With cooler temperatures elevating the risk of contracting COVID-19, it’s more important than ever to spend time outdoors. This winter, we’re providing more options than ever to help you do just that. We have six programs designed to address every level of outdoor enthusiast, from the backcountry explorer who’s comfortable going off the grid, to the aspiring hiker yet to set foot on a natural surface trail. We’ll start with the latter:
Tag Archives: programs
GetOut! N.C. State Park programs resume
If you love fall, you’ll adore this weekend.
After a little rain on Friday, the skies clear, the temperatures drop and it’s fall again. Look for a temperature when you wake up Saturday in the upper 30s, look for daytime highs both days in the 60s, look for lots of sunshine. And look for something that’s starting to reappear after a long hiatus: programs at North Carolina State Parks.
GetOut! Your Friday Nudge for Weekend Adventure
We take a slightly different approach this week, inspired by what seems to be a greater-than-usual offering of intriguing critter programs this weekend in our state parks system. Today, we simply list the program title, the park hosting it, when it is, and a link. You have no reason not to learn a thing or two this weekend.
Don’t be SAD. Take a hike!
Feeling SAD lately?
You know, Seasonal Affective Disorder—a depression that can set in when the days are short and the sun sets too early in the day. Once this mood-altering disorder takes hold, it can be hard to shake; it’s best to fight it off before it has a chance to make itself at home, leaving you hibernating uncomfortably.
One way to combat SAD, according to the Mayo Clinic, is to go outside and move—the more regularly, the better. Even when it’s cold, a brisk walk in outdoor light can help. Another way to lift your mood is to be with other people; socializing with a dose of laughter helps you connect with others. And regular hiking can reduce levels of stress, which can contribute to SAD symptoms.
Frankly, all of us could stand to reduce stress levels. So, even if SAD doesn’t get you down, brisk movement and being with others is a great way to keep stress at bay by releasing endorphins and elevating your mood.
As always, we are here to help.
We have several winter programs designed to get you out and moving with a group of supportive fellow hikers. For new hikers who need an especially nurturing environment, we have our Beginning Hiker Series. For more established hikers who want to stay in the habit of hiking during winter, we have our Experienced Hiker series. Both of these programs meet every Sunday afternoon for eight weeks.
For a fresh change of scenery, which can shake things up in a good way, we have a monthly Piedmont Explorer series, which will take you along trails that you may be familiar with and haven’t explored, or perhaps didn’t even know existed.
In addition, we post regular hikes thought our seven GetHiking! chapters.
Meanwhile, here at GetGoingNC HQ, we’re sprucing up some programs for sunnier days ahead. Look for more information in the coming weeks.
Happy trails,
Joe
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Click on the following for more info:
This weekend: Bundle up and learn something
Temperatures across the state this weekend are generally forecast to stay in the 40s under mostly sunny skies. Ideal weather, in our view, for getting out and learning a little about the world around us. Courtesy of North Carolina State Parks, we bring you three options for doing just that. (And you can find more at the State Parks website.)
Coast
Carvers Creek State Park is the newest addition to the North Carolina State Park system. Authorized by the General Assembly in 2005, the 4,000-acre park near Spring Lake in Cumberland County currently has few opportunities for public access. So when an opportunity does arise, we like to jump on it.
Sunday’s Rockefeller House Tour is one such opportunity. A park ranger will lead a hike to the old James Stillman Rockefeller winter estate, which includes structures dating back to the early 1800s. A good opportunity to learn about the natural and human history of the area, known for its longleaf pine stand and as home to several endangered and protected plants and animals.
Logistics: Sunday, Jan. 26, 1 p.m. Carvers Creek State Park, Spring Lake. More info and to register for this free event, call 910.436.4681.
Sunday forecast: Sunny, high of 49.
Piedmont
The Geology Hike at Occoneechee Mountain is a GGNC favorite. In large part, that’s because most nature programs focus on plants or animals: this one is about the rock that helps make Occoneechee Mountain unique. For one, at 820 feet, Occoneechee is the highest point in the Triangle. The pyrophyllite rock that is the mountain was once highly valued and, for years, quarried, creating an unusual (for this neck of the woods) cliff face. From near the top you get an unobstructed view north and west. And, the hike is led by a bonafide geologist.
There’s more to enjoy on a hike at Occoneechee, as you’ll discover on this hour-long program.
Logistics: Saturday, Jan. 25, 2 p.m. Occoneechee Mountain State Natural Area, Hillsborough. To register for this free event, call 919.383.1686.
Saturday forecast: Clouds, high of 44.
Mountains
The Hickory Nut Gorge area of western North Carolina is quickly opening up as an adventure destination, with addition of more public lands. One of the biggest recent additions: Chimney Rock State Park, a 5,700-acre former private park brought into the State Park system in 2005. With more public lands come more opportunities to explore one of the most ecologically unique areas in the state.
With those opportunities come questions about just what it is you’re hiking or climbing past. Sunday is your chance to answer some of those questions at Extraordinary Cliff Dwellers, a program focusing on the endangered and threatened species in the park.
Logistics: Sunday, Jan. 26, 9-11 a.m. Chimney Rock State Park, Chimney Rock.
Sunday forecast: Sunny, high of 43.
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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 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