• First Saturday Hike at Horton Grove, Horton Grove Nature Preserve, Bahama. Saturday, 10 a.m. to noon. 
• First Saturday Hike at White Pines, White Pines Nature Preserve, Pittsboro, Saturday, 10 a.m. to noon.

Both hikes are billed as “social” hikes and both are lead by TLC guides. That means you can expect to learn a good deal about both properties — Horton Grove with its prairie (pictured above) and beech woods, White Pines with its replication of a montane environment in the heart of the Piedmont — while getting a chance to chat with fellow hikers. The best of both worlds.

Learn more about both hikes and their pandemic-related requirements, and register here. 

The forecast is good news, too, for the Eno River Association and its weekly Sunday Winter Hike Series hike. This Sunday: the Pump Station Access to Eno River State Park. This 1.5-mile hike is one of the best mixes of natural and human history you’ll find on a hike. The main attraction is the remains of Durham’s first public drinking water source; those remains include the brick foundation of the treatment plant and an impressive stone dam. A bit of off-trail on this hike as well. Learn more and register here.

Speaking of learning a thing or two, Saturday you can do just that at Pilot Mountain State Park when a ranger leads a Winter Tree ID hike to help you identify the local arboreal population. Anyone can ID trees in spring, summer or fall — the leaves are usually a dead giveaway. But in winter, when all you have to go by is bark, branch and twig configuration and tree shape? Check it out, at 3 p.m., by heading here for meeting location and additional info.

It’s shaping up to be a classic winter weekend, southern style! GetOut! And enjoy.

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More options

You can find additional options for the weekend by tapping the following links:

• Triangle Land Conservancy here
• Eno River Association here
• NC Parks here
• N.C. Office of Environmental Education here

The post GetOut! Enjoy a snow-free weekend (finally) appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Coast

Did you miss the chance to jump into an icy pool — the classic polar plunge — on New Year’s Day? Do you feel your year isn’t off until an official start until you’ve had the wake-up call that only baptism in 55-degree water can confer?

If so, head to Kure Beach Saturday for their 11^th Run-N-Plunge at the Kure Beach Pier. Live music by the Prime Time Band, silent auction, costume contest, art, food, and more. Proceeds benefit Special Olympics New Hanover County. And to warm up, there’s also a 5K and 1-mile fun walk. (And yes, the temperature of the Atlantic at Kure Beach is currently 55 degrees.)

Logistics: 11^th Annual Polar Plunge, 5K and 1-Mile Fun Run, Saturday, Feb. 11, 11 a.m., Kure Beach Pier. More info and to register, here.

Saturday forecast: Sunny with a high of 60 at plunge time.

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Looking ahead: BNP Trail Jam (3.5-mile, 9-mile and 18-mile races), Saturday, Feb. 18, Brunswick Nature Park, Wilmington. More info here.

Piedmont

Like a little history on your hikes? Then join the Eno River Association this Sunday on its weekly Winter Hike Series. Each week, the hike visits a separate section of the Eno River Valley: this week, it’s the Pump Station Area, home to Durham’s first public drinking water source. Much of the brick structure remains, which makes for some great exploring. Adds the ERA: “Portions of the hike will be off-trail, some sections may be steep, muddy, or on rough terrain. you may want a walking stick, and sturdy shoes are a must.”

The hike will cover about 1.5 miles and last two hours.

Logistics: Eno River Association Winter Hike Series: Pump Station Trail, Sunday, Feb. 11, 2 p.m., Eno River State Park, Pump Station Access off Rivermont Road. Learn more here.

Sunday forecast: Mostly sunny, high of 78!

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Looking ahead: Polar Plunge Splash-n-Dash, Saturday, Feb. 18, Randolph-Asheboro YMCA, Asheboro. More info here.

Mountains

Can’t tell an oak from an ironwood in winter. Leaves do make a difference, but so do bark, limb, bud and branching pattern. Learn to read the more subtle signs that identify our trees on a Winter Tree ID Hike Sunday at 1 p.m. At Grandfather Mountain State Park. Specifically, the hike will cover the lower reaches of Grandfather Mountain, departing from the Profile Trail parking lot and stick to the lower reaches of the mountain.

The hike will cover 2 miles and last about two hours.

Logistics: Winter Tree ID Hike, Sunday, Feb. 12, 1 p.m., Grandfather Mountain State Park, Banner Elk. More info here.

Sunday forecast: High of 61, chance of rain.

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Looking ahead: National Trails Day Hike to Mt. Craig, Saturday, June 3, 11 a.m., Mount Mitchell State Park. More info here.

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

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

Coast

The post This weekend: Polar Plunge, History Hike, Nature Hike appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Today’s 90-Second Escape: Winter along the Eno

It was a cloudless Friday, the temperature on its way to the low 60s. The forecast for Saturday called for dropping temperatures and snow in the late afternoon. I wasn’t the only one who justified swapping a little work Friday for play Saturday, taking a couple hours to explore the banks of the Eno River in Durham. I spent a few minutes at West Point on the Eno city park, then moved upstream to the Pump Station area of Eno River State Park. Saturday on Friday — what a great idea … .

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The post 90 Second Escape: Winter along the Eno appeared first on GetGoing NC!.