Places to Go: Pettigrew State Park

Unlike my last post about Lake James, Pettigrew State Park is a little hidden.  Not that both aren't a decent drive get to, but Pettigrew is very much a "Oh wow look there's a state park here" kind of place.  However, it is a very nice place to visit.  Here's a few reasons why:

- Plenty of hiking is around Lake Phelps at Pettigrew SP, the second largest natural lake in NC.  The lake is not fed by any creek or river, only by rainfall.  The exact reason as to why the lake originally appeared in the first place is a mystery.  There's a swimming area, a boat dock/ramp, and plenty of fishing.  The swimming area is in about 4-6 feet of water, the lake is fairly flat, with an average depth of 4.5 feet and the deepest part being 9 feet.

- There's also a lot of hiking to be had out at Pettigrew.  Several miles of trails lead you to overlook around the shoreline of Lake Phelps.  Animals that can be seen around Lake Phelps in Pettigrew SP are deer, bear, tundra swan, bobcat, muskrat, and more!  

- Camping and picnic spots are available as well!  Camp at night and go fishing in the morning!

Dock near the boat ramp

Swimming area in Lake Phelps

Be sure to spend some time out at Pettigrew State Park when you're on the Albemarle Peninsula of NC!

Also big thanks for the Pettigrew SP Fact Sheet for providing some of the insight in this post!

Places to Go: Lake James State Park

Wherever you are, do your best to take time to see what kind of outdoor beauty is around you.  It can be as simple as a bee on a flower, bird on a feeder, or a hike in your local park.  There's plenty of places to visit that can be hidden from plain sight, you just have to look for them.

However, this is not one of those "hidden" places.  This is an NC state park!  I hadn't been to this park before, and I had the opportunity to visit Lake James State Park for a short time while in the mountains.  I'm thankful for it, as I have a good feel for where I'd like to spend more time in the park when I go back to visit for a more extended time.  

-The park already has miles of hiking trails off the two main accesses of the park.  If you like mountain biking, they've got you covered too!  Two shorter loops and two longer ones so you have choices depending on your time and ability.  There's also planning of rental cabins, RV and group camping, more trails, and when I visited, looked like a state-of-the-art new visitors center under way as well.

-Plenty of camping at the park as well, however, some of those sites are access by boat only, which can be kinda cool, gives you a sense of seclusion with no roads being right behind your tent.  

-Speaking of boats, make sure to bring your boat, kayak, or canoe.  Oh and fishing gear.  Oh and swimsuit...in the summer anyway.  Not right now, it was 32 degrees and windy...like 20-30mph gust windy.  So yeah.  BUT, once it's warm, bring that boat down!  There's plenty of fishing to be had here, with many of the popular game species existing in the lake.

If that doesn't help you decide whether you should visit the park, then well maybe I can convince you by showing you some pictures.  As soon as you drive in, you see an overlook to the Linville Gorge.

Then you get to the lake and get these views:

How's that for you?  It's quite the scenery.  It's stuff like this that make you want to go back and visit again.  To see what else the park has to offer.  To hike the trails, fish the water, camp the woods.  If you're up in the NC mountains, give Lake James a try.