This Land, Your Land

Last weekend's tornado-laden storms did extensive damage that will keep the Neuse River Recreation Area near New Bern closed for the foreseeable future. The popular Croatan National Forest site, which includes Flanners Beach and a 45-site family campground, was to open for the season May 1.

The Sun Journal of New Bern reports that 30 different spots in the recreation area suffered some kind of damage in an F2 tornado that struck the area April 16. The report (which includes several photos) describes the campground as "covered with fallen trees and limbs" and said "huge pine trees lay on the beach" and "massive trees lay across" the picnic area.

"Trees were also lying across the 1.5-mile asphalt walking path that circles the campground," the newspaper said. "It had just been repaved. But now it will have to be checked for cracks and damage."

The recreation area usually opens March 1, but remained closed this spring as new bathhouses were built and the sewer system was repaired.

Check the National Forest Camping page on Carolina Outdoors Guide for additional Croatan National Forest campgrounds.

The Conservation Trust for North Carolina today announced the gift of 534 acres of land along the Blue Ridge Parkway to the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.

The transfer of the Rose Creek property near Spruce Pine in Mitchell County will eventually allow public access to over a mile of frontage on the Blue Ridge Parkway between mileposts 326 and 328, and about 1.3 miles of the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail (pictured below), the CTNC says.

The Rose Creek property provides a forested backdrop from the Parkway's Loops Overlook next to The Orchard at Altapass. The land contains nearly six miles of streams, including Rose and Little Rose creeks and their tributaries. Rose and Little Rose creeks are major headwater tributaries of the North Toe River, which supplies drinking water to the town of Spruce Pine.

“This property was definitely worth protecting. It has beautiful views of the Parkway, miles of pristine headwater streams, a key segment of the Overmountain Victory Trail, and abundant habitat for wildlife,” said Reid Wilson, CTNC’s executive director.

Belated grand opening festivities for the Jackrabbit Mountain Bike and Hiking Trail in the Nantahala National Forest are set for 10 a.m. on Saturday, April 30, and are to include group rides and hikes after a ribbon-cutting and speeches. There will be music, food and other presentations as well.

The 14.5-mile trail system at the Jackrabbit Mountain day use area just outside of Hayesville in Clay County has quickly become one the most popular in the Nantahala since construction began more than five years ago and it was opened bit by bit.

Recently a practice trail and restroom were built at the trailhead.

Saturday's event will feature group mountain bike rides led by the Southern Appalachian Bicycle Association (a huge force in getting the trial system built), group trail runs led by members of the Young Harris College cross country team and group hikes led by the Mountain High Hikers.

The full-service campground at Jackrabbit Mountain will be open for those who come for the trails dedication, the National Forest Service says.

As the resurfacing of N.C. 12 across Bodie Island progresses, the highway has reopened and final work is expected to be completed by Memorial Day, the National Park Service says.

The main artery through Cape Hatteras National Seashore has been closed to two-way traffic from the Whalebone Junction Visitor Center south to SR 1243 (Old Oregon Inlet Road) since February 14.

The Park Service says the project is 85 percent complete.

Short one-lane sections of the highway will be closed for construction Mondays through Thursdays as the final layer of pavement is laid, which will continue to cause traffic delays. There will be no road construction Friday through Sunday.

Nanci Bompey of the Asheville Citizen-Times wrote about Great Smoky Mountains National Park's new Oconaluftee Visitor Center, which opened Friday and is the "first structure built specifically as a full-service visitor center on the North Carolina side of the park."

The 6,300-square-foot center was announced in December 2009 as a replacement for the 1,700-square-foot building originally built by the Civilian Conservation Corps as a magistrate court. The new building was built with $3 million in private money.

The original plan for the park called for a visitor center at the Cherokee, North Carolina, entrance and near Gatlinburg, Tennessee, but the eastern center never was funded.

The center's exhibits will focus on the human and cultural history of the area - including the Cherokee, local farmers, lumber companies and the Civilian Conservation Corps - and present $550,000 worth of interpretive information bought by Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park mainly through sales of their specialty license plate.

The visitor center also has 1,700 square feet of accessible restrooms, Bompey noted.

The Oconaluftee Visitor Center is on U.S. 441 near Cherokee and open 8 a.m.-6 p.m. daily. A formal dedication of the building is scheduled for 11 a.m. April 15.

The National Park Service reminds us that the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse opens for the season April 15 with a day of free admission to climbers on a first come, first served basis.

The regular season for the Cape Hatteras National Seashore icon runs from the third Friday in April to Columbus Day, which is October 10 this year.

For opening day, the NPS invites locals to come and climb the lighthouse for free, and extends the deal to other park visitors.

It normally costs $7 to climb the tower's 248 iron spiral stair steps, or $3.50 if you are 62 or older, 12 or younger, or the holder of a National Parks and Federal Recreation Lands Access Pass.

Ticket sales, or distribution on the 15th, begin at 8:15 a.m. and close at 4:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. from May 27 through Labor Day). Climbing tours will begin at 9 a.m. and run every 10 minutes with a limit of 30 people on each trip.

The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is the tallest brick lighthouse in the United States and measures 210 feet from the bottom of the foundation to the top of the pinnacle of the tower.