We are going to get in at least one last trip before things get too cold around here so we decided to hit Morrow Mountain State Park this weekend.
The plan is for it to be a quick 2 night trip. However apparently the park has reserved most of their sites for the Clean Sweep project until Saturday night. So we will be heading up Saturday, Sunday, and leaving sometime on Monday. Luckily for us the park is only about 2 hours from home, so this should be a real easy trip :)
It should be beautiful weather with highs in the 70s and lows around 50 and no rain. The park has some mild hiking with something like 15 miles of trails, along with fishing, boating, and even swimming in the warmer months.
For a park thats only 2 hours away, I'm hoping this turns out to be a great little get away.
http://www.ncparks.gov/morrow-mountain-state-park
-Sean
I've stayed there once - it's a nice park with lots of hardwoods which right now should be starting to turn color. Note that there are limited sites with power, but they let popups also stay in the main tent loop, which I found much more appealing to my style of camping anyway. Also Badin Lake and the NC Zoo are only short drives away.
So we ended up in Loop A which is definitely dedicated to tents. We had no need for power or water hook ups so this was great for us. I was a little shocked when I saw the site since it allowed us to register with a pop up, yet it was clearly not a site designed for a trailer. There was a parking pad, then a tent pad and a fire pit. The tent pad and fire pit were on the opposite side of the camper so we had to walk around every time we needed to get in or out (still not a big deal).
The park was at full capacity for the weekend and we soon found out why. Apparently the park does a Halloween type celebration with trick or treating for the kids, followed by an outdoor movie with drinks and popcorn. This was something we just stumbled into. It was great though, my 4 year old loved going around to see all the sites that had decorated, and what kid doesn't enjoy candy :) I was also surprised at how many sites go all out decorating. I think this may be a yearly tradition for us. I just wish we had known so we could have decorated and actually had a costume, but at least now we know for next year.
The next day we hit the trails and hiked to the top of Morrow Mtn. This was a tricky little trail with about it only being about 3 miles one way. However it tricks you because the first 3/4 of the trail is a nice and easy stroll, then the last bit is straight up the side of the mountain. By the time we had hit the steep incline the 4 year olds little legs were getting tired, so I ended up carrying her to the top on my shoulders. As much as I was complaining I still look back and wouldn't change it for the world. She is only going to be that little for so long and I want to have as many of those memories as possible.
We enjoyed lunch at the top of the mountain before heading back to a now EMPTY campground. We were one of the only sites that stayed until Monday so we had the place to ourselves and it was awesome. So peaceful and quiet. We just hung out by the campfire and enjoyed a little hammock time :) that is my ideal trip for sure.
If I had to be picky I would say the bath house was the only thing that could be improved. It was definitely older and it smelled like it had not been cleaned in some time. Even still, it served its purpose so I cant complain about it much.
All in all it was a great little park and satisfied most of my camping itches all within a 2 hour drive distance.
I cant wait to go back in the summer to enjoy more of the lake and trails.