The first settlement of present-day Winston-Salem began in an abandoned trapper’s cabin 20 years before the American Revolution at the site of Historic Bethabara Park, which commemorates the Bethabara settlement of 1753. Most of the park is populated with the…
North Carolina
Hikes in North Carolina
Mount Mitchell and points north
by tom • November 16, 2009 • 9 Comments
“It ain’t Mount Tam,” the guy tells me in his distinct Carolina brogue. Seems he’d lived in Sacramento awhile and had dirtied his boots on a few Bay Area trails. I had just clambered through the gnarliest mile in recent…
First hike at Linville Gorge Wilderness
by tom • November 8, 2009 • 8 Comments
Linville Gorge Wilderness is high on all the must-hike lists for the southern Appalachians. The terrain is so ragged and remote that there was never much prospect of cutting down the trees and putting up swanky resorts. It’s all protected…
Latest hike: Moore’s Knob, Hanging Rock State Park
by tom • October 25, 2009 • 7 Comments
The great thing about getting lost on the way here three weeks ago and having to turn back: returning when fall colors are going full-blast. This is where your intrepid hiking blogger is forced to admit that he hasn’t done…
Wolf Rock Trail, Stone Mountain State Park
by tom • October 11, 2009 • 4 Comments
Tip o’ the hat to Smokies Hiker, who suggested a stroll along Wolf Rock Trail at Stone Mountain State Park. There are no wolves, of course, but there is plenty of rock. My eight-mile loop was a considerable improvement on…
Sauratown Loop Trail: Not bad for a wrong turn
by tom • October 4, 2009 • 2 Comments
I had some exploring at Hanging Rock State Park in mind — the goal was to park at a remote trailhead and trek over to the Moore’s Wall Loop, which has an excellent view of Hanging Rock from the next…
First hike: Stone Mountain State Park
by tom • September 29, 2009 • 7 Comments
Got this one right the first time (for once): There’s a parking lot at either end of the 4.5-mile Stone Mountain Loop. I started at the Upper Lot Trailhead and did what’s become instinctive: followed the arrows to the waterfalls.…
Setting my sights on Stone Mountain
by tom • September 27, 2009 • 7 Comments
Still waiting for the weather to clear so I can head up to Stone Mountain State Park, which is at the foot of the closest thing North Carolina has to a front range of the Great Smokies. Stone Mountain is…
Waterfalls of Hanging Rock State Park
by tom • September 20, 2009 • 3 Comments
Funny what happens when you show up at a popular state park when it’s not a holiday weekend: no weddings, no crowds, only one pack of noisy Cub Scouts on a camp-out. All of this (plus the weather forecast predicting…