[piano intro] - Next on "North Carolina Weekend," join us from Oak Hill Community Park and Forest as we take in fresh air around the state.

We'll explore a hot springs, go paddling with Two Sisters Adventures, and go on a fascinating snorkel tour in the mountains.

Coming up next.

- [Announcer] Funding for "North Carolina Weekend" is provided in part by Visit NC, dedicated to highlighting our state's natural scenic beauty, unique history, and diverse cultural attractions.

From the Blue Ridge and the Great Smoky Mountains across the Piedmont to 300 miles of barrier island beaches, you're invited to experience all the adventure and charm our state has to offer.

[happy music] [happy music continues] [happy music continues] - Welcome to "North Carolina Weekend," everyone.

I'm Deborah Holt Noel, and this week we are taking in the fresh air around our state.

Right now I'm at Oak Hill Community Park and Forest near Morganton.

This brand-new park is over 600 acres, and it's managed by the Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina.

Only 10 minutes from downtown Morganton, this park will be a hub for outdoor recreation, education, agriculture, even archeology.

We'll explore it more throughout the show, but first, let's head to Hot Springs, a historic mountain community that's always full of new enchantments.

- I feel serene when I come onto this property.

It's wooded.

There's also the great meadow that's out here that we have for everybody to come and enjoy, and it's just a really peaceful place to be.

[gentle music] - Hot Springs Log Cabins is a set of five individual cabins on an 11-acre property, about 12 minutes outside of Hot Springs.

It's just a beautiful little spot with individual cabins that are all private from each other.

They have one bedroom, fully-covered front porch with a hot tub.

They're perfect for couples and also four out of five of them are pet-friendly.

- The cabins are fully stocked in the kitchen, so we provide pots and pans, and there's some spices as well.

There're washer and dryers and they each have king beds.

There is a little fireplace and TV so you can come in and essentially you don't need to bring anything except for your groceries and your clothes, and you're set to go here at the cabins.

- [Mary Helen] If you're coming in the winter, that's definitely a good time to watch the weather and to consider having four-wheel drive or all-wheel drive vehicle.

- [Marion] And our area is just a great place to be in all four seasons of the year.

- [Mary Helen] There's great hiking around Hot Springs and around Hot Springs Log Cabins.

The Appalachian Trail goes right through the middle of town, so you can really go off in either direction, north or south, and go up like Lover's Leap, which is right outside of Hot Springs and it goes up the mountain and kind of looks back down at the river and the town.

It is one of my favorites.

[gentle music] [water rushing] - [Marion] Max Patch is a naturally-occurring bald that's on the Appalachian Trail.

There's 360 views.

You can see Tennessee, and you can see miles and miles of North Carolina.

Hardly any houses or lights when you're up there.

So you've got your long-range views.

Everything about Hot Springs is special.

It's such a blend of old and new, and the community of people there who all care a lot about each other.

And then you have these glorious mountains, and the rivers, and people just seem to get comfortable there and laid back.

And when you have that kind of casual atmosphere, you know, you just feel like you're in a special place that's nurturing and feels good to be in.

- In Hot Springs we love the Smoky Mountain Diner.

It's a great place to have breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

We also love Big Pillow Brewery.

And Vinyl Pies has great pizza.

Bluff Mountain Outfitters is a must-visit.

They're geared towards the hikers that are coming through, but also, you know, little gifts, and supplies, and things that you need.

The Hot Springs Resort and Spa has natural hot springs-filled hot tubs.

You know you have your hot tub here at the cabins, but additionally that's an option and also has the therapeutic properties from the minerals and the springs.

We also love Artisun Coffee Shop and Gallery, local art.

- [Marion] Hot Springs Rafting Company is a good one.

If you wanna get outside and get on the river, or get some good instructions about where to go and what to do.

- [Mary Helen] A lot of the businesses in Hot Springs were impacted by the hurricane, but every day more and more are opening back up and things are coming back to life.

- [Marion] We're ready for people to come and visit us again.

- Hot Springs Log Cabins are located at 5830 Highway North Carolina 209 in Hot Springs.

You can book your cabin at Hotspringslogcabins.com, and to find out about more things to do in the area, go to Hotspringsnc.org.

Our next outdoor adventure takes us to Durham, where we met two sisters who are passionate about creating outdoor experiences in nature that are accessible and welcoming to everyone.

[peaceful music] - [Natasha] Falls Lake is just, of all the lakes I can think of, it's my what I call heart lake.

[water lapping] My mother was working for the Corps of Engineers when Falls Lake was born.

- [Rainbow] Right with me.

- [Natasha] It's just a really important, it's important waters to our family.

- [Natasha] My name is Natasha Teasley.

I am the owner of Two Sisters Adventure Company in Durham, North Carolina.

I have been working in this industry since the '90s.

Didn't see a lot of diversity in terms of racial diversity, or gender, or sexuality.

The only way that I could create programming that I really wanted to focus on that diversity change was if I became the owner of the company and took control of that.

- Two Sisters was born of the idea that we want to create a safe space in the outdoors for anybody who wants to be here.

In a world that hasn't always felt safe for all people, and sometimes still doesn't, we are just really trying to reduce boundaries that are stopping people from getting outdoors in any way that we can.

- [Natasha] We offer paddleboard classes, kayak classes, some hiking.

We offer guided kayaking canoe trips.

Tonight we're actually gonna head out on one of our sunset floats.

- My name is Rainbow.

I'm one of your guides.

I use all pronouns.

Your other guide tonight.

- [Natasha] I'm Natasha.

I use she/her.

- We plan to go that way.

We're gonna go all the way across Falls Lake.

We're gonna cut across the Neuse River, which is the river that was dammed up to create this lake.

- [Natasha] We made a point to research and find out about different equipment for different body types.

Real quick with the life jackets, if you are heavier up this part of your body and smaller at this part of your body, if you lengthen your shoulder straps on your life jacket, push everything down and then tighten it up, it's gonna be a lot more comfortable instead of ridin' up here on your throat all night long.

- [Rainbow] Yeah, our adult universal life jackets are, well, adult universal.

[Rainbow talking to clients] - [Natasha] We have several kayaks that are designed for larger bodies, and several that have very large, open cockpits so that if you have mobility problems, or things like that, it's a lot easier to get in and out of.

- [Rainbow] We work hard to make sure that you are not only physically safe, but safe in every way that we can possibly help.

- The thing about kayaking, Sofe at 16 can enjoy it, Pat at 74 can enjoy it.

- It's an opportunity for me to connect with people and socialize and make new friends, which doesn't really happen too often.

And getting my exercise, getting outdoors is kind of a bonus to that, honestly.

- I just really look forward to opportunities to kayak with two Sisters Adventure Company.

I can be with a group, and I can communicate with them and have fun with them, but also I have the ability to just, when I find the perfect spot that I love, just kind of drift away.

They're still in sight, they're still available, if necessary, but I can just drift away, get in my own little spot and just kind of center myself with nature and with God.

And I'm just amazed at how beautiful our world is.

And so many people fail to take time to just really get out and enjoy it.

- The more people that get out on the water in a space that is inclusive makes them less inclined to kind of focus on the social aspect of things and more on the natural aspect of things, which can largely help them heal within themselves and also start to be able to help heal their community or their their environment because they feel welcome.

- [Rainbow] It's not just about paddling, it's not just about being in the outdoors.

Yes, the outdoors is wonderful and we all need it, but it's about finding that family, that community, that safe place.

- Two Sisters Adventure Company is based in Durham, and they offer excursions all over the state.

You can call 919-717-9337, or check out their calendar and book your trip at twosistersadventure.com.

I'm here with Andrew Kota, director of the Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina.

Andrew, this space is absolutely gorgeous.

How did you acquire it?

- Well, back in 2020, this land was threatened by residential development, and our land trust stepped in and raised funding from state and federal conservation programs, and private funding through local community members, local businesses, supporters of our land trust to purchase this land for a community park and forest.

- Wow.

- The conservancy wanted this park to be a showcase for all of our conservation work and to really engage the community in what we do, our mission of natural resource preservation and conservation, but our also quality of life improvements for the local community through outdoor recreation and connecting people to nature, connecting people to natural spaces, and through that, to each other.

- [Deborah] How big is this park, and what are gonna be some of the features?

- It's a 652-acre park, and it's really a hub for forest stewardship and preservation, for stream restoration and riparian buffer conservation, so water quality preservation, and an outdoor recreation place for people to enjoy mountain biking, hiking, exploring nature over the 11 miles of trails that we have.

- [Deborah] Tell me a little bit about the agricultural aspect of this.

- Over the last year and a half, we spent time and engaged with local agricultural stakeholders to develop a community agriculture plan for this property.

There's about 50 acres of very prime farmland soils down in the bottomlands near Canoe Creek, which is the main water feature through this property.

And we've partnered with the Lee family, which is a local Hmong family, a very successful farming family in this region.

So the Lee family is cultivating a variety of niche crops that they're selling for consumption at farmer's markets and local restaurants, and hopefully will become more widely available in the upcoming months and years.

- [Deborah] Tell me more about how this is gonna be accessible to all communities.

- So the park is open throughout the day.

There's no entrance fee at all.

It's a free resource.

Some of the things that we're hosting on the site are free mountain bike rides for the public to introduce people to the sport, introduce people to the park and the trail system.

We're in the process of developing a sensory orchard and garden pathway close to the entrance of the park so it's easily accessible for young people, for families, for people of all abilities.

Morganton is home to the North Carolina School for the Deaf and the J. Iverson Riddle Developmental Center.

And so these are two populations that we've really focused on providing access to this park and its natural landscape through the sensory orchard and garden that we'll develop in the upcoming few months here.

- [Deborah] Andrew, what's next for the park?

- [Andrew] More trails, more volunteer activities, more community engagement, and just fun and outdoor recreation.

- You'll find Oak Hill Community Park and Forest at 1820 North Carolina Highway 126 in Morganton, and the park is open daily from 5:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. To find out more, check out their website: Foothillsconservancy.org /oakhillpark This is one of the agricultural features here at Oak Hill.

I can actually see members of the Lee family already out doing some planting.

If you're looking for an outdoor destination with diverse scenery that the entire family can enjoy, Producer Clay Johnson and his videographer Eric Olson show us how an old golf course in Flat Rock has been transformed into a beautiful park that has ponds, mountain streams, walking trails, flower gardens, and more.

- Zekie, hi.

Good boy.

You good dog.

Zeke is a shepherd/lab mix.

He's a rescue dog.

When I come to the park, I almost always have Zeke, my dog, with me, and we start on a perimeter and do the perimeter trails.

I let him stop and sniff, and we keep walking along.

We cross the bridges.

There are wildlife habitats here.

The geese come in seasonally.

The birds are here.

We've seen bunnies, we've seen turtles.

There's always something to look at.

There's always fresh grass to munch on, and there's always nice smells to sniff.

We love this park.

We come most every day.

[cheerful music] - [Clay] For decades, this 66-acre tract of land in Flat Rock was a nine-hole public golf course, but in 2013 it closed and went up for sale.

- The village of Flat Rock realized that this was an excellent location for a public park.

So the village of Flat Rock acquired the property and we've been working for the last 10 years to bring it up to a beautiful nature preserve.

- [Clay] It's called the Park at Flat Rock.

- It's a nature park.

It's to protect and preserve the natural wildlife and the flora and fauna, and it's a passive park.

So we don't have ball fields, but we do have activities in terms of yoga, and kind of passive activities like that.

But generally it's here for people to enjoy the quiet and the beauty.

- Inhale and exhale to bring your chin to your chest, bowing your head down.

- [Michael] The park is used by so many different people in our community.

Not just people in Flat Rock, but people from Hendersonville, people from Asheville, Greenville, all over, we get people.

People love to come to the park to ride their bicycles.

People love to walk their dogs.

They have picnics.

They bring their kids to play on the playgrounds.

School groups use it as an educational tool.

There's a real incredible variety of uses that we see in the park every single day.

- [Clay] The park has nearly three miles of trails ponds and creeks, and a pollinator garden.

- [Michael] It's a fairly small plot of land, but we pack it full of dozens and dozens of different native pollinating plant species that help attract bees, and butterflies, and hummingbirds.

- [Clay] There's a picnic shelter and welcome center, and a nature center for educational programs and community gatherings.

- [Michael] It's really got a great diversity of different environments and amenities for people to enjoy.

- [Clay] But like so many other parks in Western North Carolina, Helene shut it down.

The park closed for 26 days so workers could clear debris and repair trails.

- Where we're standing now in the north corner of the park, floods got about eight feet tall.

So we had a lot of damage to the trails, lot of damage to the trees.

Took us some time to recover, but we're on our way towards recovery.

I hope when people come to the park they're enjoying the beauty of the nature, they feel rested and relaxed, they use it as a place to connect with nature, to recharge in their personal lives.

[gentle music] - [Sharon] It's a pleasant place to come to.

It's just a pleasant way to unwind from the day or start the day.

When you walk in nature, it's refreshing, it's calming, and it's just a pure joy to be in it.

And it's a gem of the community.

- To get some fresh air at Flat Rock Park, head to 55 Highland Golf Drive in Flat Rock and they're open daily from dawn to dusk.

You can call to reserve any of their facilities at 828-697-8100, or check out a map at Flatrockparkfoundation.org.

North Carolina has lots of trails, but this next one's a little bit different.

We sent producer Michelle Lotker to a trail that's a little bit wet.

It's called the Blue Ridge Snorkel Trail.

And it'll take you to a world you might not get to see very often.

[water rushing] [water gurgling] - When you think of snorkeling, you probably think of the ocean and coral reefs, but what you might not know is there's a North Carolina snorkel trail that's nowhere near the coast.

There are 10 sites in the mountains of North Carolina where you can snorkel and explore the freshwater world of rivers and streams.

[inquisitive music] - So here we are in late summer in Canton, specifically at the Canton Rec Park.

It's a beautiful place.

It's officially a part of our Blue Ridge Snorkel Trail.

It's a wonderful spot to bring out your families.

Today we're getting in the water with masks and snorkels.

We're dipping our heads underneath to see what lies beneath that surface.

There's an explosion of colors, so much diversity to be found.

[snorkler speaking through mouthpiece] - Oh, all right.

- I couldn't keep up with her.

She's mad that we're getting out of it.

She's had a ball, and this makes me happy because she'll be a lot more comfortable in the water for the rest of her life now.

Been a great experience, and I'm sure she's gonna be telling all her friends as soon as she starts back to school about this Saturday in Canton.

- Tiny minnows look like it would be this [indistinct].

- It's generational because you know, if you learn about it, then you're gonna pass that on to your kids.

Your kids are gonna pass it on to their kids.

- The cool thing in here too, though, is all those little tiny, tiny things.

- [Preston] Those that have been signed up for an hour are staying longer, if that's any indication of the fun they're having.

- So we do have a good diversity of fish at this site, and some of my favorite ones are the ones that hang out on the bottom.

We have the tangerine darter, which this time of year will still have some orange color.

We also have sculpin that kind of hang out down under the rocks.

And if you're snorkeling by sometimes they'll come out and see you.

We have darters, green darter, Tuckasegee darters, and they're kind of under the rocks and stuff.

Many people drive over rivers and they don't think about what's under the water, and it's not until you get them under the water until their eyes open up and see that it's a whole new fascinating world that they never even thought was there.

[relaxing music] - I take all kind of folks snorkeling.

My first year I took more older females snorkeling, and these were, you know, they had a women's group or whether they were like a grandmother, an aunt, or just friends, but they were all retired, and they would just giggle the whole way down.

And every time they would see a darter, "I didn't know this was here.

"I thought this was something you can only "find in the ocean."

And they would see our beautiful colored-up fishes, our river chub nests with the shiners, the different colors, the oranges, the reds, the blues, the yellows.

And they were just amazed by it.

And then of course, the hellbender.

Everybody wants to see a hellbender.

The hellbender is a cool animal.

The number one thing that folks would tell me after their trips would, they would say, "I had no idea there was so much life in the river."

So we are on the Upper French Broad River in Rosman, and we are getting ready to go river snorkeling.

- Awesome, let's go see what we can find.

[cheerful music] [water gurgling] - This is called in the family Limnephilidae.

And so these are what old timers called stick bait.

- Apprehension as to whether I should get outside is always something we're trying to knock down.

Whether it's familiarity of a site, getting to that, and/or knowing what to do in that space, whether you're boating, fishing, or just going out for a hike.

The Blue Ridge Snorkel Trail has addressed that directly.

The design, both in the locations, the way people get down to the water, the way that it is messaged to the communities, is all to encompass everybody in allowance of everybody to come to that water.

These are public waters, public access points.

There's nothing private about it and there's no friction.

And it was designed to be that way.

So if you see a Blue Ridge Snorkel Trail designated site, you know that you are comfortable, you are allowed to be there, and we encourage you to go out to those sites.

The Blue Ridge Snorkel Trail as a whole, that program, that campaign brought on by Wildlife Resource Commission, has just really made this a burgeoning field.

One that a good problem to have to keep up with the demand.

We love getting people in the water.

- You can swim your way through the North Carolina mountains at 10 different locations on the Blue Ridge Snorkel Trail.

Two spots are temporarily closed after Hurricane Helene, but the rest are ready to welcome you.

Plan your trail at NCfishes.com, and look for Blue Ridge Snorkel Trail.

Well, that's it for tonight's show.

We have had a wonderful time exploring the Oak Hill Community Park and Forest here in Burke County.

Well worth a visit if you're interested in hiking, biking, or just getting out to enjoy the fresh air.

And if you've missed anything in tonight's show, remember you can always watch us again online at pbsnc.org, or you can find us on our YouTube channel.

Have a great "North Carolina Weekend" everyone.

[cheerful music] [cheerful music continues] [cheerful music continues] [cheerful music continues] [cheerful music continues] [cheerful music continues] - [Announcer] Funding for "North Carolina Weekend" is provided in part by Visit NC, dedicated to highlighting our state's natural scenic beauty, unique history, and diverse cultural attractions.

From the Blue Ridge and the Great Smoky Mountains across the Piedmont to 300 miles of barrier island beaches, you're invited to experience all the adventure and charm our state has to offer.

[musical flourish]