Looking for alternative to Neusiok Trail

[Philsweep]

August 1 I moved onto my houseboat in New Bern, NC. Just 6 weeks before Hurricane Florence. My boat survived and most boats in my marina did as well, although the marina across the Trent River got destroyed. I decided to take a trip to the Neusiok Trail yesterday for some hiking, unfortunately you can't get to the trail head and looking at the Croatan website, after the fact, the National forest is closed for a while. I was planning on backpacking there in a few weeks but that is now out of the question. Just looking for an alternative adventure for a few days. Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks

[chknbone]

It's definitely not as close as the Croatan is to you but the Swampfox Passage/Palmetto Trail Francis Marion National Forest over in SC might be an alternative if your looking for similar terrain. The USDA Forest Service only mentions that a bridge is out and that there is a detour for it as opposed to any of it being closed:

https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/scnf...47301&actid=51

https://palmettoconservation.org/


Uwharrie in NC is only about 3 hours from New Bern. It's a lot more ups and downs with those trails though...