[dynamic music] - Next on "North Carolina Weekend," join us from the Howell Woods Environmental Learning Center as we get outside around our state.

We'll paddle the Yadkin River, go on an eco tour in the mountains, and explore the town of Eden, 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.

[upbeat music] ♪ ♪ - Welcome to "North Carolina Weekend" everyone.

I'm Deborah Holt Noel.

And this week we're getting outside around North Carolina.

I'm at the Howell Woods Environmental Learning Center in Johnston County, owned and operated by the Johnston Community College.

This 2,800 acre outdoor classroom offers hiking, camping, fishing, hunting, and more for the public's use.

They also have live exhibits of native reptiles and birds of prey.

We'll tour Howell Woods more throughout the show, but first let's head down the Yadkin River State Paddling Trail.

- When I was younger, it wasn't as nice as it is now, but it still was a place where you could get secluded in nature and kind of lose yourself in nature.

And I mean, I think it's very important that we have those things around here in our community.

Places where people can go and just take it all in really, because as we get older and time goes on things get more industrial and you know, there's less and less places like this.

[calm music] - [Narrator] The Yadkin River Blueway Trail extends 160 miles from its headwaters in Wilkes County to the confluence with the Pee Dee River.

The blueway trail travels through Pilot Mountain State Park.

Here, two paddle-in primitive campsites give overnight visitors and opportunity to experience the park's river section up close.

- River access within the state park.

You would put in at the end of Shoals Road in the Yadkin County side.

You can drive right down to the river, put in, canoe a short distance to the campground, on the same side of the river.

Spend the night.

The sites are primitive, so there's no drinking water, you would have to bring that in, or at least have a filter.

About a third of the park, Pilot Mountain State Park, is actually the Yadkin River section.

So we're a lot more than just a mountain.

There are several islands right down the middle of the river that you can ford across the river.

There are some great trails.

The best thing about it to me is it's less crowded.

So you'll see far fewer people on those busy weekends at the river sections than you would here on the mountains.

- [Narrator] Numerous access points give visitors many opportunities to explore the Yadkin's important place in North Carolina's history.

Opposite the overnight camping section Bean Shoals reveals early attempts to build locks around the river.

- It's really named for the canal that was being built there.

You can see remains of some of the stone canal works along the Bean Shoals Canal Trail.

You also have Horn Creek Farm close by.

That property was bought as a speculation originally by the family.

And it eventually moved into a farm.

But they were speculating on the value of that canal raising the property value.

- [Narrator] Further downriver in Davidson County, Boone's Cave Park boasts a connection to pioneer Daniel Boone.

- There's some historical evidence on the Davie County side, obviously, of the Boone's family presence there.

And that is the myth of Boone's Cave Park, that at one time a young Daniel Boone hung out in the limestone caves there to hide from the local natives.

So I think some folks will, are doing their best to try to prove that legend even today.

So it's a wonderful park, lots of hiking trails, kayak access area, and campsites.

- One of the needed amenities along the Yadkin River is a place for folks to stay when they travel down the paddle trail.

So one of our key focuses in partnership with State Parks Department was to include camping platforms, riverside camping platforms, at Boone's Cave Park.

- [Narrator] Along the river, Native American fish weirs still remain.

- You got the shoals area around Pilot Mountain State Park, the beautiful area that highlights Native American fish weirs, which are prehistoric structures that are in the river that native peoples used to catch fish through.

So those are neat to check out.

- [Narrator] Yadkin riverkeeper, Edgar Miller, sees the ongoing work to protect and promote the Yadkin as vital to the region's economy and quality of life.

- Our mission simply is to protect and enhance the Yadkin River.

We refer to the Yadkin sometime as the hidden river, because really in most cases, people think of it as the county line between counties.

And people don't really think about the river being a drinking water supply for almost a million people.

So getting people on the river, making them aware of its importance to the region's economy, and of course to the environment.

So it has provided a lot of the economic engine for growth in this region.

- The Yadkin River State Trail runs through multiple access sites along the length of the Blueway.

For more information about your journey down the Yadkin River, go to yadkinriverkeeper.org.

The garden at Howell Woods features plants that are native to this region.

It's really beautiful.

Now another way to explore an ecosystem is with a guided tour.

And in the mountains of our state, Snake Root Ecotours offers all kinds of great guided adventures, as Rick Sullivan discovered on his trip to Burnsville.

[people chattering] - Yeah, my company's Snake Root Ecotours, and my passion is basically sharing the magic of the Southern Appalachian forests with people.

This is like one of the exceptional biodiversity hotspots in the whole country.

And I've always been drawn to that.

Yeah, so these are pink lady slippers, which are some of the showier of our native orchids.

- [Narrator] Tal Galton enjoys a good hike.

It's even better if there are hidden treasures like early blooming orchids.

And best yet, is a hike with enthusiastic clients who want to see and know more about the biodiversity they are immersed in.

- I do walks like we did this morning, focusing on one particular group of plants, like orchids.

I do firefly tours, which are super popular.

We see blue ghost and synchronous fireflies.

Spring wild flowers, also pretty popular.

But most of the summer I'm doing custom hikes for families.

- [Narrator] Many of those hikes include some refreshing stops along the way.

Snake Root has permissions from various landowners to offer tours that aren't always available to everyone.

- I do have permission from certain landowners and these are the private property around.

Most of my tours though are on the national forest lands.

So I have a permit to operate on the national forest.

And I do like to take people on the real off the beaten path kind of spots, so trails that aren't found on maps and such things.

Waterfalls that don't have names and creeks that most visitors would never find on their own.

- [Narrator] Basically, Tal is able to deliver whatever the clients want for any given walk in the wilderness.

Tal is a self-taught expert on flora and fauna, especially in the region of the North Carolina mountains near Mount Mitchell.

Most of his business is done in the spring, summer, and fall.

But as you can see from this early spring hike I took with him, he can find living things almost any time, and in almost any place.

And you can be sure he'll have something informational to share when he does.

- That's just a sign of how mature and how much energy they have stored up.

My goal is to really enrich that experience by helping people pay more attention to what they're seeing, and see all the special organisms that are out there, and the incredible webs of life that they create.

We have about three species of bellworts that grow here.

My passion really is sharing my knowledge and love for what's living in and what's going on in these forests.

We're learning more and more every year, like about the mycelial networks that are in the forest, like the connections between the mushrooms, and the fungi, and the plants, and the insects.

And I think what I want people to take home is a deeper appreciation for what we have in these forests.

And the really important work that the forests are doing, both for the planet.

They're, obviously there's a lot of talk right now about forests as a carbon sink, which certainly is really important these days.

But even more importantly, I think it's preserving a lot of knowledge that has come about through evolution, where there's just an immense amount of information stored in the forests, that some of it we know, and a lot of it we have yet to learn.

- Snake Root Ecotours is based in the town of Celo in the shadow of Mount Mitchell and the Black Mountains.

To contact an outdoor guide or book a nature retreat give them a call at [828] 675-2112, or visit them online at snakerootecotours.com.

I'm here with Jordan Astoske, the director of the Howell Woods Environmental Learning Center.

Jordan, this place is just gorgeous.

Tell me a little bit about this place.

- So in 1993, Rudolph Howell donated Howell Woods Environmental Learning Center to Johnston Community College.

His vision was for it to be used as an outdoor classroom for the community to have a place to recreate and learn more about their natural setting.

At Howell Woods we offer several recreational activities as well as environmental education programs, open to the public.

- Great, tell me about some of these recreational programs.

What can you do when you're a visitor out here?

- So Howell Woods, you can go hiking, fishing, camping.

We offer boat rentals on our big 75 acre lake that used to be a sand mine.

We offer lodging accommodations in our environmentally friendly cabins.

- [Deborah] Now there's a learning center part of this.

Tell me about that.

- So Howell Woods offers educational programs throughout the week, covering all the ecosystems and habitats found in Eastern North Carolina.

They can be found on our website and our Facebook page.

And we also customize programs for individual groups.

By the way, Deborah, we have a reptile and amphibian display in the learning center, would you like to go check it out?

- [Deborah] You know, I would.

- Deborah, welcome to our reptile and amphibian display.

Lyle is our resident corn snake.

He is found throughout North Carolina, mainly in our pond bottom lands.

Would you like to touch him?

- Sure, now how do I do this safely?

- Okay, so I'm gonna keep his head away from you.

And if you'll just gently touch his skin there.

- Oh, so smooth and silky.

- So as you can imagine, the kids really enjoy this part of their visit here at Howell Woods.

And if you'd like to, we can step outside to our raptor center.

- Let's do.

Yeah, let's check that out.

- All right, thank you.

- Howell Woods is a great place for birding.

And what's even cooler, the small raptor center right behind me.

Now, these birds of prey have been rescued and can't fly anymore.

So they're safe from predators here.

Speaking of flying, who hasn't wanted to fly at some point?

Well, why not try the next best thing?

The hang gliding school, where manned flight began.

[funky music] - [Billy] Why would you not wanna learn to fly?

It's one of the oldest dreams humans have ever had.

And this is the purest kind of flying there is.

It really hits some primordial urge that we all have to fly like a bird.

- [Narrator] Kitty Hawk Kites Hang Gliding School help satisfy that urge and dream to fly.

- [Billy] Kitty Hawk Kites is the largest hang gliding school in the world by a factor of probably 50.

We teach more beginners here than all the other schools combined.

- [Narrator] The school is in Jockey's Ridge State Park in Nags Head, it's near the Wright Brothers National Memorial, site of the first flight.

- Jockey's Ridge is ideal, for the same reason the Wright brothers came here.

We've got consistent wind and we've got soft sand.

Almost all aircraft have to take off and land into the wind, and hang gliders are no exception.

We're lucky that we have hills that face every direction.

If the wind changes, we just move hills.

They're called hang gliders because we hang from the wing.

We start with a ground school that's about 35 or 40 minutes long.

You're gonna be suspended in a harness, laying down in this position, in the prone position.

And you're gonna be moving your weight side to side and forward and backwards.

I do a little talk about the mechanics of how to fly the glider and a little bit about the history of our sport.

- [Narrator] That history begins with Francis Rogallo.

- [Billy] Francis Rogallo is considered the father of modern hang gliding.

He was an aeronautical engineer who worked for the NACA, which was the precursor to NASA.

- [Narrator] Rogallo designed the lightweight, flexible wing that gave birth to hang gliding.

Photos of him hang on the classroom wall.

- That's it guys.

- [Narrator] After class, students head out to the dunes.

- [Billy] Drop your elbows inside, and eyes up.

Perfect, that's how I want you most of the flight today.

All right?

- Okay.

- [Narrator] Student Debra Torrence is getting ready to take her first of five flights.

- Try hips left with all your body, all your body, shoulders.

Yeah, there you go.

Now, hips right.

Perfect, back to center.

Dig your toes into the sand.

And now push the bar up and over your head.

Michael Jackson, stand up.

Woo!

There we go.

We're clear, let's walk.

Let's jog, let's run.

Keep running, keep running, keep running, lay down.

Good, pull in a little bit.

Yeah.

Push out more.

All the way out.

Come to your feet.

Yeah!

- Oh my god, that's awesome.

- That was awesome.

- [Billy] Let's jog, let's run.

Keep running, keep running.

- [Narrator] Debra goes a little higher and a little longer on each of her flights.

- I think it was relaxing, definitely.

And I think it was getting over the initial nerves.

I thought it was amazing!

I thought their instruction beforehand was really helpful.

And then watching other people do it, of course, is great.

[peppy music] - [Billy] What I want people to walk away with is the idea that hang gliding is possible.

It's not this impossible, daredevil feat that people do only on rare occasions, and in really remote places.

Hang gliding happens all over the country.

Mere mortals commit foot launch aviations every day.

And we're here to help spread that word.

- Kitty Hawk Kites Hang Gliding School is at 302 Carolista Drive in Nags Head.

And they take flight at Jockey's Ridge State Park.

To start planning your next adventure give them a call at [252] 441-2426, or visit their website at kittyhawk.com.

If you're in the mountains this summer with the kids, we've got a really fun way to spend the day.

Head to Blowing Rock and Tweetsie Railroad where they've been thrilling kids of all ages for more than 60 years.

[upbeat music] [horn blaring] - Tweetsie Railroad has been here since 1957.

It's one of the first theme parks in the nation.

The first theme park in North Carolina.

- We've been doing this for a long time, entertaining families.

- Tweetsie's like a fun amusement park.

And you can like hang out with your friends, and family, and all that.

- [Narrator] If you're looking for a wild west adventure that includes trains, animals, rides, food, and live entertainment, Tweetsie Railroad might just be the place you're looking for.

I think that the trains are what makes Tweetsie Railroad special, that's what we're built around are the steam locomotives.

- All aboard!

Casey Jones.

Let's ride.

[horn blaring] - Tweetsie was the nickname the railroad got when it was actually an operating railroad in this area.

The train ran from Johnston City to Boone every day from 1919 to 1940.

And local residents just nicknamed it the Tweetsie.

And that's where the name came from.

- [Narrator] After East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroads ceased all narrow gauge operations, the old number 12 was the only original steam engine that survived the scrapheap.

- Well Grover Robbins started Tweetsie Railroad.

He was a huge train enthusiast.

And he found the train up in Virginia, and brought it back here to be in the mountains of North Carolina.

- [Narrator] In 1957, Tweetsie Railroad debuted with the number 12 as the main attraction.

Over the next few years, it evolved into the wild west theme park we know today.

- The train ride is like our main focal point of the park because we are called Tweetsie Railroad.

And it's a wild west show.

- It's fun.

A little fast and cool.

- You got action adventure, some comedy.

It's kind of a wild west stunt show, trying to wow the kids.

And so they'll see all kinds of horses and interaction with the guests and the customer.

And just try to entertain, and make sure everyone has a good time on their day here at Tweetsie.

[woman singing] - There's things here that never go out of style.

There's some new shows, there's some old shows.

The rides have been here since 1960.

And there's some brand new rides.

But there's things here that just are timeless, and that's what people seek out at Tweetsie Railroad.

- [Narrator] Once you've ridden the rides at the county fair, enjoy the panoramic views on the chairlift to Miner's Mountain.

Here, you can try your luck at panning for gold, ride more rides, and visit the famous Deer Park Zoo.

- It's fun, you can feed animals.

- I love goats.

[goat bleating] - Deer Park Zoo is one of the most popular attractions at Tweetsie.

Every family loves going to the Deer Park.

They go sometimes several times while they're here at Tweetsie Railroad.

It's got deer, it's got goats, it's got llamas, it's got burros, it's got emus.

There's a variety of animals up there.

- [Narrator] No need to pack a lunch because there's plenty of food options in the park.

A visit to Fudgeworks should be added to the to-do list.

Watching them make the fudge is unbelievable.

- We have traditional fudges, just like everybody does.

But we try to be creative, and we try to offer things that you just don't see in any other fudge shop.

- Well, first of all, I want our guests to enjoy their day here with their families, and take away the memories they've had with their families.

That's what we're about.

And having that time, because I think we're rushing all the time.

So they get to spend some quality time here at Tweetsie.

- Wild west family fun.

That says it all.

We're wild west, we're all about families, we're all about fun.

- Just all great.

- Tweetsie Railroad is at 300 Tweetsie Railroad Lane in Blowing Rock.

The best way to book an adventure is through their website tweetsie.com, or give them a call at [800] 526-5740.

The little town of Eden sits at the meeting of the Dan and Smith Rivers.

Once a textile town, today Eden is re-imagining itself.

And our partners at Our State magazine have captured it on camera.

Let's take a look.

[gentle music] [upbeat music] - I think Eden has a very strong sense of community.

We spend a lot of time outside.

We see many of the same people in our neighborhood, or on the greenways when we're out doing things.

So there's just a real sense that people come together and spend time together.

The most popular outdoor activities in Eden are, we've got the wonderful Smith River Greenway beside the YMCA, people bike there, they run, they walk.

My husband goes every morning, almost every morning, and sees the same people on the greenway, running and walking.

So it's really nice.

There's also a brand new greenway called the Matrimony Creek Trail, which takes you to a waterfall that's just stunning.

It's like something in the mountains, that my kids and I really enjoy that one.

And of course, there's the rivers.

So people are out kayaking.

It's fun for us when we're running sometimes, we'll be standing on the bridge, when the people are coming underneath in inner tubes, kayaks, whatever, passing by, and we're waving at 'em from the bridge.

So that's fun.

And you can't forget that Eden Drive-In.

It's a throwback to another time.

It's more than going to see a movie.

People are picnicking.

They're out there when the sun goes down, the kids are playing on the playground.

It's the kind of thing you just have to experience.

- Well, Three Rivers Outfitters was started in 2004.

We started right after the Mayo River State Park was formed.

And so we decided that we wanted to give folks an opportunity to get out on the river, whether that be the Smith River, the Dan River, the Mayo River.

And there were no other outfitters really within 25 miles of here.

Some of the things that I enjoy most about Eden, and trying to tell other folks, is its location.

It's in the foothills.

So being that close to the mountains, you're getting weather, and breezes, and temperatures that are more favorable, and especially with the rivers.

It's, the climate is a little better than if you go further south in the Piedmont.

Day-to-day, every year, there are more opportunities to do outside things, to walk on the number of trails that we have here.

We've got 100 miles of river within 25 miles of where we are this afternoon on the Smith River.

[upbeat music] - Downtown Eden is a really special place.

Got a wonderful store, The Front Porch, which is a combination of wine, food, clothes, really anything you need.

And then across the street, there's a wonderful new bakery.

The Downtown Deli is where we love to go get milkshakes and ice cream, so that's my kid's favorite.

There are just a lot of places down there to shop and spend time.

And here, I feel like we've chosen to live here because we want this pace of life, where we can relax.

I don't feel a lot of pressure about having my kids do certain things.

They live the life they wanna live, and it allows us to just enjoy it.

- To find out about more things to do in Eden, go to exploredennc.com.

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

We'd like to thank the folks at the Howell Woods Environmental Learning Center for hosting us.

This is a great place to visit.

And if you've missed anything in today's program, just remember, you can always watch us again online at pbsnc.org.

We hope you have a great North Carolina weekend everyone.

Good night.

[upbeat music] - [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.

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