Meet the MULES

Love a good adventure weekend? Then pack the gear and head to Hanging Rock State Park for: 1) hiking on 18 miles of trail that visit vista-filled summits (Hanging Rock...

Kings Mountain State Park adjoins the Kings Mountain National Military Park and is connected to North Carolina’s Crowder’s Mountain State Park via the 12-mile Ridgeline Trail. A living history farm...

The largest manmade lake in the state at 32,510 acres (with a main channel 34 miles long), Lake Norman attracts a goodly number of motorboats. But because of that size...

Morrow Mountain StatePark offers a full-scale escape in the heart of the ancient Uwharrie Mountain range. There’s good paddling (with boat rentals) on the various waterways bordering the park (Lake...

Want to try camping before you make a full-scale (read: financial) commitment? At McDowell Nature Preserve you can rent a tent site that comes with a tent! Once you’re settled...

Copperhead Island is a 14-acre retreat from hustle and speedboat bustle of Lake Wylie. With primitive camping only and separated from the mainland’s boat ramps, the island offers a nice...

Possibly the best park you haven’t heard of, Mayo Park sits on its namesake reservoir and offers a range of activities. There are about 5 miles of hiking trail and...

Parker’s Creek It’s not the biggest campground at Jordan Lake (that would be Poplar Point, with 579 campsites), it doesn’t have the greatest concentration of sites with hookups (that would...

Cedarock Park offers a mini-weekend escape between the Triad and Triangle. Pitch your tent, then check out the several miles of hiking and mountain biking trails, paddle on Rock Creek...

on the Haw River If you’re really looking to get away from people, try Spirit Island. For one, you need a canoe or kayak to get there. Either put in-at...

PIPER CREEK CAMPGROUND / COLE MILL ACCESS PARK It takes a little effort to get to this campground — it’s 1.2 miles on the Bobbitt Hole Trail from the Cole...

There are precious few hiking opportunities in northern Durham and Orange Counties counties, which is unfortunate. The Piedmont hills here rise a little higher, the air temperature a wisp cooler...

There’s hiking in the Piedmont and there’s hiking along the Haw River. But wait, isn’t the Haw in the Piedmont? Technically, yes. Look at a map and there it is,...

OCCONNEECHEE MOUNTAIN LOOP TRAIL You’ll find more ecological escape packed into this 190-acre preserve on the outskirts of Hillsborough than anywhere else in the Triangle. Occoneechee Mountain has five distinct...

Johnston Mill Nature Preserve is like a “best-of” of hiking in the western Triangle. It’s got the requisite rocky creek: a 2-mile stretch of New Hope Creek penetrates this 296-acre...