Daytripper
The Research Triangle gets its nickname from the cutting-edge research park and academic institutions shared by Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill. The area’s research-minded focus is fed by the presence of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Duke University in Durham, and Raleigh’s North Carolina State University.

If you can drag yourself away from the requisite basketball rivalries and college bars, you will be rewarded with a daytrip to boulder-strewn Eno River State Park, only eight miles northwest from downtown Durham on I-85. In 1965, the city of Durham wanted to dam the Eno River, but a group of activists successfully blocked the move, thus preserving a number of significant historical and archaeological sites, as well as one of the area’s most beautiful natural resources. The state park officially came into existence in 1975, and it now forms a 2,600-acre buffer of protected land around the river, an area populated by cedar and dogwood trees, white-tailed deer, river otters, and beavers.

Get thee to the Eno River
Photo: NC Division of Tourism, Film and Sports Development

The park contains 21 miles of woodland and riverside trails, the pick of the bunch being Bobbit’s Hole Trail, a moderately strenuous 2.7-mile loop that is particularly atmospheric at Christmas on account of the holly and berries that dot the landscape. Combining with the Cole Mill Trail, the route will lead you through shaded hardwood forest, alongside green-shrouded bluffs overhanging the river, and to one of North Carolina’s most beautiful river bends—Bobbit Hole. Stop awhile and simply enjoy the beauty of your surroundings.

Easy riders, Piedmont style
Photo: NC Division of Tourism, Film and Sports Development

Set course for the small town of Pittsboro (population 3,000) and base yourself at one of its five B&Bs. The town was founded in 1787 and still retains many of the historical charms of a bygone era. Connect with Bike Route 3, a 37-mile north to south ride through Chatham County’s bucolic farmland that joins the towns of Bynum, Pittsboro, and Goldston. The 36-mile-long Bike Route 4 runs just north of Pittsboro in an east to west direction, threading through the county’s dairy farmland and into Siler City, a town prized for its examples of Victorian architecture.

Alternatively, peddle eastwards to Jordan Lake, a 46,768-acre watery expanse that is the summertime roost for bald eagles, best seen at the northern end of the lake at either dusk or dawn. Chatham County has established two connector routes for cyclists wishing to access the lake; be careful on some sections as you will be sharing the road with vehicular traffic. Jordan State Recreation Area itself has a number of biking and hiking trails, as well as good spots for fishing and paddling. The recommended seasons for bike touring are spring and fall.