The White Squirrel Hiking Challenge is back. You are invited to go on 8 hikes, all on lands that Conserving Carolina has helped protect. Grow your personal connection to land conservation as you experience new trails, dramatic views, famous waterfalls, and probably some places you’ve never seen before.

If you complete all 8 hikes and you’re a Conserving Carolina member, you’ll receive an awards package including a $10 gift certificate from Mast General Store in Hendersonville, NC and an embroidered patch.

Hiking Challenge 5 features eight hikes, ranging from short strolls to strenuous treks. You can complete the hikes in any order and at your own pace. Where biking is allowed (like the Oklawaha Greenway and Weed Patch Mountain Trail), biking the trail counts.

You may have already done some of these hikes, but it’s a new experience every time. Only hikes done this October or later count toward Hiking Challenge 5.

Which hikes will you do first?

1. Bearwallow Mountain
2. DuPont State Recreational Forest—Waterfall Trifecta
3. Florence Nature Preserve—Rattlesnake Knob
4. Headwaters State Forest—Sassafrass Mountain
5. Norman Wilder Forest—Drip Falls
6. Oklawaha Greenway
7. Weed Patch Mountain Trail—Eagle Rock and the Tunnel
8. Weed Patch Mountain Trail—Grey Rock Cliff

There are more detailed instructions plus descriptions of all the hikes on the Conserving Carolina Hiking Challenge 5 page. That’s where you can go to answer FAQs, see hike descriptions and photos, and log your hikes.