This Land, Your Land

Goose Creek State Park has reopened on its regular fall schedule of 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., the state Division of Parks and Recreation said on the park's website this morning. Campgrounds and some trails remain closed due to unsafe conditions caused by Hurricane Irene.

Farther south, the Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail reports that extensive storm damage in the Croatan National Forest will likely mean the Neusiok Trail remains closed until next spring.

We've previously reported the National Forest alert that says only three recreation sites in the Croatan have reopened since the late-August hurricane, and about numerous downed trees in the campground at Goose Creek.

The FMST says in an email sent yesterday that "boardwalk, bridges and hundreds of trees were uprooted" along the 20-mile Neusiok, which is Section 36 of the MST.

"The damage is extensive enough that FMST volunteers are estimating that the trail may not reopen until next spring," the group says on its website.

The storm also caused breaches in five places in Section 38 of the MST, the Outer Banks from Ocracoke to Jockey's Ridge State Park. Temporary bridges over the breaches are expected to be in place by early October.