On May 18, Haywood Waterways Association and Haywood Community College will lead a moderate 6-mile hike in the Sunburst area of Haywood County. 

Western North Carolina is a hiker’s paradise.

With so much land protected by national and state forests and parks, those who live in the Western North Carolina area have endless hiking opportunities.

The National Park Service (NPS) will close Ramsey Cascades Trail on weekdays while trail crews finish the full-scale rehabilitation work started in 2022.

Haywood County Recreation will host a series of spring hikes throughout April. Here’s a look at what’s coming up. 

Haywood Waterways Association will lead two hikes to Mouse Falls in the Big Creek Watershed of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on Tuesday, April 9, and Saturday, April 13. 

A UNC-Asheville geology professor will lead an educational hike March 18. 

A new Carolina Mountain Club trail crew, dubbed the Extra Mile Crew, has been formed to work on trail sections likely to be missed by existing crews. 

Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail will hold its annual gathering May 3-5 at Blue Ridge Assembly in Black Mountain, with an agenda that includes guided hikes, excursions, trail building workshops and more. 

Take a Leap Day hike to Laurel Knob at 9 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 29, in Panthertown Valley. 

Take an easy 5-mile hike along Lakeshore Trail at Fontana Dam Thursday, Feb. 22, with the Partners of Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness.