Читать книгу Five-Star Trails: Charlotte. Your Guide to the Area's Most Beautiful Hikes онлайн

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North encompasses the most diverse landscapes in the book. Many of the trails in this region are centered near or on Lake Norman. Or take an easy day hike on a mostly level greenway through University Research Park. An hour to the northwest, as you get closer to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, you find dramatic mountain terrain, rocky creeks, and waterfalls in South Mountains State Park.

East includes the University of North Carolina at Charlotte area, where you’ll find an easy stroll through the university’s botanical gardens. Within the Charlotte Beltway, Reedy Creek Nature Preserve is just far enough north of the city to have hilly terrain. As you head farther west in this eastern section, the terrain becomes more mountainous, and you will find great hiking in Morrow Mountain State Park and in the 50,640-acre Uwharrie National Forest.

South stretches down to Waxhaw, North Carolina, and includes trails around the towns of Fort Mill, North Carolina, and Lake Wylie, South Carolina, in the entries for Cane Creek Park, McAlpine Creek Park, and McDowell Nature Preserve. The terrain is less challenging in this region than in many others. But these trails are especially good for light hiking, running, and after-work or short day excursions.