Lake Norman State Park

Public Park in a Private Place

An overnight hike that rewards a visitors hours of effort with a beautiful vista isn't always what we are looking for when it comes down to it. Sometimes, as was the cast this weekend, you just want to load the dogs up in the car and get out into the woods to work your dogs out and help ensure that your boots are properly broken in. A couple of years ago before we were married, my wife surprised me by taking me on a picnic to Lake Norman State Park. Her intention was to take me up there, have us rent a canoe, and just spend the day relaxing on the water. We found out that canoe rentals only go from Memorial Day to Labor Day but spent a good amount of time walking along the trails. A couple of years later we decided to return.

Lake Norman State Park is about 30 to 40 minutes from Charlotte (depending on where in Charlotte you are originating from). As a facility it offers mountain biking trails, hiking trails, a beach set up for family style beach activities, equestrian riding trails, and boat launches. There's a ton of stuff to do here.

So down to the basics...

Parking is extremely ample and there are numerous signs in throughout the park directing you specifically to the Lake Shore Trail. I felt very secure leaving my vehicle and experienced no problems with my car (random acts of vandalism). The trail head is located at the east end of the parking area and is pretty easy to find.

Lake Shore Trail seems to be the main trail in this park (or at least the featured trail) and is nice because it can be hiked either in its entirety at 5 miles or by using a cut through trail which makes it either 3.2 miles (south bound) or 2.6 miles (north bound). This offers not only a variety of lengths but provides a lot of diversity for the hiker. The trail is very well maintained and seemed to be a high use are although there is a lot of tree root stomping. There are white blazes throughout the trail and spacing is frequent enough that it would be almost impossible to get lost. As far as the scenery goes, the Lake Shore Trail is comparable to most hiking trails in that it is a walk in the woods over some rolling hills, with one notable exception... The lake is constantly on your right (if you travel southward). This makes this average view almost magical. Looking across the lake you are greeted by seeing expensive mansions which boggle the mind, yet here you find yourself walking through this waterfront beauty that is not privately owned. The trail map lists the difficulty as moderate yet the rolling hills were very easy with no elevation changes greater than 40' within a short amount of time. We ran into several groups including dog walkers, fishing families, other hikers, and a group of either boy/cub scouts or some other type of camping troop. If you are looking for isolation, this most likely isn't the ideal place to find it.

For the people travelling with dogs, especially dogs who enjoy the water, there are countless dirt beaches with easy access from the trail to provide excellent swimming opportunities for your pets. I would be a little nervous during peak season on the lake with the motorized vehicles but during our quiet Sunday we didn't even see a paddle boat in our vicinity.

Our planned 5 mile hike was cut short due to a tired puppy but this is certainly a location where we would consider returning and coming back with the dogs. It's a great place to spend a couple of hours, enjoy some beautiful scenery, and have a good long walk with the dogs.

Difficulty: 2/10
Beauty: 6/10
Location Convenience: 8/10
Return Factor: 7/10

Physical Address of Parking Lot/Trail Head: 159 Inland Sea Lane, Troutman, NC 28166

Link to Trail Map: http://www.ncparks.gov/Visit/parks/lano/pics/parkmap.pdf

Happy Trails!

Jeremy