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Medoc Mountain State Park is just over an hour northeast of the Triangle. It's not where one would expect to find a mountain, so no surprise there's only the slightest remnant of one. Nonetheless, the park has a significant trail network and a postman route of about 31 miles and 1,600' climb.
Given a shorter and flatter route, I set the goal of finishing in under 5 hours. There was reportedly no potable water on the south side of the park, so I decided to start with the bridle trails and work my way up to the mountain bike trails and back. There'd be two 11-mile gaps between water.
Things got more interesting as I moved on to the hikers-only trails. I refilled water 11 miles in at the campground and picked up a map. As a newbie to the park, I spent some time reassessing my route, which I'd forgotten. Then it was on to tackle a fun little climb over Medoc Mountain.
Pink azaleas bloomed along the banks of Little Fishing Creek. This was another beautiful spring day to explore a state park! I made it to the park office about halfway in around 2:20. After refilling water, I studied the map and tried to make sense of an unmapped bike trail in the park.
The trail in question I believe is called the Weller Loop. It's not on the map, but obviously an official trail so I did it. I'd guess this added about a mile, making for another 11 mile gap between water. Overall, the bike trails had good footing. I tried to hurry it along aware of my slowing pace.
Now back on the hiker-only trails, I enjoyed another fun little climb up Medoc Mountain, this time partially through a tunnel of laurel. My mind was on the third and last water stop a marathon in at the picnic shelter restroom. I wrapped up with Moratock to finish in 4:55:44.
This charming park is definitely worth a visit.
NC state park postal runs:
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