A quick recap today of where you can’t hike, where you can hike but maybe shouldn’t, and where you should hike.
Initially, visitor centers, restrooms, camping and cabins were closed. Now, many trails are being closed as well.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The entire park, with two small exceptions, closed March 24, and will remain closed at least through April 6.
Tuesday, North Carolina voters go to the polls to vote on, among other things, a sweeping $2 billion bond package. About $75 million of Connect NC would go to North Carolina’s State Parks.
Today on the Great Outdoor Provision Co. blog we give an overview of that funding and talk to former State Parks Director Lewis Ledford for his take on how the funding would continue a job started in 1993 by a watershed $35 million State Parks bond package. You can find that story here.
Last week, I wrote of the need to get out — at least once — on a sanity-saving hike over the holiday season. Because we realize you have a lot going on this time of year, and because we realize the one chance you might have to venture out should be extra special, we offered to come up with the perfect hike, just for you. To make that happen, we asked a few questions, such as: How long is your ideal hike? How far are you willing to drive? And what do you hope to find along the trail? You made my job easier by being pretty much in synch regarding your needs.
On Wednesday, North Carolina’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources announced that attendance at its 39 state parks and recreation areas last year was 14.1 million, just short of the all-time record (The record of 14.2 million visitors was set in 2009.)
