Destinations

Bald Head Island is a local North Carolina treasure. The relatively remote island is the perfect beach getaway, with plenty to explore. Bald Head Island is accessible by ferry and...

Bear Island, located in Onslow County, can be reached by ferry, kayak, canoe, and at one point-- pirate ship! This park has a story to tell. The best way to...

Bodie Island is commonly known as a place to pass through when visiting the Outer Banks. Whether you're visiting this area from the land or the sea, it has a...

The Broad River Greenway is truly the place for all seasons. It's also proven to be the place for all outdoor enthusiasts with a variety of trails for mountain bikers,...

For experienced paddlers, this is the lighthouse to visit. Besides being the most challenging (due to the open water and distance) it is the most dramatic. From your launch point...

Virginia Beach has a number of Clark Kent-to-Superman access points: drive through a mild-mannered neighborhood, pull to the side of the road and moments later emerge as Kayak Guy! (or...

Carolina beach State Park is filled with every coastal hikers dream-- Water access, flat trails, active wildlife, and more. This park was North Carolina's 14th state park, formerly known as...

This 414-acre park’s got it all: mountain biking, canoe rentals, two 18-hole disc golf courses, fishing, and hiking. Low hills, wetlands, a creek — even a waterfall!

Currituck is only lighthouse in NC to look this way. Each NC lighthouse has a distinct paint pattern, allowing sailors to know which lighthouse it is, and thus know where...

Davis Creek Park is tucked away in the outskirts of Wilmington in a little town called Navassa, NC. Want a quiet place to put in your kayak and explore the...

A gorgeous hike capped by a dip in the Eno Quarry at midpoint. Officially, swimming in the quarry, which yielded rock for road construction a half century ago, is frowned...

First Landing is such a gem: with 19 miles of foot-friendly trail and with loops short and long, it’s the ideal escape from the hectic holidays. A good option: the...

Part of the allure here is giving your visitors the opportunity to return home and boast that they penetrated the Great Dismal Swamp, an area so wild it befuddled many...

With more than 40 miles of trail to chose from along lakes Brandt, Townsend, and Higgins, why this one? It’s flat and very beginner friendly, for one. But mainly, the...

No boat? No problem. For $5 an hour, rent one of the park’s new sit-on-tops that, unlike most sit-on-tops, slices through the water. Explore the 150-acre lake and its coves,...

Lake Norman State Park is located in Iredell County. The lake is the largest man-made lake in the state, and hosts nearly a million visitors a year. This spot is...

On the Catawba River below the Lake Wylie dam, water levels (or “lower,” perhaps, since the river is dam controlled and thus doesn’t get that low) the rocks that dot...

Northwest River Park is a 763-acre park in Chesapeake, VA. From paddling, disc golf, fishing, bird-watching, geocaching, camping, hiking, biking, and even horse-back riding, Northwest River Park has something for...

The park also has six trails and is the western end of the Foothills Trail, a 77-mile trail flirting with the North Carolina/South Carolina border. A great hike is the...

Usually when something is described as a “best kept secret,” red flags pop up. Rocky Bluff, though, is a well-concealed gem, just three miles down NC 209 from Hot Springs....

Shenandoah National Park extends along the Blue Ridge Mountains in the U.S. state of Virginia. The Skyline Drive runs its length, and a vast network of trails includes a section...

You like the idea of getting away for a weekend escape, but you just don’t feel good about being completely detached from work. We’re not crazy about this type of...

Hikers, trail runners, bicyclists and equestrians cherish the extensive network of hiking and multi-use trails at William B. Umstead State Park. Trailheads on both sides of the park—accessible from Interstate...

The 70 miles of navigable Haw River, from north of Greensboro to Jordan Lake, is a study in contrasts: dammed sections offer flat water paddling, rocky stretches where Class III...