This Land, Your Land

We spent some time in the Croatan National Forest the week before Hurricane Irene hit, and have added pages to Carolina Outdoors Guide about some of the forest's day use sites and campgrounds that we hope you'll check out.

Recreation sites within the forest remain closed, with about 60 percent of roads blocked by downed trees as of Tuesday, and we sure hope there's not too much damage.

We were particularly impressed with Cedar Point Recreation Area on the White Oak River across from Swansboro, with its Tideland National Recreation Trail (below) and the campground with its green-grass lawns. We were disappointed with the small RV campsites at Neuse River Campground.

Do you know the Blue Ridge Parkway? Do you know the Conservation Trust for North Carolina's contributions to the Parkway?

If so, you might try the CTNC's Blue Ridge Parkway trivia contest, which their running in part to mark the Parkway's 75th anniversary.

Answer all 10 questions correctly and you'll be entered in a drawing to win a weekend at a forest cabin in the mountains of Ashe County. Ten others will receive prizes from Great Outdoor Provision Co.

Here's a hint: you can look up the answers through our Carolina Outdoors Guide links above and by searching at the bottom of the home page.

We had a chance to visit South Mountains State Park south of Morganton a few weeks ago, by chance showing up on Nature Day, and have added a page with photos and information to the Carolina Outdoors Guide section about State Parks.

Besides the back country, South Mountains' main attraction is the 80-foot High Shoals Falls. Take a look here.

This is not usually a commentary blog; we're trying just to update folks on what's going on in parks, forests and other public recreation land in North Carolina.

But one thing we advocate on the main Carolina Outdoors Guide site and elsewhere is do not screw around at the top of waterfalls. It's way too easy to lose your footing and wind up dead. It happens every summer.

On June 7, a 28-year-old Asheville woman wading in the pool above Rainbow Falls in the Pisgah Forest was swept over the 125-foot falls and killed. Two friends hiking with her saw her slip, and pulled her body from the river below the falls, according to the Asheville Citizen-Times.

"The Rainbow Falls death is the second at a Western North Carolina waterfall in less than two weeks," the newspaper said.

"A Wake County man died at Elk River Falls in Avery County on May 29. The following day, a man and woman were injured in an accident at Upper Whitewater Falls near Cashiers in Jackson County."