FEATURES 38 TOURS FOR NATURE LOVERS
Seven Coastal Tours, Nine Coastal Plain Tours, Nine Piedmont Tours, Thirteen Mountain
The Coast
Tour One (25 miles): "Old and New on the Outer Banks"
- Nags Head Woods Ecological Preserve and Run Hill
- Jockey's Ridge State Park and Soundside Drive
- Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Old and New Inlets, and Pea Island Nature Preserve
- Coquina Beach, Bodie Island Lighthouse, and Bodie Island Dike Nature Trail
- Oregon Inlet
- Pea Island Wildlife Refuge
Tour Two (55 miles): "Outer Banks from Ocracoke to Pea Island"
- Ocracoke Village
- Ocracoke Barrier Island and Barrier Dune Ridges
- Hatteras Inlet
- Buxton Woods
- Cape Point
- Cape Hatteras Lighthouse
- Buxton Overwash
- Cape Roadanthe and Wimble Shoals
- New Inlet and Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge
- Pea Island Going-to-the-Sea Highway
- Pea Island Visitors Center and Hiking Trails
Tour Three (48 miles): "Downeast Lowlands"
- Pine Cliff Recreation Area in Croatan National Forest
- Harlowe Canal
- Adams Creek Canal
- North River Estuary
- Davis
- Oyster Creek, King Point Marsh, and Brett Bay
- Entrance to Open Grounds Farm
- Salter Creek and North Bay
- Cedar Island Juncus Marsh
- Cedar Island Village
- Cedar Island Barrier and Pamlico Sound
Tour Four (20 miles): "Bogue Banks"
- Fort Macon State Park and Nature Trail
- Hoop Pole Creek Nature Trail
- Theodore Roosevelt State Natural Area and Nature Trails, North Carolina Aquarium and Pine Knoll Shores
- Western Half of Bogue Banks
Tour Five (30 miles): "White Oak River from Source to Sea"
- Source of the White Oak: Upstream of Maysville
- Freshwater Reaches of the River to Haywood Landing
- Fresh Water--Estuarine Transition: Stella and the Middle Reaches
- Salt Marsh and Sound Views at Cedar Point Recreation Area
- Mouth of the White Oak: Bear Island and Hammocks Beach State Park
Tour Six: "Lower Cape Fear River by Car and Ferry"
- Town Creek
- Brunswick Town Site and Salt Marshes
- Southport and Its Ferry Terminal
- Zeke's Island Estuarine Research Reserve
- Carolina Beach State Park
Tour Seven: "Brunswick County"
- Green Swamp
- Old Shorelines
- Shallotte: Shallotte River and Estuary
- Development, Development and Bird Island
Return to the top.
The Coastal Plain
Tour One: "Currituck Sound's Mackay Island"
Tour Two (75 miles): "Wetlands, Swamps, and Forests"
- Weldon Landing: Border between the Piedmont and the Coastal Plain
- Murfreesboro
- Merchants Millpond State Park
- Dismal Swamp Canal
Tour Three (45 miles): "Lower Roanoke River Floodplain"
- Fort Branch
- Optional Canoeing on Conoho Creek off Poplar Point Road
- Moratoc Park, Williamston
- Roanoke River Wetlands/Game Lands
- Conine Island, within Roanoke River National Wildlife Refuge
- Windsor Wetlands Boardwalk on the Cashie River
- Sans Souci Ferry
- Mouth of the River and Conaby Creek Boat Launch
Tour Four (160 miles): "Albemarle-Pamlico Peninsula"
- Pettigrew State Park and Somerset Place
- Partnership for the Sounds Visitors Center, Columbia
- Lake Mattamuskeet
- Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge
Tour Five (33 miles): "The Upper Pamilico River Estuary"
- Washington
- Goose Creek State Park
- Bath
- Crossing the Pamlico
- Aurora and the PCS Phosphate Mine
Tour Six (80 miles): "Croatan National Forest"
- Patsy Pond Natural Area and Nature Trail
- Millis Road
- Cedar Point Tideland Trail
- Great Lake
- Haywood Landing at the White Oak River
- Catfish Lake and Impoundments
- Neuse River Recreation Area, Flanner Beach
- Island Creek Forest Walk
Tour Seven (80 miles): "Carolina Bay Lakes"
- Lake Waccamaw
- Loop Trip to the Bladen Lakes Bays and Elwell Ferry
Tour Eight (30 miles): "Southern Lumber River Region"
- Robeson County Museum
- Mathews Bluff
- Boating Access
- Lumber River State Park Access
- Fair Bluff
Tour Nine (35 miles): "Land of the Longleaf Pine"
- Walthour/Moss Foundation and Yadkin Road
- Weymouth Center and the Boyd Tract
- Weymouth Woods-Sandhills Nature Preserve
- Fort Bragg Military Reservation
- Malcom Blue Farm
- Sandhills Game Lands
Return to the top.
The Piedmont
Tour One (56 miles): "Rocks, Soils, and Plant Life in the Central Piedmont"
- Pennyís Bend Nature Preserve
- Hill Demonstration Forest
- Butner Natural Areas
- Falls Lake (Falls of the Neuse Reservoir)
Tour Two (30 miles): "Ecological Succession and Old-Growth Forests of the Central Piedmont"
- North Carolina Botanical Garden
- Mason Farm Biological Reserve
- Duke Forest
- Eno River State Park
E. Hillsborough and Occoneechee Mountain State Natural Areas
Tour Three (16 miles): "Nature Amidst Development"
- William B. Umstead State Park
- Hemlock Bluffs Nature Preserve
- Swift Creek Bluffs Nature Preserve
Tour Four (80 miles): "Coastal Plain to Piedmont Transition"
- "Extreme Sandhill"
- Longleaf Pine Flat, Red-Cockaded Woodpeckers, and Tarkilns
- Seventeen Frog Pond
- Scotland Lane Annual Burn Area
- Pleasant Grove Church Longleaf Pine Stand
- Dark Mountain and Barnes Creek
- Uwharrie River and Adjacent Slopes
- Schweinitzís Sunflower
- The Rock Maze
- Mafic Slope, Upland Depression Swamps, and the "Canyon of the Yadkin"
Tour Five (50 miles): "Uwharrie Lakes Scenic Loop"
- Pee Dee National Wildlife Refuge
- Grassy Islands
- Ellerbe
- Town Creek Indian Mound
Tour Six (65 miles): "Uwharrie Minerals and Landscapes"
- Reed Gold Mine
- Morrow Mountain State Park
- Badin and the Narrows of the Yadkin
- The Birkhead Wilderness Area
- Seagrove Potters
Tour Seven (32 miles): "Lonely Mountains"
- Hanging Rock State Park
- Pilot Mountain State Park
Tour Eight (90 miles): "The South Mountains Area"
- Catawba Science Center
- Tuttle Educational State Forest
- South Mountains State Park
- South Mountain Game Lands (Rollins Tract)
Tour Nine (56 miles): "Parks, Forests, and Geology of the Southwest Piedmont"
- Kings Mountain State Park and Kings Mountain National Military Park
- Crowders Mountain State Park
- Schiele Museum of Natural History and Planetarium
- Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden
- Carolina Raptor Center, Latta Plantation Park
Return to the top.
The Mountains
Tour One (46 miles): "Northwestern Mountains"
- Stone Mountain State Park
- New River State Park
- Mount Jefferson State Natural Area
Tour Two (32 miles): "Blue Ridge Parkway"
- E. B. Jeffress Park
- Moses H. Cone Memorial Park
- Julian Price Memorial Park
- Hiking Trails: Tanawha and Others
- Grandfather Mountains
Tour Three (68 miles): "Roan Mountain Highlands"
- Carvers Gap
- Rhododendron Gardens
- Roan Mountain State Park
- Museum of North Carolina Minerals
Tour Four (56.6 miles): "Linville Gorge"
- Wisemanís View
- The Pinnacle
- Table Rock and Hawksbill Mountain
- Linville Falls
Tour Five (20 miles): "Mountain Touring"
- Linville Falls and Gorge
- Chestoa View Overlook
- Hefner Gap Overlook and The Loops Overlook
- Three Knobs Overlook and Black Mountain Overlook
- Singecat Ridge Overlook, Licklog Ridge Overlook, and Green Knob Overlook
- Ridge Junction Overlook
- Mount Mitchell State Park Road
- Mount Mitchell Parking Area and Trail
- Summit of Mount Mitchell
Tour Six (35 miles): "Forest Communities of the Southern Appalachians"
- Folk Art Center and Mountains-to-Sea Trail
- Haw Creek Valley Overlook
- Tanbark Ridge Overlook
- Tanbark Ridge Tunnel, Rattlesnake Lodge Trail: Transition to Northern Hardwoods
- Craggy Gardens: Forest Succession from Grassy Bald to Northern Hardwoods
- Craggy Flats Trail: Orchard Vegetation and Heath Bald
- Glassmine Falls Overlook: Spruce-Fir Forest Community
- Balsam Gap Overlook, Big Butt Trail: Transition from Northern Hardwoods to Spruce-Fir Forest
- Mount Mitchell State Park and Spruce-Fir Forest
Tour Eight: "Great Smoky Mountains National Park"
Tour Nine: "Hickory Nut Gorge"
- Chimney Rock Park
- Bat Cave Preserve
- Bottomless Pools
Tour Ten (76 miles): "Blue Ridge Parkway Tour"
- North Carolina Arboretum and Sandy Bottoms
- Mount Pisgah and Flat Laurel Gap
- The Pink Beds and the East Fork Old Growth
- Graveyard Fields Overlook
- Black Balsam Knob
- Devils Courthouse and Mount Hardy
- Richland Balsam
- Old Bald and Licklog Gap
- Deep Gap and Steestachee Bald Boulder Fields
- Waynesville Overlook
- Redbank Cove, Standing Rock Overlook
- Balsam Gap
- Mount Lynn Lowry Overlook
- Woodfin Cascades Overlook
- Yellowface Overlook
- Waterrock Knob
- Woollyback Overlook
- Soco Gap
- Plott Balsam Overlook
- Heintooga Spur and Balsam Mountain Road
Tour Eleven (27.5 miles): "Our Forest Heritage and Forestry Today"
- Blue Ridge Parkway to the Cradle of Forestry
- FR 475-B to FR 225
- FR 22
- Headwaters Road Lower Section to US 276
- US 276 North to the Blue Ridge Parkway
Tour Twelve (18 miles): "Cherohala Skyway to Joyce Kilmer Forest"
- Big Santeetlah Gap
- Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest
- Camera Photo Point
- Wright Creek Old-Growth Hemlock and Hooper Bald Overlook
- Stratton Meadows and Gap
- Beech Gap
Tour Thirteen (50 miles): "Blue Ridge Escarpment"
- Horsepasture River
- Thompson River
- Whitewater River
- Bull Pen Road
- Ellicott Rock Wilderness
- Chattooga River
- Slick Rock
- Whiteside Cove
- Horse Cove
- Highlands Plateau
- Whiteside Mountain
- Devils Court House
Return to the top.
Home
| Exploring North Carolinaís Natural Areas | Featured Books
|