GetHiking! Southeast

A short report this week focused on the return of Virginia State Parks 15-race Adventure Series, controlled burns announced for National Forests in Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia, and 42 miles of new trail planned in North Carolina's Pisgah National Forest around Old Fort.Pertinent links for this weekVirginia State Parks Adventure Race Series, go here.National Forest Service controlled burns. Click on the appropriate state link for details on planned burns by state:North CarolinaTenne...

Today, musings on that first warm day of the year (upper 60s, in this case), the one that reminds you that, in the Southeast at least, winter will end long before the calendar says so. A few key links related to the coming longer, warmer days. Note: Daylight Saving Time begins Sunday, March 14, at 2 a.m.: don't forget to spring forward.Sunrise/Sunset times. Enter your location and the date and sunrise-sunset.org will tell you not only the official sunrise and sunset times for a given day, but...

Years ago, an adventure began with a visit to your local outdoor shop and some quality time spent pouring over an array of unruly topographic maps. Today, our adventures begin by scrolling through YouTube videos to scout places we'd like to explore. Because in addition to videos about dancing pigs and how to make cute crop-tops out of old t-shirts, you'll find an abundance of adventure videos covering every bit of the globe.This week we review four of our favorite channels that cover the Sout...

In the past year, an unprecedented number of people have sought solace in the nation’s state parks. The outdoors has been deemed one of the few places where we could safely escape, and the nation’s state parks have provided that much needed escape. Imagine having lived through 2020 without that vital escape.Good.Now, imagine it’s 60 years ago and that escape isn’t available — at least not to you. That was the case for millions of African Americans throughout the South; beginning in the 1930s,...

This week, Brian McRae, Division Chief of Land and Water Access for the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, discusses the hiking opportunities abundant in the half million acres of land owned by the WRC across the state. Be warned, though: these aren't your tamed and groomed state or national parks. They tend to be a little wilder — and a lot less crowded. In short, they require a little extra preparation before exploring, and Brian discusses the various resources available to help ...

In this episode we look at 7 big hikes we couldn't take in 2020 because of the pandemic, but we're hopeful of getting in in 2021. Those hikes and links to where you can find details on how to hike them are below:Mount Mitchell TrailFind the Alltrails.com route description here.Black Mountain Crest TrailFind a map and additional information on the BMC on the N.C. State Parks website here.Find a route description of the Black Mountain Crest Trail from Hiking Upward here.Sam Knob Loop"Backpackin...

This week we look at 8 backpack trips we hope to take in 2021 (we had planned to do them in 2020, but, well, viruses happen). We talk a bit about each hike and they're particular attraction, from a couple of quick overnighters that are surprisingly close to home, to a couple or shorter thru hikes. We also look at recent land acquisitions that have boosted North Carolina State Parks' land and water holdings past the quarter million acre mark, including expansions for the Deep River...

This week we talk with Don Childrey, author of the "Uwharrie Lakes Region Trail Guide." Don's guide first came out in 1996, a second edition followed in 2014. The updated version covers more than 215 miles of trail and 113 named trails, an offers 95-multi-trail trips. Don began exploring the Uwharries at an early age, as a Boy Scout growing up in nearby Burlington. Work as a bridge engineer with the N.C. Department of Transportation led him to work in Troy, on the southeast side of the forest...

For our main segment on exploring North Carolina Game Lands:For more on exploring North Carolina's Game Lands, visit the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission Game Lands website, here.For an NCWRC map of the R. Wayne Bailey Caswell Game Lands go here.Check out our GetHiking! Guide to the Bunter-Falls of Neuse Game Lands go here. Links for our News/Tips piece on check the status of roads before heading out:Blue Ridge Parkway: Realtime Road closure mapSkyline Drive: call 540-999-3500, option ...

Every once in a while here on the GetHiking! Southeast Podcast we’ll go literary on you, sharing a favorite piece of outdoor writing or retelling a story either long forgotten or pretty obscure to begin with. Today, we share from a 2017 essay by author John Toohey on who may well be the first people — the first people of European descent, at least — to hike the length of the East Coast. Who they are and when they did it may surprise you.To read John Toohey's entire essay, go here.For more sto...