Moving toward the east, there are more great reasons to consider North Carolina’s abundant offerings for family fun when planning getaways and vacations.

11. Mountains to Sea Trail

From the very top of Clingman’s Dome near the Tennessee border to the sand dunes at Jockey’s Ridge State Park on the strand of the Outer Banks, North Carolina’s 925-mile long Mountains-to-Sea Trail offers an adventurous way to explore the state’s natural treasures and human wonders. This is an adventure a visitor can embrace in small chunks or in an extended all at once while experiencing the best of NC’s towns and cities, rural agritourism initiatives and natural preserves.

12. Waldensian Valdese

The rich history of the Waldensian sect is preserved in beautiful Valdese, NC in the foothills between Morganton and Hickory. With a world famous winery, a summer festival and outdoor drama, the finest Bocce Ball clay court anywhere and one of the best regional musical venues anywhere, Valdese is a fun and educational stop along the way for anyone wanting to experience some of the best of North Carolina’s homespun heritage.

13. NC’s Arts and Agriculture Trails

In a unique alliance between the North Carolina Arts Council and the NC Cooperative Extension Service, a total of 16 different, well-planned “Arts and Agriculture Trails” have been mapped out for a project called Homegrown Handmade. These trails meander through foothills, across the piedmont and around the coastal regions, allowing visitors to visit wineries, organic farms and dairies, art studios and sidewalk cafes in charming little towns.

14. Cosmopolitan Charlotte and the Sporting Life

From bustling Lake Norman and its posh golf courses and sailboat regattas through the home of NASCAR in “Race City USA” Mooresville, tothe Bank of America Stadium uptown to see NC’s Panthers play professional football, the Charlotte area boasts some of the finest sports tourism opportunities available anywhere. And while you’re there, do check out the busy Charlotte nightlife at famous regional brewhouses and musical venues offering a variety of musicians and styles.

15. Pinehurst – Home of American Golf

Farther to the east between Charlotte and Fayetteville in the rolling Sandhill region, Pinehurst offers golfers the largest collection of Donald Ross golf courses anywhere, and enjoys the distinction of being the “Home of American Golf.” In addition to 10 of the top 20 NC golf courses, the area’s resorts also offer world class tennis courts, spa facilities, exquisite dining and luxurious accommodations. While golf is a regular way of life here, there are also arts, history, botanical gardens, festivals and unique shopping on the smorgasbord of offerings.

Posts to This Series:
Part 1: Reasons 1 – 5
Part 2: Reasons 6 – 10
Part 3: Reasons 11 – 15
Part 4: Reasons 16 – 25

There is much more to North Carolina’s agritourism movement than just what was reported in Green Dreams, Green Schemes. There is also an alliance between the North Carolina Arts Council and the NC Cooperative Extension service called HomegrownHandmade that has mapped out “Art Roads” and “Farm Trails” in the foothills, piedmont and coastal regions that allow visitors to travel along back roads, sample fresh goat cheese and scuppernong wines, visit artists’ studios and sidewalk cafes in charming little towns. Each trail is unique, so check the links below of some HomegrownHandmade trails (their titles sort of describe the gist of what’s to see and do), and then explore at the pace you like best!

In the foothills:
Foothills, Vineyards & Old-Time Music
Rockingham, Stokes, Surry and Yadkin Counties. Travel through the “heart” of North Carolina’s wine industry, stop off in rural communities like Skull Camp or Beulah for some old fashioned fiddle, guitar and banjo bluegrass, or explore Hanging Rock and Pilot Mountain state parks..

In the Piedmont:
Potter’s Wheels & Organic Fields
Alamance, Chatham, Durham, Guilford, Lee, Orange, Randolph and Wake Counties. the Seagrove area attracts visitors from everywhere with its many talented potters who for generations have practiced salt-glazing to produce functional yet masterful works of art. There are two major pottery festivals in the region every year, and many working artist studios that welcome visitors. The rich earth that produces such fine clays also holds the largest concentration of organic farms in North Carolina. You can visit many of these and sample tasty goat cheese, herb breads and fresh-picked fruits and vegetables while learning all about the benefits of sustainable organic agriculture.

Pictures from the Piedmont
Alexander, Catawba, Cleveland, Gaston and Lincoln Counties. The rich fields, covered bridges and fertile orchards of historic wagon road byways offer great opportunities around every bend for those who treasure the American landscape nearly unchanged since German and Scots-Irish settlers put down roots. Here you can tour farms, textile mills, historic parks, and the 450-acre Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden. There are festivals, community theaters and regional museums as well, so take your time!

Scenes of the Sandhills
Anson, Hoke, Montgomery, Moore, Richmond and Scotland Counties. Golfers will love this trail, which includes the Pinehurst Resort, one of the most prestigious golfing destinations in the world. It also highlights the importance of North Carolina’s pottery tradition, where the fine clays of the piedmont are turned into useful things and works of art. There are studios to visit, workshops to attend, and peaches to eat!

Crossroads, PatriArts, and Native Ways
Bladen, Cumberland, Harnett, Johnston and Robeson Counties. Here in the agricultural heartland of North Carolina farmers grow some of the world’s best strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, tomatoes, sweet corn, peppers, cantaloupes, melons and squash. Visitors can buy while visiting the farms or shop at produce stands and farmers markets in all five of these counties. You’ll also find some of America’s tastiest cured hams – smoked, honey glazed, even wine glazed! In addition to the Scots-Irish settlers, this area was home to freed blacks and runaway slaves as well as still being home to the Lumbee, Tuscarora and Waccamaw Siouan tribes of Native Americans.

On the Coast:
Lights… Waves… Action!
Columbus, Brunswick and New Hanover Counties. This trail offers shimmering ocean views, picturesque lighthouses, sun-dappled pathways through graceful live oak trees, fragrant fields of flowers and herbs, and some really cool seafaring craft. There are riverboats, battleships, shrimp and fishing fleets as well as farms producing fruits, veggies and wines. Don’t forget to take in a NASpig race while you’re there…

There are so far 16 different Art Road & Farm Trails trails mapped out for your touring pleasure by the HomegrownHandmade agritourism alliance, each offering a fine, well thought-out mix of places to go, people to meet and things to do. Just pick some that sound good to you, and your family will be richly rewarded season after season with memorable experiences, historic knowledge and a new appreciation for the art and agriculture that makes North Carolina such a great and beautiful state!

Links:

HomegrownHandmade Criteria

HomegrownHandmade Trail Home

Foothills, Vineyards & Old-Time Music

Pictures from the Piedmont

Potter’s Wheels & Organic Fields

Crossroads, PatriArts, and Native Ways

Lights… Waves… Action!

People who choose to live in the countryside are bound to encounter bears, and most are no worse for the experience. Yet as the countryside becomes ever more populated, the number of bear encounters in more urban settings rises as well. The last installment provided some good links to information about the habits and habitats of NC’s considerable bear population, good to keep in mind whether you’re living in North Carolina or just visiting.

Bears are smart critters. They can become expert at cracking “bearproof” latches on coolers, cars and trucks door handles, garbage bins and dumpster lids to avail themselves of food. They readily learn to beg, pretty much like dogs do. They can put up some impressively aggressive bluffing in order to gain access to golf carts, campsites and your dog’s food. They’ve been known to walk right into cabins, garages, pubs, restaurants and even resort hotels, making themselves right at home.

There are stories about bears that move in to hibernate in the earthen basements of mountain cabins as well as inside the barns, spring houses and root cellars of backcountry homesteads. Advice from old timers familiar with bears (and chock full of bear tales) can be useful. During unexpected encounters they advise body postures, direct eye contact and the kind of dominant behaviors that tend to work well on aggressive dogs to scare them out of an attack. Of course, bears are pretty good at the same sort of behaviors, and often scare people more than people scare bears!

Enough bears are killed on North Carolina roadways every year to have the state engineering wildlife underpasses into road expansion projects. Not just in the mountainous region either, as most of North Carolina’s bears live in the piedmont and lowlands. Wildlife researchers estimate about 2 bears per square mile in parts of the state from Charlotte to the coast.

“It was a weekend camping trip to the Smokies back in ‘72,” Clint Thomas reminisced. “The boat [a Polaris submarine] was in dry dock in Charleston for refit and refueling, my buddies and I often made the 6-hour drive to the mountains for some R&R in those days.” Thomas is still wiry and fit, but not as young now as he was then.

“There were three of us packing along a trail into the backcountry for some non-suburban camping in the rough. An early summer evening rain was falling steady,” he said. We were getting really soaked, which didn’t help our mood any. When we first sighted the bear he was almost as grumpy as we were, started snapping his jaws at us and making front-paw jumps toward us where we’d frozen in our tracks.”

They were in no mood for a bear-fight, so the three young sailors headed off the trail up the mountainside directly for about a hundred yards, catching a further switchback of that same trail higher up. “We thought we’d put some actual distance between us and the bear, and kept on hiking for at least a mile along the trail as it zig-zagged up the mountain. By then it was dusk, so we began to pitch our camp and gather firewood.”

Thomas went to the nearby creek for water, suddenly found himself face-to-face with that very same bear. “He was big, more than 300 pounds,” he says. “He was perched somewhat clumsily on a big boulder in the creek, acting like he wasn’t happy at all to have us in his yard.”

Seems the men had neglected to envision the actual distance from the bear they were when they decided to make camp. Despite the mile or more of trail, the switchbacks gave only an illusion of distance. In truth they’d chosen to make camp just a couple of hundred yards from where they’d first encountered the bear. Thomas and his friends stood still, warily eying the perched bear.

“All of a sudden that bear took a flying leap off that boulder straight at us, graceful as a gazelle despite his size. We knew right then that he could have us in a moment, whenever he chose. We were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and this bear wasn’t going to share his territory with us happily.”

They left the tent half erected, grabbed their packs and headed straight down the mountain in the growing darkness at a full gallop. “We got back to where we were parked in maybe a fifth of the time it had taken us to hike to the campsite,” Thomas laughed. “Funny how mountains can disorient you that way. You think you’re miles away but you’re really not.”

They spent the night uncomfortably in the car, drove home the next morning in what turned out to be a solid 3-day rainy period. “It wasn’t good camping weather anyway,” Thomas reflected. He says the three old Navy buddies tell their bear story whenever they get together, and in their own circle of family and friends more than 30 years later.

“A good bear story lasts a lifetime, you see,” Thomas gleams with an ironic smile. “And we don’t even have the scars to prove it!”

Links:

Victor the wrestling bear took on all challengers – and won

Most Bear Visits Motivated by Food and Lack of Habitat

The Bears Among Us

Having previously covered The Simple Joy of Hiking on one of Western North Carolina’s historic pioneer trails from the base of the continental divide to the top of Mount Mitchell, it’s only fitting to introduce the building of a new trail, this one traversing the entire width of the state from mountains to sea.

From the top of Clingman’s Dome near the Tennessee border in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park to the high dunes at Jockey’s Ridge State Park on the Atlantic coast, North Carolina’s Mountains-to-Sea Trail [MST] will be another gold doubloon in North Carolina’s full to bursting chest of treasures.

The 925-mile route is being blazed by the Friends of the Mountains to Sea Trail [FMST], a non-profit organization that plans, organizes and oversees groups of volunteers who participate in task force construction and maintenance. At this point the ambitious project’s route links existing trails and footpaths, rural and fire service roads, and DoT bicycle routes. The trail meanders through three national parks, several state parks and three national forests across 37 counties. There are campgrounds, farms, small towns and cities along the way, the trail will offer hikers, bikers, canoers (and along many sections, horseback riders) a leisurely and healthy way to explore the full range of North Carolina’s natural beauty, friendly people and welcoming communities.

The Friends of the trail suggest that hiking the entire length without hurrying will take two or three months, though most users will prefer to take day-hikes or short weekend trips along sections. The first person to walk the entire length of the route is Allen de Hart, who accomplished the feat in 1997 and wrote a book about it, Hiking North Carolina’s Mountains-to-Sea Trail. Katie Nelson, a 79-year old great-grandmother, became the oldest person to hike the entire trail in 2003.

Many sections of the trail are still in planning and construction stages, and so far there are no camping shelters, hostels, shuttle services, stores or restaurants on the trail proper, though many such amenities are a short walk off the route in towns and villages along the way. FMST hosts task force work days for volunteers most times of year as well as group hikes along completed sections.

Those interested in volunteering themselves or their whole families for a fresh air exercise outing and some satisfying work can contact task force coordinators or their partners in the regions of interest to make arrangements. Wear your good hiking boots, don’t forget the first aid kit and plenty of water, pack a picnic lunch. FMST provides the tools, the plans and the leadership, volunteers provide the enthusiasm and the muscle.

Links:

About the MST

Across North Carolina on foot [mtnX]

Land for Tomorrow

American Hiking Society