Best Hikes With Dogs North Carolina

Combining Karen Chaves' book Best Hikes With Dogs North Carolina with 100 Classic Hikes In North Carolina I have a guide to nearly 140 beautiful places to hike. Even though my dog Gypsy is perfectly capable of walking with me on most of the trails listed in the 100 Classic Hikes, the Best Hike With Dogs does tend to be more dog-friendly. I use both resources to help me discover and enjoy God's beautiful creation preserved in its natural environment by the State of North Carolina. You can view pictures and a description of those hikes listed in this book by clicking on the highlighted "Hiked." Total-to-date 17 (33%)

1. Price Lake Loop Trail (Hiked)
2. Tanawha Trail (Hiked)
3. Crabtree Falls Loop Trail (Hiked)
4. Old Mitchell Trail (Hiked)
5. Big Butt Trail
6. Craggy Pinnacle Trail
7. Snowball Trail 
8. Rattlesnake Trail
9. Mount Pisgah* and Buck Spring  Lodge Trails (*Hiked)
10. Fryingpan Mountain Trail (Hiked)
11. Graveyard Fields Trails (Hiked)
12. Devils Courthouse and Little Sam Trail (Hike)
13. Richard Balsam Nature Loop Trail (Hiked)
14. Waterrock Knob Trail
15. Joyce Kilmer Memorial Trail
16. Rufus Morgan Falls Trail
17. Bartram Trail; Jones Gap to Whiterock Mountain
18. DuPont State Forest- Cedar Rock Trail via Corn Mill Shoals and Big Rock Trails
19. DuPont State Forest- Hooker Falls Trail
20. Dupont State Forest- Triple Falls and High Falls Trails
21. Sam Knob Summit and Flat Laurel Creek Trails (Hiked)
22. Cold Mountain via Art Loeb Trail
23. Coontree Loop Trail
24. Pink Beds Trail
25. Cat Gap Loop
26. Pulliam Creek Trail
27. Bent Creek Experimental Forest- Pinetree Loop Trail
28. North Carolina Arboretum- Carolina Mountain Trail
29. Max Patch Trail
30. Lovers Leap Loop Trail
31. Laurel River Trails
32. Roan Mountain- High Bluff and Rhododendron Garden Trails
33. Lake James State Park-Sandy Cliff Overlook and Lake Channel Overlook Trails
34. South Mountain State Park-Shinny and Upper Falls Trail
35. Crowder Mountain State Park- Pinnacles Trail (Hiked)
36. Crowder Mountain State Park- Crowder Lake Trail
37. Crowder Mountain State Park- Tower and Backside Trails
38. New River State Park- Fern Nature Trail (Hiked)
39. Mount Jefferson State Natural Area- Summit and Rhododendron Trails (Hiked)
40. Stone Mountain State Park- Stone Mountain Summit Trail (Hiked)
41.  Pilot Mountain State Park- Jomeokee and Sassafras Trails (Hiked)
42. Uwharrie National Forest- Densons Creek Nature Trail (Hiked)
43. Occoneechee Mountain State Natural Area-Occoneechee Mountain Trail (Hiked)
44. Eno River State Park- Buckquarter Creek Trail
45. William B. Umstead State Park- Sals Branch Trail
46. William B. Umstead State Park- Inspiration Trail
47. William B. Umstead State Park- Company Mill Trail
48. Falls Lake Recreation Area- (Mountian-to-Sea Trail) Falls Lake Trail
49. Falls Lake Recreation Area- Woodland Nature Trail
50. Croatan National Forest (Neuse River Recreation Area) Beauty Loop Trail
51. Croatan National Forest-Island Creek Forest Walk

* Indicates not fully completed.

You can purchase this book at Amazon.

100 Classic Hikes In North Carolina

One of my guides in finding an intriguing place to hike I have discovered between the covers of Joe Miller's book 100 Classic Hikes In North Carolina. Here is the list of suggested trails he gives in his book. You can view my pictures and a description of my hike by clicking on the highlighted (Hiked). Total-to-date 35

1. Nags Head Woods Ecological Preserve(Hiked)
2. Pettigrew State Park- Bee Tree
3. Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge
4. Croatan National Forest- Cedar Point
5. Croatan National Forest- Neusiok
6. Alice Hoffman Nature Trail
7. Patsy Pond Nature  Trail 
8. Carolina Beach State Park- Sugarloaf Dune (Hiked)
9. Fort Fisher- Hermit Trail (Hiked)
10. Umstead State Park- Sycamore Trail
11. Umstead State Park- Company Mill Trail
12. Falls Lake State Recreation Area- Falls Lake Trail
13. American Tobacco Trail (Hiked)
14. Eno River State Park- Buckquarter Creek and Holden Mill Trail
15. Eno River State Park- Laurel Bluffs Trail
16. Flower Hill Nature Preserve
17. Occoneechee Mountain State Nature Area (Hiked)
18. Franklin County Nature Preserve
19. Crabtree Creek Greenway
20. Johnston Mill Nature Preserve (Hiked)
21. Piedmont Environmental Center ( Hiked)
22. Lake Brandt Greenway and Palmetto Trail (Hiked)
23. Salem Lake Trail (Hiked)  
24. Salem Creek* and Strollway Trail (Hiked)*
25. Campbell Creek and McAlpine Creek Greenway
26. Crowders Mountain State Park- Pinnacle Trail Loop (Hiked)
27. Crowders Mountain State Park- Crowders and Rocktop Trails
28. Latta Plantation (Hiked)
29. Mecklenburg County- Reedy Creek Trail and McDowell Nature Preserves
30. Cape Fear River Trail
31. Cape Fear Botanical Garden
32. Raven Rock State Park- Campbell Creek Loop Trail (Hiked)
33. Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve
34. San-Lee Park
35. Morrow Mountain State Park- Sugarloaf and Morrow Mountain Trails (Hiked)
36. Uwharrie National Forest- Birkhead Mountain Trail (Hiked)
37. Uwharrie National Forest- Uwharrie National Recreation Trail (Hiked)
38. Hanging Rock State Park- Moores Wall Loop Trail (Hiked)
39. Hanging Rock State Park- Hanging Rock Trail (Hiked)
40. Medoc Mountain State Park
41. Hill Forest 
42. Jones Lake State Park
43. Cedarock Park (Hiked)
44. White Pines Nature Preserve (Hiked)
45. Howell Woods Environmental Learning Center
46. Lower Haw River State Natural Area (Hiked)
47. Pilot Mountain State Park- Ledge Spring and Jomeokee Trails (Hiked)
48. Sauratown Trails- Section 15
49. Cliffs of the Neuse State Park
50. Clemmons State Education Forest
51. Moses Cone Park- Trout Lake Carriage Trail
52. Stone Mountain State Park- Stone Mountain Loop Trail
53. Crabtree Falls Trail (Hiked)
54. Doughton Park-Bluff Mountain Trail
55. Price Lake (Hiked)
56. Linville Falls (Hiked)
57. Tanawha Trail (Hiked)
58. Linville Gorge Wilderness
59. Craggy Garden
60. Mountain-to-Sea Trail- Folk Art Center To Craven Gap
61. Mount Pisgah (Hiked)
62. Graveyard Fields (Hiked)
63. Shining Rock Wilderness Loop
64. Art Loeb Trail
65. Black Mountain Crest Trail
66.  Old Mount Mitchell Trail (Hiked)
67. Colbert Ridge Trail
68. Wilson Creek-Thorps Creek
69. Wilson Creek-Harper Creek Falls (Hiked)
70. Wilson Creek- Huntfish Falls (Hiked)
71. Bent Creek Educational Forest
72. Clingmans Dome
73. Fork Ridge Trail
74. Cataloochee Valley-Boogerman Trail
75. Cataloochee Valley-Divide Trail
76. Deep Creek Loop
77. Goldmine Loop-Tunnel Bypass
78. Shuckstack Tower
79. Benton MacKaye Trail
80. Pink Beds
81. Appalachian Trail-Three Bald Hike (Round Bald, Jane Bald, Grassy Ridge Bald)
82. Appalachian Trail-Southern Section
83. Cloudland Trail-Roan Gardens
84. Joyce Kilmer Wilderness Area-Joyce Kilmer Recreation Trail
85. Joyce Kilmer Wilderness Area-Jenkins Meadow Trail
86. Mount Jefferson State Natural Area (Hiked)
87. Stone Mountain State Park-Windows Creek Trail
88. Graybeard Trail at Montreat Education Conference Center
89. Rendezvous Mountain Education State Forest
90. Elk Knob State Natural Area (Hiked)
91. Three Top Mountain
92. DuPont State Forest-Cedar Rock Trail
93. DuPont State Forest-Waterfalls
94. Foothills Trail-North Carolina Section
95. Gorges State Park-Bearwallow Valley and Falls Trail
96. Lake James-Shortoff Mountain Trail (Hiked)
97. Florence Nature Preserve
98. South Mountain State Park-High Shoals Waterfall/H.Q. Trail Loop (Hiked)*
99. Hickory Nut Gorge State Natural Area
100. Panthertown Valley 

*Indicates not fully completed.

You can purchase this book at Amazon.                                                                                        

Wilson Creek Area- Huntfish Falls

At the corner of Brown Mountain Beach Road and NC Highway 90 (Edgemont Road) is  Betsy's Old Country Store and Cabin Rentals. There is also a small campground on the premises.  Our tent was a folded down back seat of my Jeep with Army mats and wool blankets.

North Carolina Highway 90 isn't what you typically think of as a highway. It is a dirt road barely wide enough for two vehicles to pass by with one lane bridges every time you cross over water. For the better part of our drive, there was a 70-degree cliff of several hundred feet to your right going East.

 From our campground to get here, we went left on NC Hwy 90 West for two miles then turned left onto Forest Road 464. The trailhead parking is 3 miles up the road on the right.

Our hike from the trailhead is a  600-foot descent. My thought was what a killer this was going to be on our way back.

Stone bridge is crossing a small creek.

For 5 1/2 hours, we didn't see any other humans except for a fisherman with his daughter about Aaron age. His Cocker Spaniel Royal wanted to be in the picture.

Aaron is taking in the awesomeness of God's creation.

The scene further downstream.

 Huntfish Falls

This waterfall was a bonus and isn't mentioned in the book that brought me to Huntfish Falls or at the various websites. Apparently it's because it doesn't always have an adequate amount of water. We became memorized by its beauty and sound. 

This hike wasn't a walk in the park.We had to climb over or crawl under fallen trees and walk across creeks in knee high water ( thigh height on Aaron).

There is nothing spectacular about this picture, except it was the last picture I took just before I realized that something wasn't quite right. The book 100 Classic Hikes In North Carolina said "Shortly thereafter, cross Lost Cove Creek and within five minutes you'll come upon the Timber Ridge Trail. Take it to the left." So far so good for us everything happens just as the book said. The book continues "Timber Ridge Trail is a mile-long ascent that gains just over 700 feet of elevation. In its entirety, Timber Ridge is a 7.5-mile loop. But a mile into the trail there's a short and steep bailout trail to your left. Take it and you'll wind up less than 15 minutes later just above the falls and pool." What the book did not mention is the Timber Ridge Trail took a hard left turn with a false trail continuing straight. When I took the hard left, I thought I was on the bailout trail. But after 20 minutes of walking with no sight or sound of water,  I began to wonder especially after stumbling upon another unmarked trail that went left going steeply downhill. For two days I had no cell phone service. At just about where I took this picture, my phone beeps with incoming messages. It was decision time. It was 6 pm with the temperature beginning to drop, and  Aaron had wet pants, socks, and shoes. Do I follow this other trail for 15 minutes only to discover it was a dead end or do I continue down the trail the I'm currently on? I decided to call 911 to let someone know that we were lost and possibly going to return to our vehicle after dark. The dispatcher suggested we return the way we came, and he would send someone out in case we needed medical attention. We did make it back to the Jeep after dark. Embarrassingly waiting for us was a rescue vehicle and all sorts of people. Aaron was cold and promptly hopped into the Jeep and turned on the heat. They checked my blood sugar even though I told them I have hyperglycemia and never have hypoglycemia. My glucose level was 67 even though I hadn't eaten for 8 hours and been hiking for 5.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwj3oAxwGTY


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=900GCT94nGg


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNHFAWGLXp0

Wilson Creek Area- Harper Creek Falls

Wilson Creek was designated as a National Wild and Scenic River by Congress on August 18, 2000. There is a network of trails within the area. The Harper Creek Trail is a three mile (one way) trail to the waterfall by the same name. 

Aaron is ready and excited. He is equipped with his hiking stick and survival knife. Gypsy showed her excitement by hardly being able to sit for a few seconds for me to take a picture.

The trail did a switchback, but Aaron took a shortcut up a washed out embankment with exposed roots of a fallen tree to help him climb. We are walking through a canopy of Mountian Laurel.

 Our first view of the beautiful Harper Creek.

Ice cool water! Even Gypsy wasn't going to take a dip.

  While following the trail downstream we came to this small obstacle of an eight-foot drop between some narrow rocks. Gypsy was able to leap down the four-feet on a rock then jump the rest of the way down while we use a rope and the same stepping stone.

Are we almost there?

Our view of Harper Falls from the trail above.

 

The best view is from the rock shore just below the falls. Aaron is about to begin his descent by the aid of this rope.

Gypsy and I anxiously watch Aaron.

Come on down!

  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHLJ0GByv8Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sv3PII2B96A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zxfWuKAdxA