Blog

by Joe Miller Until recently, Eastern North Carolina’s greatest asset as a paddling destination was also its greatest drawback. It’s well-kept secrets were a little too well kept. The vast,...

Talk about a paddle trail personality change! This trip starts on a small quarry lake and spends its first couple miles navigating a series of the same. The lakes are...

We like the Neuse River and its assorted tributaries upstream from New Bern in part because a day behind the paddle can be followed — apres paddle, if you will...

Think millpond and paddling in eastern North Carolina and thoughts immediately turn to Merchants Millpond, popular anchor of a state park bearing its name in Gates County. Merchants Millpond is...

Two sections of the Lumber River have been designated Wild and Scenic by the National Park Service: from Black Swamp downstream to the South Carolina state line and the first...

Considering Contentnea Creek runs 100 miles, from northeast of Raleigh to the Neuse River in Craven County, it’s a surprisingly well-kept paddle secret. This despite the fact it has its...

A highly popular paddle trip, for several reasons. One, it’s well marked. White posts lead the way across marshy Bogue Sound. Now, you might not think trail markers are a...

This trip is as easy or hard as you want it to be. From the Wildlife Resources Commission boat ramp on Lennoxville Road it’s a short paddle across Taylor Creek...

You get a beach house for a week over the summer. On Day 1, you sit in the sun. On Day 2, you sit in the sun. On Day 3...

The 152,000-acre Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge is a wild island oasis between the North Carolina mainland and the Outer Banks. You will find all manner of wild critters here:...

The Roanoke begins its run in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia, but doesn’t settle into flatwater mode until after one last hurrah of Class I-III rapids...

Think back with me to that time when being outside changed you. My emancipation from pavement arrived on the back of my 1968 Schwinn Sting-Ray. I pedaled that banana seat...

For the first 10 days of May, Patagonia will donate $10 to the Mountains-to-Sea Trail for every pair of their footwear purchased through Great Outdoor Provision Co. That’s a generous...

This dam-controlled river is most popular on Saturdays in July — the one time the minimum flow required (see “Minimum flow”) is pretty much guaranteed. There are other releases but...

Foster Falls on the New River in Virginia is another area to come and play in falls, drops and surrounding rapids. Say the avid paddlers in our Winston-Salem shop: “There...

A certain degree of bragging rights goes along with paddling Wilson Creek, which forms on the east face of Grandfather Mountain and quickly tumbles down the Blue Ridge Escarpment through...

First, there’s the fact that this stretch of the Yadkin it’s always runnable — can’t beat reliability in a playmate. And not only can you always depend on Section 13...

Yup, you read that right: “upstream.” You got a problem with that? You won’t when you realize that this close-to-town option is a character builder. Or if not a character...