The first weekend in November our GetHiking! group traditionally has a grand finale in Hot Springs, NC, hiking the Appalachian Trail from Garenflo Gap into Hot Springs on Saturday, and from Tanyard Gap into Hot Springs on Sunday. 

It’s a magical time of year: peak color has come and gone, and with it the masses of hikers who come for the color. Temperatures are in the low 50s, it’s typically a dry and sunny time of year (though one year we did have snow near Tanyard Gap) and there’s usually some lingering color. In addition to the hiking, we take advantage of Hot Springs’ hospitality, from an evening at Big Pillow Brewing, to buying gear we didn’t know we needed at Bluff Mountain Outfitters, to the apres hike soak in the town’s namesake hot springs. It’s a great way to cap a year of hiking.

Alas, we didn’t have a chance the to doff our cap in 2024. Hurricane Helene made a mess of the North Carolina mountains and seemed especially intent on wreaking havoc in Hot Springs. Such a mess that we wondered if we’d even be able to end 2025 in Hot Springs.

Turns out we will. Soon, in fact.

Hot Springs, in addition to its playfulness, can also take itself damn seriously. Ever since the rain stopped late last September, Hot Springs has been feverishly working to reopen. And it will May 2-3, with the Town & Trail Festival. 

Town & Trail is sponsored by the nonprofit ReBuild Hot Springs, formed to help businesses and residents get back on their feet. The festival will include live music, storytelling, vendors, a duck race, a Hiker Fashion Show, and more. It’s the “and more” that has me the most excited.

For the past seven months I’ve wondered about the condition of the trails in the area, especially the AT, which runs down main street. When I contacted event organizer Sonya Askew about the event wearing my day job cap as a rural advisor with the NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources’ Hometown Strong unit, I asked if, a) any trails were open; and, b) if so, were there plans for guided hikes as part of the weekend. Yes, she said, a number of trails had been reopened. But no, they didn’t have any hikes planned yet.

“I can fix that,” I told her.

Actually, all I did was make a phone call, to Lindsey Barr, owner of Blue Ridge Hiking Co. Based in Asheville, the outdoor retailer and outfitter — founded by Jennifer Pharr Davis in 2008 — also has a bunkhouse in Hot Springs. “Sure,” Lindsey said, “we’d love to lead some hikes.” Blue Ridge is donating the services of four guides to lead the following hikes:

Friday, May 2

• 9 a.m. — Garenflo Gap into Hot Springs on the AT, 7 miles, trending downhill but with a climb or two in between. Moderate difficulty.
• 2 p.m. — Big Laurel River, 5.6 miles, a gradual downhill out, a gradual uphill back. Moderate difficulty.

Saturday, May 3

• 9 a.m. — Tanyard Gap into Hot Springs on the AT, 5.6 miles. Moderate difficulty.
• 2 p.m. — Lover’s Leap, 2 miles,. Moderate difficulty.

Each hike is limited to 8 hikers and there is a donation required for each hike of $50 ($25 for the shorter Lover’s Leap hike). There is also a $5 shuttle fee for the three hikes that require shuttles (Lover’s Leap is all hiking), and a $5 fee for U.S. Forest Service fees. Donations go directly to ReBuild Hot Springs.

If you’ve been itching to get back to the mountains to hike, this is a great way to start — and to help a community hammered by Helene. Learn more about each of the hikes and sign up by going here. And learn more about the Town & Trail Festival itself here.

I will be sweeping all four hikes and can’t recall being more excited about a weekend in the mountains. 

Hope to see you there.

The post A return to Hot Springs appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

“In the coming weeks and months, we will be surveying the trail and assessing damage, but trail restoration is a very low priority in light of the ongoing humanitarian crisis facing western North Carolina … it is likely that sections of the trail will remain closed for a significant length of time.”

Trails are a low priority in the recovery scheme of things. An incredible amount of work needs to be done to get the communities of WNC back up and running. But when the time comes for trail restoration, we need to be ready to tackle a big job.

How big? Consider the case of the statewide MST. “As a result of the storm,” Laurenz wrote, “the entire North Carolina section of the Blue Ridge Parkway is closed. The MST from Kuwohi [formerly Clingman’s Dome] through Stone Mountain State Park should be considered closed and highly dangerous. This is roughly a third of the entire route of the trail.”

A third of the entire 1,125-mile MST.

When the time comes, the land managers responsible for our trails will need your help. The MST has already set up a form for volunteers who wish to be part of the effort; you can fill it out here. “There will be a need for sawyers,” Laurenz wrote, “those who can clear trail and rebuild it, those who can oversee work crews, but also for those who can help support the volunteers.”

Other land managers will be in a similar position.

Take the Appalachian Trail, for instance, which is overseen by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. The ATC is “part of a unique cooperative-management system, working with numbers of local, state and federal partners to ensure greater protections for the Trail.” Key to the AT’s health are the hiking clubs that help maintain it. In Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia, there are a dozen hiking clubs that each maintain a section of the AT. These clubs also maintain other trails in their regions; their impact on reviving not just the AT but many other mountain trails is will be huge. 

Below are links to these 12 clubs; click on the link(s) you’re interested in to learn more about the clubs and their volunteer activities. Note: Join the club and you’ll be the first to know when these opportunities arise.

• Old Dominion Appalachian Trail Club
• Tidewater Appalachian Trail Club
• Natural Bridge Appalachian Trail Club
• Outdoor Club at Virginia Tech
• Roanoke Appalachian Trail Club
• Piedmont Appalachian Trail Hikers
• Mount Rogers Appalachian Trail Club
• Tennessee Eastman Hiking and Canoeing Club
• Carolina Mountain Club
• Smoky Mountains Hiking Club
• Nantahala Hiking Club
• Georgia Appalachian Trail Club

You might be surprised by the number of trails you hike that are owned/managed by land conservancies. They, too, will need your help both in repairing their damaged trails. Click the link(s) below for more information.

• Conservation Trust for North Carolina
• Blue Ridge Conservancy
• Conserving Carolina 
• Catawba Lands Conservancy
• Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina
• Mainspring Conservation Trust
• New River Conservancy

North Carolina’s State Parks will also need a hand. Volunteers for State Park restoration will be coordinated through the Friends group for that park. Those groups include:

• Friends of Chimney Rock State Park
• Friends of Crowders Mountain State Park
• Friends of the Fonta Flora State Trail
• Friends of Gorges State Park
• Friends of High Country State Parks (Elk Knob, Grandfather Mountain, Mount Jefferson, New River state parks)
• Friends of Lake James State Park
• NC High Peaks Trail Association (Mount Mitchell)
• Friends of South Mountains State Park
• Friends of Stone Mountain State Park
• Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail
• As we become aware of specific volunteer opportunities, we will post them here on the GetGoingNC website and on our Facebook page.

The opportunities to help rebuild our trails will come, but as the MST’s Laurenz notes, that’s “a very low priority at this point.”

Be patient. The time to rebuild will come.

The post How (and when) to help rebuild our mountain trails appeared first on GetGoing NC!.