Bay Trail (a loop around Jones Lake, NC)
Trail photos
Author
Trail stats
- Distance
- 4.2 mi
- Elevation gain
- 7 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Easy
- Elevation loss
- 7 ft
- Max elevation
- 88 ft
- TrailRank
- 24
- Min elevation
- 63 ft
- Trail type
- Loop
- Moving time
- one hour 33 minutes
- Time
- one hour 58 minutes
- Coordinates
- 1196
- Uploaded
- April 25, 2023
- Recorded
- April 2023
near Suttons Corner, North Carolina (United States)
Viewed 20 times, downloaded 1 times
Trail photos
Itinerary description
Long description:
Officially named the Bay Trail this is a very easy, flat and well marked four mile woodland walk around Jones Lake in Jones Lake State Park four miles north of Elizabethtown, North Carolina on highway 242 (some links are at the end of the description). There is a one mile side trail (one way) halfway around to visit Salter Lake if you want a longer walk. The southwestern section also serves as a portion of North Carolina's Mountains to Sea Trail. It is easy to walk even without a Wikiloc track.
Besides at the picnic grounds there are only a couple views of the lake. The park's visitor center has a room explaining what a bay lake is and describes its geology and ecology. It is well worth a visit before walking. The northeastern half is in dense woods and, for the most part, on a graveled trail with little to bother the clumsy or a walker with moderate limp. The southwestern half is in open woodland with a lot of the walking done on a packed sand road.
We walked it clockwise starting and ending at our campsite instead of at the vistor center (marked as a waypoint). We walked in late April 2023 two days after a rain. The soil is sandy and easily drained and so the worse condition we encountered could be described as "moist".
There is no hunting in the park but along the southwestern part of the loop the trail borders a state forest where hunting is allowed. Talk to someone at the visitors center before the walk if this is a concern to you. The park does caution you about snakes and ticks but the trail is wide enough that you won't brush up against vegetation and open enough that you shouldn't be surprised by snakes. A ranger said there are lots of mosquitoes in summer but in late April we only encountered a few.
After uploading this trail I found that Wikiloc member Larry McGee has already uploaded the same trail with the title of Wikiloc's default name for this area, Suttons Corner. Starting and ending from the vistors parking lot his track skirts a bit closer to the lake in the campground area but doesn't have any better views of the lake.
Jones Lake State Park
(910) 588-4550
Website: https://www.ncparks.gov/state-parks/jones-lake-state-park
Google Maps (also has photos, reviews, etc.): https://maps.google.com/?cid=18058950580278998621&entry=gps
Officially named the Bay Trail this is a very easy, flat and well marked four mile woodland walk around Jones Lake in Jones Lake State Park four miles north of Elizabethtown, North Carolina on highway 242 (some links are at the end of the description). There is a one mile side trail (one way) halfway around to visit Salter Lake if you want a longer walk. The southwestern section also serves as a portion of North Carolina's Mountains to Sea Trail. It is easy to walk even without a Wikiloc track.
Besides at the picnic grounds there are only a couple views of the lake. The park's visitor center has a room explaining what a bay lake is and describes its geology and ecology. It is well worth a visit before walking. The northeastern half is in dense woods and, for the most part, on a graveled trail with little to bother the clumsy or a walker with moderate limp. The southwestern half is in open woodland with a lot of the walking done on a packed sand road.
We walked it clockwise starting and ending at our campsite instead of at the vistor center (marked as a waypoint). We walked in late April 2023 two days after a rain. The soil is sandy and easily drained and so the worse condition we encountered could be described as "moist".
There is no hunting in the park but along the southwestern part of the loop the trail borders a state forest where hunting is allowed. Talk to someone at the visitors center before the walk if this is a concern to you. The park does caution you about snakes and ticks but the trail is wide enough that you won't brush up against vegetation and open enough that you shouldn't be surprised by snakes. A ranger said there are lots of mosquitoes in summer but in late April we only encountered a few.
After uploading this trail I found that Wikiloc member Larry McGee has already uploaded the same trail with the title of Wikiloc's default name for this area, Suttons Corner. Starting and ending from the vistors parking lot his track skirts a bit closer to the lake in the campground area but doesn't have any better views of the lake.
Jones Lake State Park
(910) 588-4550
Website: https://www.ncparks.gov/state-parks/jones-lake-state-park
Google Maps (also has photos, reviews, etc.): https://maps.google.com/?cid=18058950580278998621&entry=gps
Waypoints
Information point
84 ft
State Park Visitors Center
Has an exhibit in a room about North Carolina's Bay Lakes and their geography and ecology. Normal hours are 8 to 5.
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