The Neusiok Trail is a

hiking trail A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or small road usually passing through a natural area. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a path or footpath is the preferred term for a pedestrian or hiking trail. The ...

located in the

Croatan National Forest The Croatan National Forest ()
, from the North Carolina Collection's website at the

Carteret County,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

. The trail traverses the forest from a sandy beach on the

Neuse River The Neuse River ( , Tuscarora: Neyuherú·kęʔkì·nęʔ) is a river rising in the Piedmont of North Carolina and emptying into Pamlico Sound below New Bern. Its total length is approximately , making it the longest river entirely contained in ...

to a

salt marsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is domin ...

on the

Newport River The Newport River is a small river in North Carolina that runs approximately twelve miles (twenty kilometers) southeast through the town of Newport with its mouth opening into Bogue Sound, between Morehead City and Beaufort. It is popular for fla ...

, and along the way, it crosses cypress swamps, hardwood ridges, longleaf-pine savannah and

pocosin A pocosin is a type of palustrine wetland with deep, acidic, sandy, peat soils. Groundwater saturates the soil except during brief seasonal dry spells and during prolonged droughts. Pocosin soils are nutrient-deficient (oligotrophic), especially ...

—shrubby bogs The entire Neusiok is part of the

Mountains-to-Sea Trail The Mountains-to-Sea State Trail (MST) is a long-distance trail for hiking and backpacking, that traverses North Carolina from the Great Smoky Mountains to the Outer Banks. The trail's western endpoint is at Clingman's Dome, where it connects ...

(MST) which spans North Carolina, and the MST in the Croatan is a designated National Recreation Trail.

History

The Neusiok Trail was created in 1971 by the Carteret County Wildlife Club. They battled briars, mud and mosquitoes for about five years to build the Neusiok Trail in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service. The club continues to help with trail improvements.

Hiking the trail

Hiking is best from October through March when the brush is thinnest and insects and snakes are sparse. The trail crosses several roads, so the trail can be shortened to suit a hiker's tastes. The trail crosses many wet areas, and despite a number of bridges and boardwalks, hikers may still need to wiktionary:wade through water. The trail can be hiked in one day, in about 7-10 hours, depending on the hiker's pace and conditioning. Wear comfortable shoes and clothing. Take at least two liters of water and snacks. Carry a rain jacket.

Navigation

The trail is marked by rectangular aluminum tags that are undamaged by regular prescribed burning. The trail is also marked in places with Mountains-to-Sea Trail signs, as well as the MST's white, circle blazes.

Lodging and camping

Hikers may camp anywhere along the trail; however, three trail shelters offer a dry refuge: * Copperhead Landing is about halfway between the Pine Cliff Picnic Area and NC 306. The area around the shelter is small and densely wooded. A small area for ground camping is located about 50 feet from the existing shelter, but there are no good spaces for hammock camping. * Dogwood Camp is less than a mile south of NC 101. This site is very large and perfect for all types of camping. There are poles in the ground set up to accommodate up to 5 hammocks, when poles are shared, as well as sturdy trees and cleared ground spaces. There are around 5 cleared, flat areas that would be perfect tent camping sites. * Blackjack Lodge is about one mile north of Mill Creek Road. Each of the three-sided shelters has a fire grill and accommodates about three people. No drinking water is available along the trail. The shelters used to have water pumps, but they have since been removed and there is no word on replacing them. The Oyster Point Campground is the southern trail-head for the Neusiok, and it is situated on the banks of the

. The year-round campground is nestled under tall

loblolly pine ''Pinus taeda'', commonly known as loblolly pine, is one of several pines native to the Southeastern United States, from East Texas to Florida, and north to southern New Jersey. The wood industry classifies the species as a southern yellow pine. ...

s, and it features 15 sites and two vault toilets. Each site has a picnic table, fire grill, parking spur,

tent pad A tent pad is a designated area at a campground site to a set up a tent. It eliminates the need to find a suitable spot to pitch a tent. Often, a tent pad is a single row of timbers forming a square that retains the fill, resembling a sandbox. ...

, and lantern post. Oyster Point also has a shallow water boat ramp which provides a launching point for boaters and anglers to access the

Intracoastal Waterway The Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) is a inland waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the United States, running from Massachusetts southward along the Atlantic Seaboard and around the southern tip of Florida, then following t ...

. Camping is not permitted at the Pine Cliff Picnic Area, the Neusiok's northern trail-head.

Hazards

Hunters sometimes walk the Neusiok, so during hunting season, October through December, hikers are recommended to wear a bright orange hat or vest. The trail passes through the habitats of the

American alligator The American alligator (''Alligator mississippiensis''), sometimes referred to colloquially as a gator or common alligator, is a large crocodilian reptile native to the Southeastern United States. It is one of the two extant species in the gen ...

and the American black bear. Venomous snakes, copperheads, cottonmouths, timber (

canebrake A canebrake or canebreak is a thicket of any of a variety of ''Arundinaria'' grasses: '' A. gigantea'', '' A. tecta'' and '' A. appalachiana''. As a bamboo, these giant grasses grow in thickets up to 24 ft tall. ''A. gigantea'' is generally ...

) and

pygmy In anthropology, pygmy peoples are ethnic groups whose average height is unusually short. The term pygmyism is used to describe the phenotype of endemic short stature (as opposed to disproportionate dwarfism occurring in isolated cases in a pop ...

rattlesnakes, live in Croatan National Forest, so hikers are recommended to look before placing their hands or feet in thick brush.

References

External links

* Carteret County Wildlife Clu
website
whose members built and help maintain the trail.
Unofficial website
with detailed information about the trail.
Official Brochure
* Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trai
website
{{NorthCarolinaTrails Protected areas of Carteret County, North Carolina Protected areas of Craven County, North Carolina Croatan National Forest Hiking trails in North Carolina