Lake James is located in the mountains of western NC, on the way to Asheville from Charlotte. There are tons of great trails and parks to explore within an hour of the lake, especially as you get closer to Asheville. I had hoped to do a “bigger” outing, like Chimney Rock or Mount Mitchell, but this was a “working vacation” for us so unfortunately we didn’t have time to tackle those during the week (and our weekend was spent out on the lake).
Thankfully Lake James State Park was right around the corner and offered 25 miles of trails to fulfill my hiking needs. The park is an outdoor enthusiast’s dream – camping, hiking, mountain biking, fishing, canoeing, kayaking, and paddle boarding are among the many activities you can enjoy here. The swimming beach was closed due to Covid-19, but everything else (including the bathrooms) was open.
We followed the blue triangles of the Mill’s Creek trail. This moderate trail is a 3.6 mile loop. It roughly follows the shoreline for about half of the loop and then cuts inland to circle back to the starting point.
The trail was mostly dirt and stayed in the woods, which helped keep us cool on a hot summer day. Although it was rated moderate, I (incorrectly) thought it would be relatively flat along the part that followed the shoreline. In reality, the lake was in sight most of the time but the trail went in and up quite a bit and had some steeper sections. It was still reasonable for kids but perhaps just a little more of a workout than we were expecting. There were plenty of opportunities to access the lake if you wanted to cool off or just take in the views.
My kids are usually adventurous and up for anything. Some days, they just aren’t feeling it though. Turns out this was not the right day to tackle a three and a half mile hike with my youngest, who is usually my adventure-seeking, nature-loving outdoorsman. He was just not into it. The complaining and “how much longer” started early and before we hit the mid-point I decided to cut our losses. In reality, it wouldn’t have taken us much longer to just finish the loop than it did to turn around, but mentally he needed to turn around. So we did. On the plus side, we got to stay along the lake and enjoy the views on the way back too. At least the dog and my oldest enjoyed it!
