The best thing about hiking on a cold winter’s day? You can hike forever. This is why winter is made for the long hike. In summer, after an hour on the trail, you’re done. You’re soaked in sweat, your eyes sting of salt, you’re coated in spider webs. In winter after an hour you’re just getting warmed up. The cold itself is good incentive to keep moving. And the more you move down the trail the more you realize what a magical time of year this is  in the woods. Winter’s sunlight knifes bright through a leafless canopy, illuminating a forest floor littered with coppery leaves. Somehow, thos ..read more

Today on the GetHiking! Southeast Podcast we revisit North Carolina’s 12 State Trails. Revisit, because in March 2021 we spoke with State Trails Coordinator Smith Raynor about the trails. That discussion was a more broad-based chat about the State Trails program. Today, we take a closer look at each of the 12 trails, and later we will revisit these trails again to see how 2023, designated The Year of the Trail in North Carolina, will impact the development of these long trails. But let us not get ahead of ourselves.  Today’s podcast is from one of our twice a month Lunch with GetHiking! Z ..read more

The first 6 miles of trail in a project to eventually add 42 miles in the Old Fort area of North Carolina's Pisgah National Forest have opened. That and more national forest news, from Virginia and Tennessee, in this week's report. For more information on the trail opening and the Old Fort project, start here. For more information on the reopening of the High Knob Recreation Area in the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest, go here ..read more

Come summer, we head to the high country of the Southern Appalachians to escape the  sizzling heat at lower elevations. Today, we talk about 7 of our favorite high country hikes for summer, hikes that meet one of two criteria for summer exploring: they either need elevation to escape the heat, or they must have access to water. Better still, both. You can find more information on these hikes and other great mountain hikes in this GetHiking! guide, 7 Mountain Hikes for a Sizzling Summer. In the News In our news report, we cover the closure of the Carden Bluffs Campground in the Watauga ..read more

Today, we share 10 bits of advice primarily for folks 50 and older who are interested in getting into into hiking, as well as for established older hikers who want to continue hiking late into life. It’s taken from a Lunch with GetHiking! Zoom session on June 2. (Lunch with GetHiking! is an every other Thursday event done via Zoom, in which we discuss a variety of hiking topics.  Find out when our next event is by joining our GetHiking! Meetup page here.) In the News For more on the opening of the country's longest rubber-bearing multiuser trail, in Tennessee's T.O. Fuller State Park, go ..read more

Since 1993, the first Saturday of June has been observed as National Trails Day. Administered by the American Hiking Society, it's a day when we celebrate our trails, either by hiking (or, in the case of "blue" trails, paddling) them, or by rolling up our sleeves to do trail maintenance or blaze a new trail. Today, we talk a little about the history of National Trails Day as well as what's going on this year. To learn more about National Trails Day, visit the American Hiking Society web site here. In the news For more information on the reopening of portions of the Occoee National Whitewater ..read more

Camping has grown in popularity, especially over the past couple of years. Time was it wasn't hard to score a campsite at the last minute. That's changed, even at less popular campsites. Today we look at how to book a site during the camping boom. In the news Check on forest fire levels and on scheduled prescribed burns at these National Forest websites: Georgia North Carolina Virginia Tennessee South Carolina West Virginia Explore with Us! For information on our GetHiking! and GetBackpacking! trips, visit GetGoingNC.com and click on Explore with Us!  ..read more

Imagine approaching 70 and wondering how many years of hiking you have left? Five, 10, maybe 15? Now imagine you’ve only reached the midpoint in your hiking career, that you could easily have another 70 years — or more — of hiking in you. Jerry Kroll has long been a cutting-edge kind of guy, dating back to his sustainable clothing venture in the late 1980s to his ElectraMeccanica Vehicles Corporation, which has produced a single-occupant electric car — with three wheels no less. Now, Jerry is a year into his most far-sighted venture yet, Jevitty Life Science, which is creating an app — now in ..read more

The U.S. Forest Service will close the Catawba Falls Trails on May 2 to make a number of trail improvements to make access to its popular namesake falls safer. But can they possibly make it safe enough. This week, a short rant about the need not necessarily for fool-proof trails, but for awareness and a little common sense. Resources You can learn more about  our "Let's GetHiking: A Quick and Comprehensive Guide for the Aspiring Hiker,"  and order a copy, here. Find basic resource for hiking at the American Hiking Society website, here. Explore with us! Learn more about the trip ..read more

Hiking at night offers rewards not offered in daylight. This type of hiking calls for a different level of concentration: your world is defined by the sphere of light cast by your  headlamp. You tune in the sounds of the night, which are not the same as the sounds of daytime: more owls than warblers, more raccoons than squirrels. Pause in a clearing, snuff your light and you can see the glories of the vast night sky. It’s a special place, the night world, and it is one well worth exploring. Today we offer  tips on how to take a safe and successful evening-into-night hike. Night Hike ..read more