Meet the MULES

Davidson River is a great winter campground for several reasons. One, the gate is open late, allowing you to spend those long, cold, dark winter nights in town. Two, there’s...

Badin Lake Campground One of three campgrounds serving the popular Badin Lake area of the Uwharrie National Forest, you’ll find a trail for just about everything here. There are miles...

Like its sister Sauratown peak Hanging Rock, Pilot Mountain is a great weekend destination for the adventurous. The park’s west-facing cliffs are a popular top-roping destination for rock climbers, 25...

Carolina Beach State Park is a particularly nice winter escape. Six miles of trails take you through a range of environments, from the beach along the Cape Fear River to...

Cedar Point Campground A good jumping-off point for paddling the popular White Oak River, which quickly winnows from a wide expanse near the campground to a tight, intimate creek. A...

New Hope Overlook There are more than 1,000 campsites at the Jordan Lake State Recreation Area; the 24 at the New Hope Overlook campground are easily the most serene. From...

There’s a lot to recommend an Umstead-based tent vacation: 20 miles of hiking trail, 13 miles of bike & bridle trail (with connections for mountain bikers to about twice that...

Goose Creek offers a civil way to explore a swamp. Eight miles of trail take you past estuaries and through fresh and brackish swamps that will remind you of your...

Camping at Pettigrew State Park is like camping back in time. The campground is located on the north side of Lake Phelps, also home of one of the best old...

Hagen Stone is perhaps best-known outside the Triad for its cross-country trails, which host various local and regional meets. But the park is also popular for its various other recreational...

West Morris Campground The Uwharrie National Forest has epic adventures that beg an overnight stay — if for no other reason than you’ll be too pooped to drive home afterward....

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...

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...

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...

Need to pad your log book numbers? Maybe get in a faster-than-normal trail run? Or maybe up your miles? Salem Lake Trail is a 7-mile loop around its namesake lake...

Ever run with someone who gets on your case for being obsessed with distances and times? Does your GPS watch really need to chime every mile? Can’t you take a...

Tory’s Den Trail Need some hill work? Some really good hill work? Hanging Rock is where Piedmonters from the east go to get in some simulated mountain training. “Simulated” in...