Mountains to Sea Trail has announced the first online day-hike guides for the 1000-mile trail.

September 9, 2013

ONLINE DAY-HIKE GUIDES GIVE ‘SNEAK PREVIEW’

OF MST TRAILS AT FALLS LAKE, ENO RIVER AND BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY 

Just in time for fall the Friends of the North Carolina Mountains-to-Sea Trail (FMST) has created the first online day-hike guides for three sections of the 1000-mile Trail.

“While we welcome long distance hikers, for most people the trail offers opportunities to get away from it all for a few hours without carrying a big backpack,” said Kate Dixon, FMST executive director. “Just a few minutes after starting hikers will be surrounded by beautiful sights, sounds and serenity.”

Each guide includes information about distance, degree of difficulty, connecting trails, an easy-to-use map and very detailed descriptions of each leg of the trail., plus photos and videos. The information is under Happening Now on the organization’s web page, www.ncmst.org.  Joe Miller, writer and blogger at www.getgoingnc.com and www.nchikes.com, assisted in producing the guides.

“These guides provide a sneak preview that we hope will encourage both occasional and experienced hikers to give these shorter trails a try,” said Dixon. Day hikes for the Falls Lake Trail in northern Wake and Durham counties, the Eno River near Durham and the northern section of the Blue Ridge Parkway are featured. The goal is to eventually have online guides for every major area that the MST runs through. .

The guide for the Eno River portion of the MST features five day hikes. Most of the trails are around two miles in length. The Blue Ridge guide describes 15 sections ranging from 3.7 miles to 10 miles. The Falls Lake Trail, at 60 miles one of the longest MST sections in the state, has 18 day hikes from less than a mile to seven miles. Most are in the 2-3 mile range.

The FMST is in the process of developing a day-hike guide for the Neusiok section in Eastern North Carolina. The existing Neusiok guide is limited to detailed information on how to use car shuttles to get to trailheads. There are seven sections in the Neusiok trail ranging from under two miles to nearly seven.

The MST is part of North Carolina’s state trail system. It stretches from Clingmans Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains to Jockey’s Ridge on the Outer Banks. FMST is a non-profit volunteer organization that helps build and maintain the trail.