Saxapahaw Hikes

Saturday, we took Harper for a hike in the small town of Saxapahaw.  We parked at Saxapahaw Island Park to first hike around the island in Haw River.

The water level in the river was very low and the fish weir was visible.  In higher water, it would be completely submerged.

Further on the loop, we had a nice view of the rivermill that is now apartments.

At the north end of the island, we were able to get into the riverbed and view the dam upstream.

After finishing the loop, we walked into town and had breakfast at the general store.  Then we headed over to Saxapahaw Lake and hiked the Scout Loop.

On the hike back, we got on Haw River Trail and headed across the bridge to go northbound.  There was a marbled orb weaver spider along the road.

The trail ran through the grounds of Saxapahaw Campground and to the dam.

The newest section continued past the dam for another 3/4 mile along the lake.

Where the trail ended, we turned around and headed back to the car.

For lunch, we stopped at the Eddy before heading home.

Haw River Hikes

Sunday, I headed to Alamance County for some hikes along the Haw River.  My first stop was at Saxapahaw Island Park.  The short Saxapahaw Island Loop was a short trail around the perimeter of the island.

The river was very rocky and scenic in the vicinity of the island.

After finishing up the loop, I got on the Haw River Trail.  Heading northbound, the trail ran behind a private campground then ended before reaching the dam.  Going the other way, it passed behind the Saxapahaw Rivermill and continued following the river downstream for more than a mile.

The lower portion went through farm land that had been cleared to benefit wildlife.

After reaching the current end of the trail, I turned around and headed back.

From here, I drove a few miles north Swepsonville River Park and another access point to the Haw River Trail at Big Alamance Creek.  This section is about 1 mile along the west side of the river.

There were some rocky parts where I could get out in the river.

After hiking under the bridge to the end, I headed back.

There was one more section I wanted to visit before leaving and parked at the Longmeadow Trailhead in Graham.  This section is almost 2 miles, crossing under I-85/I40.

It looks like the northern terminus of this section is less than a mile from Red Slide Park, so hopefully the segments can be connected in the near future.

By the time I finished around noon, it had gotten quite hot and I was ready to return to air conditioning.

Haw River Trail

Sunday, I headed to Burlington to hike a section of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail following the Haw River Trail.  I parked at the Indian Valley Drive Paddle Access, the northern terminus of the trail.  The trail followed the river closely then led along Whispering Wind Road and then around the perimeter of a golf course.  After this, it came to Great Bend Park.

The river was really scenic.  Further into the park was the Glencoe Mill Dam, a beautiful old dam just upstream of Glencoe.

I walked the short Island Trail out to the end and then left the park.  From here, the trail led through Glencoe and then back along the river.  Some pretty bloodroot was blooming along the trail.

Past here, the trail crossed two streets and then along the shore of Stoney Creek Reservoir.

After the marina, I followed streets to a bridge over the river just down from another dam.

I got off the road one last time to head into the woods towards the Haw.

The next couple miles were more rural, staying close to the river and away from roads.  After going 6 miles or so, I turned around and headed back.

Haw River State Park

Sunday morning, it was quite cold when we woke up.  Alex had kept us warm in the tent, but it was rough getting out.  After breakfast, we broke camp.  Alex seemed quite disappointed that we were taking down the tent - he really loves camping.  Sandy had to work in the evening, but we wanted to get a hike in on the way home.  Our original plan was Guilford Courthouse National Military Park in Greensboro, but it was closed with the federal government shutdown.  So instead, we went to Haw River State Park north of Greensboro.  First, we went to the visitor center at the Summit Center area of the park.

After getting Alex's passport stamped, we hiked the Piedmont Loop Trail.  Heading down, we stopped to see Robins Nest Lake.

Continuing on, there was a split with Wetlands Boardwalk.

The boardwalk to the north headed out to a scenic view of Haw River.

The main trail then looped back around to the lake and back to the visitor center.  Next, we headed to the Iron Ore Belt Access Area to hike the Great Blue Heron Loop.

Although the trail didn't get too close to Haw River, the flood plain was completely underwater.

North Carolina's gotten so much rain this year.  After finishing up the loop, we started making our way home.

Lower Haw River Hike

I had Friday off for the holiday weekend, so Sandy and I took Alex to Lower Haw River State Natural Area for a hike.  We took US-64 west past Jordan Lake and once across Haw River, made a U-turn, crossing the river again in the eastbound direction.  A small pull-off was on the right immediately back across the river.  We parked here and followed a trail down towards the river and under the highway.  There's no official trail, but the "social" trail was very easy to follow the river upstream.  The Haw is very rocky and the water level was low so there were a number of spots to head out into the river for a picture.

Soon we came to the first of three tributary crossings.  The water level was low, but the banks were steep so we had to go upstream a little ways to find a way across.  There were a lot of downed tree over the trail, which I would have expected given the trail is not maintained.  But there's another reason there are so many trees down - beavers.

The beavers had clearly been busy taking down trees along the river here.  A little further up, we came to a real scenic cascades in the river next to an island.

Continuing north, we reached the last creek crossing at Pokeberry Creek.  Unlike the previous ones, this creek had a good amount of water.

We followed the path upstream a ways to where we could get down to creek level and rock hop across.  From here it was only another mile or so to the north trailhead in Bynum.  When we got here, we continued a little further to the Old Bynum Bridge.  In the past, cars could drive over, but the barricaded it so only pedestrians can cross now.  We went out on the bridge to where we could see the US-15/US-501 bridge over the Haw River.

A little further back, there was a nice view of the river where the road was not visible.

We had a snack and then started making our way back.

All three of us had worked up an appetite by the time we got back, so we stopped at Grill and Go and got lunch, including a hot dog for Alex.