Hike Greensboro at Guilford Courthouse National Military Park

Looking for some hiking near Greensboro? Try the Battlefield Walking Trails. These trails cover 2.5 miles and the best part is they are close to town if you live there. Check out the rich history while there.

Directions from the Guilford Courthouse website

Car
I-85 SOUTH: As you near Greensboro, take BUSINESS I-85/I-40 and then exit I-840 (EXIT #131). Go north two miles and exit on HIGHWAY 70 WEST (BURLINGTON ROAD). Continue west toward Greensboro (BURLINGTON ROAD will become WENDOVER AVENUE) and exit on US HIGHWAY 29 NORTH. Go north on US HIGHWAY 29 (O'HENRY BOULEVARD) approximately two miles and exit on WEST CONE BOULEVARD. Go west approximately five miles on CONE BOULEVARD to BATTLEGROUND AVENUE. Turn right on BATTLEGROUND AVENUE (US HIGHWAY 220 NORTH); go approximately three miles north to NEW GARDEN ROAD; turn right on NEW GARDEN ROAD to Guilford Courthouse NMP at 2332 New Garden Rd.

I-85 NORTH: As you near Greensboro, take BUSINESS I-85. Exit on HOLDEN ROAD (Exit #34). Turn right on HOLDEN ROAD; go north approximately six miles; crossing BRYAN BOULEVARD to BENJAMIN PARKWAY; turn left on BENJAMIN PARKWAY,go one block and turn left on BATTLEGROUND AVENUE (US HIGHWAY 220 NORTH); go north on BATTLEGROUND AVENUE approximately three miles to NEW GARDEN ROAD. Turn right on NEW GARDEN ROAD to Guilford Courthouse NMP at 2332 New Garden Rd.

I-40 EAST: As you enter Greensboro, exit on GUILFORD COLLEGE-JAMESTOWN ROAD (EXIT #213); turn right on GUILFORD COLLEGE ROAD (after crossing the Interstate bridge, you are approximately 6 miles away from park at this point); go north two miles, crossing MARKET STREET and FRIENDLY AVENUE. Crossing FRIENDLY AVENUE, COLLEGE ROAD becomes NEW GARDEN ROAD. Continue north past Guilford College campus and turn right on NEW GARDEN ROAD; go east three miles, crossing BATTLEGROUND AVENUE, to Guilford Courthouse NMP at 2332 New Garden Rd.

NOTE: Brown directional signs are placed on major routes into Greensboro (including US220 and US29) to assist you in finding the park. I-85 and I-40 join in Greensboro. Business I-85 departs I-85 NORTH/SOUTH and I-40 EAST/WEST into Greensboro; a new I-85 by-pass takes you south around Greensboro missing the exits described above.

LOST? If you need directions or assistance, please call us at (336) 288-1776 (8:30 AM to 5 PM).

Hike to the NC State Fair on Loblolly Trail

Saw this at http://www.getgoingnc.com/2009/10/holy-corn-dog-here%E2%80%99s-a-fair-hike/.

"How you can hike to the fair on the Loblolly Trail: First, drive to the main entrance of Schenck Forest. From Wade Avenue, that would entail exiting at Edwards Mill Road and going 0.7 miles east, to Reedy Creek Road. Go left on Reedy Creek for 0.3 miles, take a left on State Farm Road. Go another tenth of a mile and park. Here’s a map.

Is the trail easy to follow? Sure. Just follow these directions, starting from the Schenck Forest gate where you park, walk down the dirt road for:
0.75 miles — (the dirt road ends in a turnaround loop at about mile 0.7; continue downhill on the narrow trail at the beginning of the loop).
1.3 mi. — Take a right turn, cross a small creek on seven stones, proceed through the left side of the pedestrian tunnel/culvert under Wade Avenue. (The tunnel is lit, but can be a little wet. Friday, there was no more than an inch in the deepest spot.)
1.7 mi. — You’ll see a cool bridge that you don’t get to go over on your right. Instead, walk another 30 yards and go left into the tunnel under Edwards Mill Road (this one’s dry).
1.8 mi. — Trail, which becomes paved on the other side of the tunnel, Ts into RBC Center Road. Either take sidewalk right or go right on the footpath just before the roadway. For our purposes, we’re sticking with the natural path.
2.0 mi. — Trailhead parking for Loblolly Trail. Go left on sidewalk along four-lane street, then go right at first right. This will spit you out onto Trinity Road at …
2.2 mi. — Go left on sidewalk along Trinity Road up to Youth Center Drive.
2.6 mi. — Cross Trinity on Youth Center Drive (but not before the State Highway Patrolperson says it’s OK).
2.7 mi. — Arrive at State Fair ticket booth.
See the map below.

Anything else I need to know? Yes. Though the tunnels are lit, the rest of the Loblolly Trail is not. Plus, technically, the trail closes at dusk. For the record, sunset today is officially at 6:37 p.m.; by the time the fair closes on Oct. 25 it will set at 6:26 p.m. Plan accordingly. Also, this is a fairly easy trail but the wet weather has made it a little mushy in spots. I did the trail Friday in a pair of low-cut hikers and my feet stayed dry. Good tread is important.
Enjoy the fair!

"

Ramseur Deep River Trail is in the Works!

At the Ramseur Fall Festival this past weekend there was a booth present that was raising money with a 50/50 raffle for the Deep River Rail Trail. The guy running the booth had a large map showing the route of the trail and marking the one bridge that will need to be built on the Ramseur portion of the trail. Franklinville will also still have left to build the bridge spanning Sandy Creek in order to connect with Ramseur's portion of the trail. Lets hope both towns are able to raise the funds quickly so these trails can see foot traffic sooner rather than later.

Deep River Rail Trail, Franklinville, NC

I recently hiked the Franklinville, NC portion of the Deep River Rail Trail. Map pictured left (someone owns this map picture and I give credit to them. I got the map to the left and directions found below from the grand opening flyer at http://townoffranklinvillenc.org/). It is a really nice, flat, easy hike that last 3/4 mile one way (double that to 1.5 or so miles for round trip).

Check out the Google map made for it. . .

View Deep River Trail, Franklinville Portion in a larger map

Directions and map

From Asheboro and points west: from the intersection of Hwy 220 and Hwy 64 in Asheboro, it is about 7.7 miles east on Hwy 64 to the turnoff at Andrew Hunter Road / NC 2235; turn left here and go 1.8 miles. Take a slight right onto West Main St. (NC Hwy 22) and go about .75 miles. Turn right on to Rising Sun Way (you will see a sign for the trail) and drive a short distance to the trailhead parking lot.

From Siler City and points east: drive west on Highway 64 to Ramseur; turn right on NC Hwy 22 North and drive about 1.4 miles to Rising Sun Way (see sign for trail). Turn left on to Rising Sun Way and drive a short distance to the parking lot.

From Climax or Pleasant Garden to the north: drive south on NC Highway 22 all the way into Franklinville. Continue to follow Hwy 22 (it becomes Main St.) through town. About 0.5 miles past downtown, turn right at Rising Sun Way (see signs for trail) and drive a short distance to the trailhead parking lot.

This is the eventual proposition of the full Deep River Rail Trail. It's a pdf file from http://www.ncrailtrails.org.

Hike in Birkhead Mountains Wilderness - Uwharrie National Forest

On Memorial Day I checked out a couple trails at Birkhead Mountains Wilderness located at the north east corner of Uwharrie National Forest.

Directions
From Troy, NC take Hwy. 109 North to the village of Uwharrie and turn right onto Ophir Road (SR 1134). Ophir Road becomes Burney Mill Road as you cross into Randolph County. Continue on to the intersection of Lassiter Mill Road and turn right. Proceed north on Lassiter Mill to either of the trailhead locations as depicted on the map.

From Asheboro, NC take Hwy. 49 South approximately 6 miles. Turn right onto Science Hill Road. About a fourth of a mile further, at the "T" intersection, turn left (south) onto Lassiter Mill Road. Continue on to the two trailhead locations as depicted on the map.

http://www.cs.unca.edu/nfsnc/recreation/uwharrie/birkhead_mountain_wilderness.htm
The above link is the Birkhead page on the National Forests in North Carolina website.

About the Hike
A nice hike. The first trailhead you come to on Lassiter Mill Rd. starts out from the parking area going past an old house down a trail by a barn and to a creek. When I walked up and saw the house I wasn't sure if I was going in the right direction, but just followed the driveway around behind the house to the trail. Take note that there are game lands there and folks may be out dove hunting. Memorial Day marks opening weekend on dove season in North Carolina most every year. . . The creek - there is a foot bridge that leads to a small path through an overgrown field, overgrown at the time. You can use the step stones to cross the creek and follow the tractor path to the same place without taking the tiny path through the overgrown field. Might as well walk the foot bridge just for fun then cross the creek, because how often do you get to walk a footbridge?

The rest of the hike was nice. I didn't hike all of Birkhead but I did drive up to check out the trail at the second trailhead.

The Second Trailhead
Keep going past the first trail access and you find another trailhead. Its a pretty good way down a gravel road to the parking area, but the trails here are nice. No overgrown fields. I hiked, taking a right at the fork, down to a creek and didn't go much beyond that. The creek was nice and there was a small camp spot just beyond the creek.

Length of The Tails
Birkhead trail is a trail that is access via the two other access trails that I mentioned above. As this Wilderness.net site puts it
"The Birkhead Mountain Trail crosses the heart of the area for approximately 4.5 miles from north to south (but you won't find a parking lot on either end). From a parking lot on the western boundary of the Wilderness, the Robbins Branch Trail (about three miles) enters the area to fork at the Hannah's Creek Trail (about 1.5 miles). Both trails join the Birkhead Mountain Trail."

or this book found on google book

Nearby Hikes - The Hikes I Like

I live in the Piedmont of North Carolina, and don't like the idea of traveling a distance to hike somewhere I've never been. Piedmont hikes are what I prefer. If you are looking for western NC hikes check out the links at the lower right. Naturally there are more hikes in the mountains, and I hope to devote some time to hikes out west, but hikes in the Piedmont area are preferred and that is what you will hopefully find here.

If you have taken a central North Carolina hike. Let me know. You can write a note, send it to me and I'll post it for you.

Hiking and the Idea of Hiking

I like hiking. I like the enchantment of the outdoors. I like hearing the wind make its own soothing melody in the trees. Its like the leaves are natures wind chimes and the trail is natures back porch. The thing is, I don't hike very much, but I do like the the idea of hiking. However so, a couple of trails have met the rubber of my old Reeboxes recently and it has sparked the interest in me. Hence the blog. When the time gets right I hope to write about my most current hikes and hopefully future hikes.