Tag Archives: North Carolina

Year of the Trail: Start Marking Your 2023 Calendar

Too early to start planning for 2023?

Not when you love the outdoors and 2023 happens to be Year of the Trail in North Carolina.

As I’ve mentioned over the last couple of months, next year has been deemed Year of the Trail in North Carolina and there’s going to be a lot going on. For starters, the State Legislature in 2022 allocated $29.15 million in funding for the Complete the Trails Fund. That money will fund State Trail projects as well as projects deemed :shovel-ready” — that is, the land has been purchased and the trail designed; all that’s needed now is the money to build it. Expect a lot of “Excuse our Mess” signs out in the woods next year. read more

Fall hiking: A month-by-month approach

Fall is just around the corner and you can’t wait to resume a vigorous hiking schedule. 

But where to go first? A tough decision: You want to hit all your favorites first. 

Alas, because you can’t be in two or more places at once, you need to plan your hikes accordingly by taking into account the best time to take each hike. You still may not be able to hit all your favorites this fall, but with smart scheduling you can hit a goodly number of them. read more

5 of our favorite summer hikes with water

A summer hike isn’t a summer hike unless it includes water, the more water, the better. And the more water in more forms, better still.

Forms? 

You know, the 5 major forms of mountain water:

  1. Mountain pool form
  2. Wading form
  3. Hiking in form
  4. Short Hike In form
  5. Falling form

Today, we share one of our favorites in each of these 5 categories. And the envelopes, please … read more

7 Mountain Hikes for a Sizzling Summer of Fun

Summer arrives and our thoughts turn to hiking in the mountains. Until now, the weather, by and large, has been decent for hiking in the piedmont. Come Memorial Day, however, the steamy reality of summer settles in; for many, the prospect of a 90/90 (heat/humidity) day moves hiking to the bottom of their recreational to-do list. Or makes them re-think their options. So we turn to the mountains, which offer two forms of relief. read more

Thinking of camping? These 9 campgrounds are our faves

As we look ahead to the upcoming summer camping season, we look with special attention to certain campgrounds. Here are some of our favorites.

Davidson River

With 160 sites you’d think scoring one would be a given. Not the case at this popular campground which takes advantage of both its proximity to the cultural offerings of nearby Brevard and its perch at the base of the recreation-rich Pisgah National Forest. read more