Portions of the 29 North Carolina State Parks that had been closed as a result of the coronavirus reopened this past weekend. Some reopened all their trails, some just a few. It’s worth a visit to the N.C. State Parks Facebook page for a sense of how things went systemwide. You’ll need to go beyond the photo of cars queued up as far as the eye can see at Raven Rock State Park to get a sense of what Reopening Day was like. 

It’s not clear what time that photo was taken, but one person who visited Raven Rock left this comment: “Got there SUPER early and enjoyed an AMAZING hike on Campbell Loop. Parking lot was empty when we got there, full when we left, as expected. Pays to be an early bird!”

A hiker at Carver’s Creek State Park only saw three families. Morrow Mountain S.P. also had plenty of room for roaming, said another observer.

I hiked at Eno River State Park, arriving a few minutes after it opened at 8 Sunday morning. When I left around 10, there were 16 cars in the main lot at the Fews Ford Access, about par for a Sunday morning, maybe even less than you might expect on a morning that felt more like fall than May (temperature of 39, cloudless skies). We went to Occoneechee State Natural Area this morning and saw one person on the trail.

How will it be next weekend? Not as crowded, we suspect. The forecast calls for the first hot weather of the year — upper 80s — and that’s bound to keep the fair-weather hikers away. 

We’ll have more on the prospects for weekend adventure Friday. For now, enjoy our visit to Eno River State Park on Sunday, in this brief video.

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For instance: 

• Eno River State Park, only trails originating from the Fews Ford and Cole Mill access areas will be open (Pleasant Green and Cabelands remain closed, probably to keep crowds from the quarry, pictured above). 
• Crowders Mountain State Park, only “some trails” from the Sparrow Springs access will open.
• Pilot Mountain State Park, the summit parking area remains closed; all hiking must be done from satellite parking areas. 

At other State Parks — Umstead, Hanging Rock and Raven Rock — all trails will reopen.

Hours are altered at some parks as well, and some parks are marked as having “limited capacity,” though it’s unclear what that means. Before heading out, check out this park-by-park rundown of what’s open and what’s not.

A thought about heading out this weekend. The weather forecast is ideal for much of the region, with temperatures in the low- to mid-60s and sunny skies. That means the number of hikers flooding the state’s newly reopened trails could spike. On the other hand, that likely will siphon off hikers who have been flooding your local favorite trails, the ones no one else was supposed to know about. We recommend letting the excitement of this weekend’s reopening pass before paying those trails a visit, and sticking, for at least one more weekend, with those local favorites.

Regardless of where you head, though, some advice on how to minimize contact with your fellow hikers: 

• Hike early. Most N.C. State Parks open at 8 a.m. — a good time to go, especially this weekend with near-perfect weather. It’ll be chilly early — 34 on Saturday in the Triangle! — which should keep the numbers down at the trailhead. Sunday morning is also a good time to be out.
• Hike late. It’s May, so most State Parks are open until 9 (though, again, some parks are altering their hours)! Take advantage of these later hours to get out. Remember to take a headlamp or flashlight.
• Avoid the main trailheads. Find the more remote trail access points to where you’re headed. In particular, look for trailheads that don’t have paved parking, are on gravel roads, don’t begin from a visitor center, don’t have restrooms. Study the map; you can find them. 
• Avoid the main trails. Start from a more remote trailhead and you’ll be on a trail that likely doesn’t get much foot traffic — initially, at least. A lot of these trails will hook up with more popular trails eventually.
• Avoid parks near urban areas. Twelve state parks kept their trails open while the other 29 had to close. Why? Because they were in more remote locals. At least for this weekend, you might want to focus on trails in those more remote parks, which you can find here.

Have a great weekend!

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Under Phase 1 of the reopening of North Carolina in light of the coronavirus pandemic, “parks and trails are encouraged to reopen.”

That was one of several elaborations on Phase 1 made by Gov. Roy Cooper this afternoon during a coronavirus briefing. Phase 1 goes into effect Friday at 5 p.m.

North Carolina’s 29 state parks that have been closed (12 have remained open, with trails only) will reopen Saturday, says parks department Public Information Officer Katie Hall. That will include trails, most restrooms and most boat ramps. Visitor centers and other facilities will remain closed during Phase 1.

Under Phase 2, beginning May 22, camping will resume (except for group camps). Cabins will be open weekends only. Some beaches and designated swimming areas would open, as well as picnic areas, though with no reservations. All facilities would reopen under Phase 3, a date for which is to be determined.

We’ll let you know of more specifics as they become available. You can also find more detailed information about the phased reopening on the N.C. State Parks website.

In the meantime, here’s a look at the current status of our other major public lands:

North Carolina

Blue Ridge Parkway. Most trails along the parkway remain open, though restrooms and portable toilets, visitor centers, campgrounds, picnic areas, and concession operations are closed.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park. On May 9 (Saturday), the park, which has been essentially closed since April 4, will begin a phased reopening, focused on roads and trails. Which roads and trails were not specified in a release dated April 30.

“Campgrounds, picnic pavilions, visitor centers, and many secondary roads will remain closed during the first reopening phase, which is expected to last for at least two weeks,” the park reports on its website. To accelerate the second round of openings, the park will engage in “disinfectant fogging operations for restrooms and public buildings, installation of plexiglass shields at visitor centers, personal protective equipment requirements for maintenance workers, new safety protocols for emergency services staff, and reduced group size limits.”

Your best bet for the latest on what may be opening Saturday is to follow the park’s Facebook page.

Croatan, Nantahala, Pisgah and Uwharrie National Forests. There’s been no change in the status of the four national forests in North Carolina since April 13. You can find a rundown of all closures here, including the trails that were closed in the Pisgah National Forest on April 13, here.

Virginia

Shenandoah National Park. Closed on April 8, the park has yet to announce plans for a phased reopening. Last Friday, the park reported on its Facebook page that it was “working with our local communities and public health officials, as well as state and national guidelines to develop a phased plan for reopening that ensures the safety of Park staff, local communities, visitors, and resources.” Check their Facebook page for the latest.

George Washington and Jefferson National Forests. Closures include all campgrounds and recreation areas, portions of the Appalachian Trail on Forest Service property, the Virginia Creeper Trail and all shooting ranges. Otherwise, trails are open, though the Forest Service advises: “Stay Home Now, the Forest Will Wait Across the South, people are exercising close to home to comply with state and local guidance about not traveling for recreation. When shelter-at-home orders are lifted and public health and safety are restored, the forest will be waiting. Treasured places like national forests are being managed for everyone’s enjoyment far into the future.“

Virginia State Parks. All 38 parks in the system are open for day-use activities, including hiking, but closed otherwise until June 10 (“otherwise” closures include cabins, camping, restrooms and bathhouses). Keep updated at the State Parks website, here.

Both states

Appalachian Trail. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy, which oversees the 2,190-mile trail that passes through 14 states, continues to ask that people stay off the trail “to keep both the Trail and its broader community safe and healthy.” But with several states along the route relaxing or planning to relax stay-at-home orders, “the ATC has convened a task force to develop guidance on how A.T. visitors can re-engage safely with the Trail.” For updates on the task force’s recommendations and about the reopening of the trail, go here.

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What does that mean to those of us eager to get out and explore beyond our neighborhood?

The key element: parks will be allowed to reopen beginning May 8. Since playgrounds must remain closed until Phase 2 of the lifting, we’re assuming that facilities such as rec centers, visitor centers and restrooms also will remain closed. But trails could begin to reopen. For most of us, the biggest impact of this reopening would be in North Carolina’s 41 state parks, recreation areas and natural areas. Currently, 29 of those parks are completely closed; trails remain open in the remaining 12.

An announcement next week

“We are developing a re-opening plan in phases,” Katie Hall, public information officer with N.C. State Parks and Recreation told us late Thursday afternoon. “That plan should be final sometime next week.”

Hopefully, the first phase of that plan will involve the reopening of trails. Social distancing standards — staying six feet apart and gathering in groups of no more than 10 — would still apply, so any reopening needs to take that into account. And considering the reasons the trails closed in the first place was because those standards couldn’t be enforced, that might pose a problem. Then again, maybe not, for two reasons.

Smart social engineering could minimize the amount of contact between hikers. Already, we’ve seen trails that remain open institute one-way hiking. At the Confluence Natural Area northwest of Hillsborough, the Eno River Association, which manages the preserve, has requested that hikers on its two loop trails hike clockwise. Parks could also publicize their lesser-used entrances to disperse crowds. At Pilot Mountain State Park, for instance, the majority of visitors come in through the main parking area atop the mountain, but the park has six secondary entrances where you can pick up trail. 

The approach of summer. The closure of much of the state coincided with the advent of spring weather. Attendance at N.C. State Parks historically spikes during the glorious weather of spring. But come mid-May when temperatures climb into the 80s and the humidity rises, those crowds will diminish. The prospects for summer hiking this year look good.

Phases 2 and 3

The governor stressed that this phased reopening of the state is dependent upon an ongoing downward trend in viral activity: if the number of cases spikes, we’ll see restrictions added back. But if viral activity continues to decrease, Phase 2 would kick in, possibly the end of May/beginning of June. Among other things, restaurants, bars, places of worship and entertainment venues could reopen, with certain restrictions. The size of group gatherings allowed would also increase, to a yet-undetermined number. By extension, it would seem that campgrounds might reopen around this time as well. 

And if a positive viral trend continues, possibly around the beginning of July, the number of people allowed to congregate as a group would be expanded further. In our world, that might mean we could begin leading weekend hiking/camping trips in the mountains. 

Of course, the places we can explore could be limited; last week, the Pisgah National Forest announced the closing of numerous trails and access roads until Aug. 13, or until otherwise rescinded.

All in all, it looks like our world of adventure will begin reopening in a couple weeks. We’ll keep you updated on how that will happen.

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Explore Your Neighborhood

Even once trails begin to reopen across the state, we’ll continue to advocate for adventures close to home — right out your front door! For more on exploring your neighborhood during these shelter-in-place times, check out our new “Explore Your Neighborho

od: A Guide to Discovering the World Immediately Around You,” available in both ebook and paperback. Includes guidance on everything from how to scout your neighborhood for hidden gems to how to execute your neighborhood treks.

And don’t forget to join us weekday mornings at 7:30 for Morning Walk with Joe, about 10 minutes of Joe’s half-hour morning ramble. You’ll find it on our GetGoingNC Facebook page.

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