NC Trail days festival this week June 1 – 4. (Courtesy image)
The NC Trail Days festival begins this week with events for outdoor enthusiasts planned in Elkin, Jonesville and beyond. Organizers said this year’s festival will feature around 80 activities and events from Thursday through Sunday with something to appeal to everyone including hikers, bikers, paddlers, horseback riders and more.
A Trail Days welcome gathering will take place from 5 to 8 p.m. on Thursday at the Yadkin Valley Heritage and Trails Center, 257 Standard St. in Elkin. A downtown block party is planned in Elkin on Friday from 5 to 9 p.m. on West Main St. with live music and food trucks. A family fun concert is planned at the Jonesville Greenway Trailhead on Saturday at 4 p.m. with local cover band Chasin’ County Lines and The Konnection Band.
NC Trail Days will include hikes, both guided and self-guided, a 5K and 10K race, a 40-mile Cycle Ride, a horseback ride, an Archery shoot, a Yadkin River clean-up and an EMS sponsored River Water Rescue demonstration and float. The festival will also feature local arts and crafts, great food, and live music at several venues.
New events this year will seek to educate and highlight the beauty and benefits of the local trails, as well as explain how the local trails fit into a much larger trail community across the entire state. The Elkin Valley Trails Association (EVTA) provides the local focus for trail enjoyment, but it is part of a NC trails network called the Mountains-to-Sea Trail (MST), which stretches 1175 miles from the Great Smokey Mountains to the Outer Banks.
Guest speakers from across North Carolina will be in Elkin to share their experiences and explain their ongoing efforts to complete a contiguous off-road trail network. Another group of trails enthusiasts will share how the NC Trails phenomenon is being integrated into schools, ensuring the future growth, maintenance and enjoyment for a whole new generation.
The festival will include events for children pre-K thru sixth grade with hands-on educational activities led by teachers from the local area and from across the state and a vendor fair on Saturday in downtown Elkin.
Visit the website nctraildays.com to see a complete daily listing of events June 1-4.
