Uwharrie National Forest

Week in Wilmington, NC | Hiking & Camping in Uwharrie National Forest | September 2023

Our week in Wilmington was pretty uneventful — Curtis worked every day, and we enjoyed eating at our favorite restaurants throughout the week. Curtis really enjoyed the training, and the weather was more tolerable than it was in July. On one of our evenings, we went out to dinner with the leader/organizer of the training and his wife, and we really enjoyed getting to know them and exchanging stories about our experiences traveling with the company and otherwise.

The week went by quickly, and soon we were preparing for our next leg of travel. Curtis’ next assignment was in Southeast Pennsylvania, and we had almost 2 weeks to get there. Now, it would have been a great opportunity to use the itinerary that we had created for leaving Wilmington in July, going up to the Outer Banks and into Virginia, and then driving further up the Del-Mar-Va peninsula. However, the day we were scheduled to leave was the day that a tropical storm was also making its way up the coast. Now, we could have easily waited a day or two for it to pass, but I think deep down we were just looking for a reason to return to the mountains instead. Camping would be cheaper and easier to find, and we would have much more to do. And so once again, we changed our plans to head back West!

For our first day of this road trip, we decided to just drive 3 hours to Uwharrie National Forest and stay in West Morris Campground, one we were already familiar with and expected to not be too busy. We got a late checkout to wait out the rain, then got on the road after noon. We made two stops along the way, first at Hitchcock Creek Trail in Rockingham, and then again at Roy J. Maness Nature Preserve in Troy. At Hitchcock, we enjoyed a short walk along the creek, and at the nature preserve we went for a longer walk around the lake. The skies were still overcast, but it stayed dry for us. After that, we finished the drive to West Morris Campground, where we stayed last July and Curtis stayed while backpacking last December. As expected, it wasn’t very busy and we enjoyed a cool and dry night.

The next morning, Curtis picked out a short 2 mile hike to the most scenic point along the Uwharrie Trail that he remembered from his backpacking trip. We parked at the Joe Moffitt Trailhead and hiked up to Little Long Mountain. It was a pretty easy walk, and the weather was perfect — definitely not the same experience that Curtis had! We made it to the shelter and hung out there for a bit before returning to the van. The view might be the best Curtis had while backpacking, but it still isn’t as great a view as you get from driving to the summit in Morrow Mountain State Park.

To wrap up our time in Uwharrie National Forest, Curtis brought us to Pisgah Covered Bridge, another spot he had visited on his own. After a few minutes here, we got on the road to make our way back to one of our favorite places in the East: the Blue Ridge Parkway!