Topics Related to North Carolina State Parks

Image: The New River Gorge Bridge.George Santucci doesn’t worry anymore about the variety of spellings applied to his name in Ashe County, which he has called home for 25 years now after migrating from Long Island, New York. But he has lost most of his New York accent, and he’s a much-admired fellow in his adopted home, where he serves as the president of the New River Conservancy, charged with protecting America’s oldest river, said to be the second oldest in the world.“Once you get North of 350 million years,” Santucci says, “It’s a little iffy.”

Amid the swamps, forests, and fields of southeastern North Carolina lies an immense, shallow, strangely egg-shaped lake, whose rich natural environment and gently sloping freshwater shores have been an asset to the region’s industrial and touristic development for over a century and a half. The long and dynamic history of Lake Waccamaw reaches back not just centuries but millennia, beginning in a time when Columbus County looked more like Alaska than anything else.

Imagine being within a half hour or so of not one, but five of the state’s top adventure destinations. Well, imagine yourself in Morganton, where a short drive takes you to two state parks, three state trails, a wilderness area and “the Grand Canyon of the East,” offering a range of hiking, mountain biking, cycling, paddling, fishing and more. Plan to spend a day, at least, at each location.South Mountains State ParkAdventure options: Hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, fishing

Time was, driving I-40 to the Smokies you passed the paper mill town of Canton with nary a thought of stopping. Adventure? There!? Yes, as it turns out, adventure there! Adrenal adventure, wilderness adventure, even underwater adventure. Day 1Morning