed to head; I struck off not straight uphill, but making sure I didn’t lose elevation; in the next 15 minutes or so I needed to regain the ridge.

Thought 3: Have a plan. Probably should have started with this, but it was now that I needed to take the goal of my hike into account. Granted, my overall goal was to make it back to the car before dark. But what I really wanted was to catch the end-of-day light while hiking through an upland meadow nearby. I would be heading west, directly into the fading sunlight; with clear skies the sunset should be spectacular. My plan to regain the ridge would get me within 5 minutes of the meadow.

Thought 4: Brambles and briars slow a body down, especially in the dark. My chosen path had looked clear, but in fact was laced with barely visible waist-high brambles and briars. Much easier to see and deal with in the light.

Thought 5: Rootball holes and other obstacles. The winter woods are covered with fall’s leaf and pine straw harvest, which does a fine job of masking obstacles such as rootball holes, downed branches and rocks. Again, much easier to deal with in daylight.

Thought 6: Have intermediary goals. My goal was the meadow and it was almost due west. Because I couldn’t see it, though, and because I didn’t want to be constantly consulting my compass, I picked intermediary landmarks to the west that I could see. I’d reach the landmark, then find another on a westerly course. Slow, but steady and reliable.

Thought 7: The path of least resistance. I reached the ridge, which housed a power line cut-through, at about 5 p.m. A strip of woods maybe 50 yards wide separated my from the meadow. Having hiked here before I knew that if I hiked southwest another 5 minutes I would find an opening, a much better option in the fading light than bashing through dense woods. 

Thought 8: Don’t get cocky. I entered the meadow at 5:07 p.m., 7 minutes before sunset. The setting sun was indeed what I’d hoped; my inclination was to stop and savor. And while the last two-tenths of a mile back to the car was relatively easy, it was still off-trail through a meadow. I needed every ounce of sunlight I could get.

Thought 9: Don’t cut it too close. I got back to the car at 5:13 p.m. There was maybe another 5 minutes of useable light in the meadow; the useable light in even the most open forest had been exhausted a good 20 minutes earlier. Not bad timing, I thought.

Thought 10: Stay a moment and savor the waning light. Probably doesn’t need saying, but why not!

A great start for 2026, and hopefully an omen for a year of memorable off-trail adventure ahead.

The post 10 Thoughts for a late-day off-trail adventure appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Most hikes are geared toward beginners and those looking to turn over a new leaf in the year ahead. North Carolina’s Carolina Beach State Park, for example, offers a two-mile hike to the Sugarloaf Dune at 10 a.m., while Virginia’s Lake Anna State Park plans a 1.5-mile hike at 2 p.m. Both are relatively flat, both will go at leisurely pace. Don’t mind a little company? The Eno River First Day Hike, led in conjunction with the Eno River Association, has drawn close to a thousand hikers in the past.

That’s 104 First Day Hikes in our state parks alone. It doesn’t include hikes such as the Triangle Land Conservancy’s New Year’s Day Hike at White Pines, or the Piedmont Land Conservancy’s First Day Outdoors on the Stuart & Emma Thomas Memorial Trail. You’ll find people hiking everywhere on New Year’s Day.

What makes this year’s First Day Hikes a little more special is that five of the hikes in North Carolina are in state parks that were closed for a time by Hurricane Helene. 

The adjoining Stone Mountain State Park and Rendezvous Mountain, both located on the Blue Ridge escarpment, are sponsoring hikes. Stone Mountain starts the day at 9 a.m. with a moderate 2.5-mile hike on the Cedar Rock and Wolf Rock trails (with great views), while Rendezvous Mountain will hold a mile-long hike at 2 p.m. through a mixed hardwood forest. A bit more rugged is the 2.4-mile scavenger hunt hike planned at Grandfather Mountain on the Nuwati Trail (from the Boone Fork Parking area off the Blue Ridge Parkway). This self-guided event runs from 9 a.m. to noon. Meanwhile, Gorges State Park will have a 30-minute hike to Bearwallow Falls at 10 a.m., and a 60-minute hike on the Raymond Fisher Pond Trail at 2 p.m.

Lake James, Elk Knob, Mount Jefferson and New River all have reopened, and may post First Day Hikes as well.

Welcoming the new year on the trail is always a great idea. With 104 to chose from you’re sure to find one to match your interests. 

* * *

First Day Hikes

Check out the First Day Hike offerings in North Carolina and Virginia by clicking the links below:

• North Carolina
• Virginia

The post 104 New Year’s Day Hikes (and that’s just in state parks)  appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Unfortunately, there’s been nothing traditional about 2020, and there will be no First Day Hikes as we usher in 2021. 

“Parks are not hosting any guided First Day Hikes on January 1,” states a notice on ncparks.gov. “We encourage park visitors to conduct their own First Day Hikes with members of their household. Please note that parks may be busy on New Year’s Day, so please be prepared for parking delays and make backup plans.”

Backup plans indeed. If the parks are likely to be crowded anyway — and possibly be forced to close — why not direct folks to a trail that’s less likely to be crowded. Like the Mountains-to-Sea Trail.

That’s not to suggest that the MST isn’t popular. It’s just that with 1,175 miles of trail, there’s bound to be a stretch or two where you can find solitude. And that thought led us to a conversation with Jim Grode, Trail Resource Manager for the Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail who probably knows the trail better than anyone.

Among other things, Jim is in charge of all of the MST’s resources devoted to helping hikers get from Point A to Point B. That includes the MST’s online resources, its printed guides, and, most recently, “Great Day Hikes on North Carolina’s Mountains-to-Sea Trail,” published earlier this year by UNC Press. 

Rather than ask Jim to identify 5 or 10 of what he views as the lesser-hiked stretches of the MST, we thought it better to let him empower you to find, on your own using the MST’s resources, the stretch of MST best-suited to your needs.

Let the planning begin

“The best place to start is with the interactive Google Map on our website,” Jim says. “You can find the section of trail near you and parking locations, and drill down from there.”

Here’s a quick guide to making that happen:

1. 1. Start with the Interactive Map on the website. Trails in red are actual hiking trail (which includes paved greenway and unpaved forest roads); black is trail temporarily routed on roads.

      

   2. Click on “Trail Segments” in the box on the left to match segments to the correct guides, and click “Parking” to identify places to access the trail
   3. For distances, click on “Mile Markers” (miles are eastbound only; for westbound, subtract that mileage number from total segment length)

   4. 

      Click on individual Trail Segment, Parking or Mile Marker icons to get details helpful for when you …

   5. … transition to Hiking Guide segments (online PDFs or printed volumes)
   6. Once inside the Hiking Guide:
      1. Match a parking area with the trail descriptions, keeping in mind that there are separate marked descriptions for eastbound and westbound
      2. For a sense of what a stretch is like aesthetically:
         1. Check the overview descriptions at the beginning of each segment
         2. On the Interactive Google Map, switch to satellite view for a look from above that can reveal forest, rocky areas, water and more
      3. To figure out the distance and difficulty of a stretch
         1. Distances: on the Google Map, use the Mile Marker function; in the guides check the mileage breakdowns in the Hiking Directions.
         2. Difficulty: The guides for the Mountains and Piedmont both include elevation profiles for each segment (note: the scales for different segments are not the same: be sure to check the distance/elevation for each segment for a more accurate reading; also note that the Coastal Plain & Outer Banks guide does not include elevation profiles because the terrain is flat and the elevation changes aren’t significant). The elevation profiles are more helpful for getting a general idea of elevation differences. To help put elevation in context, a loose rule of thumb is that 1000 feet of climbing = 1 level mile.
   7. When checking out the Parking/Trailhead, keep in mind that extra amenities — restrooms, visitor centers — which will be indicated, are likely to draw more hikers.
   8. Have a Plan B and C in case you show up at Plan A and it’s crowded. This is relatively easy along much of the trail since access points often aren’t more than 3 to 5 miles apart.

It’s an easy, step-by-step process for not only finding your ideal First Day hike, but for finding great hikes on the MST for years to come.

The GetHiking! Southeast Podcast

You can find more of our discussion with Jim Grode, including more helpful tips on planning your own hike, on our GetHiking! Southeast podcast, which debuts today. Give a listen here. 

The post This year, plan your own First Day Hike on the MST appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

This week’s video is a salute to exploring in the rain, which is our way of saying there’s a lot of it in the forecast the next few days.

But not on Saturday! So, we have three options today: 1) if you want to stay dry, 2) if you don’t mind the rain, 3) if you’d rather wait until New Year’s Day (when there’s still a chance of rain).

• Small Steps, Saturday, 10 a.m., Eno River State Park, Durham. This is the no-rain option (in the words of the Eno River State Park poet laureate): If your 2019 goal is a fitter you, begin your journey with a river view. That is, a 1.5-mile hike on the Buckquarter Creek Trail at a “forgiving pace.” More info and sign up here.
• Junior Ranger Coach, Sunday 1 p.m., Hanging Rock State Park, Danbury. This is the “into-your-life-some-rain-may-fall” option: Help your aspiring Junior Ranger earn her/his Junior Ranger Patch on this ranger-led presentation and 0.8-mile activity hike. For ages 6-12. More info and sign up here.
• New Year’s Day Hike, Tuesday, Jan. 1, times and locations vary. If you can’t get out this weekend, you’ll definitely want to get out New Year’s Day. First, North Carolina State Parks is sponsoring a variety of First Day Hikes at each of it’s facilities; find a rundown of hikes and sign up here. Most of these hikes are on the short side, three miles or less. If you’re looking for something longer, join our GetHiking! Triangle crew on a 6-mile hike on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail at Falls Lake, starting at the mercifully decent time of 11 a.m. 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

Live the video

If you’re inspired by today’s video, learn more about exploring Haw River State Park’s Great Blue Heron Trail here.

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

It’s long been tradition to welcome the new year with an athletic feat: a bike ride, a run, a dip in the ocean or other suitable frigid body of water. The most popular way — in the populist sense — has been to welcome the new with a walk in the woods. And for the last several years, North Carolina’s State Parks have been helping you do exactly that, by participating in the nationwide First Day Hikes program.

Friday, you’ll find New Year’s Day hikes at nearly every North Carolina State Park; we’ve listed several below. Learn more about these hikes and discover additional First Day hikes by visiting the N.C. State Parks’ First Day Hikes web page, here.

Coast

• Carolina Beach State Park, Carolina Beach: First Day Hike, 10 a.m.
• Cliffs of the Neuse State Park, Seven Springs: First Day Hike, 2 miles, 2 p.m.
• Fort Fisher State Recreation Area, Kure Beach: First Day Basin Hike, 2 miles, 10 a.m.
• Fort Macon State Park, Atlantic Beach: First Day Hike., 1-mile and 3-mile hikes, 10 a.m.
• Goose Creek State Park, Washington: First Day Hike, options between a half mile and 1.5 miles, 2 p.m.
• Hammocks Beach State Park, Swansboro: Barrier Island Eco-Hike (take the ferry across to Bear Island and explore), noon.
• Jones Lake State Park, Elizabethtown: First Day Discovery Hike, 1 mile, 10 a.m. (a second, shorter hike will be held at 1 p.m.)
• Merchants Millpond State Park, Gatesville: First Day Hike, 2.5 miles, noon.
• Pettigrew State Park, Columbia: First Day Hike, short hike, 2 p.m.

Piedmont

• Crowders Mountain State Park, Kings Mountain: Two States, One Hike: A First Day Hike, 5-6 miles, 9 a.m.
• Eno River State Park, Durham: Two hikes, one of 2 miles one of 4, 2 p.m.
• Falls Lake State Recreation Area, Wake Forest: First Day Scavenger Hunt Hikes at Falls Lake, 10 and 11 a.m., and 1 and 2 p.m. (reservations required)
• Hanging Rock State Park, Danbury: Hike to Hanging Rock, 2+ miles, 10 a.m.
• Haw River State Park, Haw River: First Day Hike, 1 mile, 10 a.m.
• Jordan Lake State Recreation Area, Apex: First Day Hike, 2.7 miles, a.m.
• Lake Norman State Park, Troutman: First Day Hike, 1 mile, 9 a.m.
• Mayo River State Park, Mayodan: First Day Hike, 2 miles, 1 p.m.
• Morrow Mountain State Park, Albemarle: First Day Hike, 2.8 miles, 10 a.m.
• Pilot Mountain State Park, Pinnacle: Grindstone Trail Hike, 6.6 miles, 10 a.m.
• Raven Rock State Park, Lillington: First Day Hike, 3-5 miles, 10 a.m. (a second, shorter hike will be held at 1 p.m.)
• Stone Mountain State Park, Roaring Gap: First Day Hike, 10 a.m.
• Umstead State Park, Raleigh: First Day Photography Hike, short distance, 8 a.m.
• Weymouth Woods-Sandhills Nature Preserve, Southern Pines: First Day Hike, 1.5 miles, 10 a.m.

Mountains

• 

  Elk Knob State Park, Todd: First Day Hike, 1 mile, 11 a.m.

• Mount Jefferson State Natural Area, West Jefferson: A Hundred Year Celebration Hike (“a chronological journey through time and space … . In honor of the hundred year anniversary” of North Carolina State Parks), 10 a.m.
• Mount Mitchell State Park, Burnsville: First Day Hike, three-quarters of a mile atop the highest peak on the East Coast, 1 p.m. (Call beforehand to make sure weather hasn’t closed the roads leading to the park: 828.675.4611).
• South Mountains State Park, Connelly Springs: First Hike, 2.75 miles, 10 a.m.* * *

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

The post This Friday: Welcome the new year with a First Day Hike appeared first on GetGoing NC!.