Biking and Hiking the Neusiok Trail
On October 30, 2024, Bob Laney explored the Neusiok Trail in Croatan National Forest. The National Forest is between New Bern and Morehead City, NC. The trail runs 21 miles southeast from Pine Cliff Recreation Area on the Neuse River to Oyster Point Campground on the Newport River. [Note - Pine Cliff is closed to vehicle traffic for hurricane repairs and can only be accessed by this trail.
The trail section I was on goes 5.6 miles northwest of a crossing at NC Hwy 306 where there is an unmarked parking lot to Pine Cliff. It is also south of the Cherry Point Marine Air Station and east of Havelock, NC.
This trail is nice for hiking, being well cleared and maintained. There are several long wooden foot bridges traversing low lying wet lands and creeks; and several more logs thrown across short swampy areas. There are some ups and downs, but being near the coast, it has no significant hills.
My goal was to go 3.1 miles to the Copperhead Landing trail shelter and scope it out for a future backpacking trip. Other than utilizing the shelters, the trail is no good for backpacking. There is no grass nor any smooth, flat areas where a camper can put a tent. The whole forest, as far as I have seen on several hikes, is small trees, shrubs, brush and swamp.
I needed to check out the condition and useability of the shelter, and the presence of open water. The published brochures and maps say there is no potable water anywhere. There are a few places with open water which can be filtered, including the two creeks crossed at 1 mile and 1.25 miles on the trail I took today, but that is too far from the shelter to be practically useable. A call to the Ranger Station revealed that the only filterable water at a shelter is Copperhead Landing. The other shelters at Dogwood Camp and Blackjack Lodge have no water nearby.
I rode my bike to make the trip faster in scoping out the trail. About 2 miles into the trip, I realized my mistake. The trail was too rough with nearly constant roots, plus the above-mentioned hills, swamps and foot bridges which were too narrow to bike. I wore myself out trying to pedal. When my thigh muscles were exhausted, I turned around to head back to the parking lot by hiking and pushing the bike.
Then my sciatica pain kicked in, worse than is has been for several months. For a few minutes I could not bike, walk or move at all. I briefly considered my exposure to a night in the woods with no camping equipment. I did have a phone with two bars of cell coverage; and a Garmin Montana GPS with satellite access to county 911 emergency services, so I was not in mortal danger.
Eventually, with many rest stops and snacks sitting on handy stumps and logs, I mustered enough energy to hike to the parking lot. I contemplated the fact that to go into remote, semi-wilderness areas for any significant distance requires substantial physical strength and stamina. On this day I did not have enough of either trait.
I guess that is why so few of my 72-year-old friends do this kind of stuff anymore. As Janet Smith tells me, I must continue to bear down on my physical stretches, exercises, dieting and training to get good enough.
My plan is soon to return with a daypack, explore the route trail all the way to the Copperhead shelter, and then another time backpack the trail.
