A Weekend Away: Hiking the Croatan National Forest in NC

Hiking/Camping Dates: May 13-15, 2011

So the adventure starts with our seven hour drive down to North Carolina from Maryland.  Upon arrival we ran into a bit of a problem.  We had planned to camp for the weekend and the park doesn't take reservations for campsites in the forest so when we got to our first campsite option, Cedar Point, it was full.  The campsite here was more of an RV park actually.  So with two more campsites to choose from we headed over to the Neuse River campground only to find it was closed due to tornado damage. 

After that failure, we headed over to the Fisher’s Landing Campground.  The campground here didn't have much to offer, the toilet was a glorified outhouse and the only running water came from a water fountain with a spigot at the bottom.  The campground was really more of a field with some tables and fire rings set up but since this isn't a camping review site I will just say that we were able to set up camp and had a place to eat and sleep. 

Tuckahoe State Park: The Drive and Hike

Blue Flag Iris

Hike Date: May 22, 2011

To begin our hike we had to cross over the Bay Bridge into Maryland's Eastern Shore to hike the trails at Tuckahoe State Park.  We began with the short and simple lake shore trail which begins and ends in a parking lot.  The habitat had lots of potential but the wildlife seemed to be lacking in the area.  The short walk throught the pines and woodlands is nice but way too short.