New Hope Trail — Attraction in Pittsboro

I'm not an experienced trail hiker and I'm 81 years old, keep these in mind.

The Red Trail has a very rocky, rooty, surface. I had great difficulty maintaining footing especially on up and down hills where rain may have eroded the trail. My ankles became weaker and weaker as I walked and I slowed considerably. One trail runner passed me, I felt he was taking a chance on falling. Thankfully, I did not slip nor fall.

NB: the Red Trail description states the trail surface is "gravel". This is flat out incorrect. Not one yard of the trail is gravel.

Another reviewer remarked about beautiful views of Jordan Lake. The Red Trail has one bench in its entire length where the trail comes closest to the lake and it offers a nice view from that bench. Almost all the trail has no view of the lake at all, it is engulfed by the forest and the view is only of trees in the forest.

On 2016 Thanksgiving Friday #OptOutside, absolutely devoid of wildlife. No birds nor bird sounds, no deer, no squirrels, no snakes, no turtles, nada. i was really alone out there.

I did not enjoy hiking the Red Trail and was very happy to return to the trail head...

Had a great camping trip here with our Scout Troop. The sites are primitive, with only a picnic table and fire pit at each. There is a centrally-located mulch latrine with a potable water point shared by all the campsites in the area.

The campsites are all a few hundred feet or from the lake shore, with small unmarked trails leading down to the shore. Most of the shore line is a 6-10 foot drop to a small rocky beach, however, there are natural beaches of small, smooth gravel, sand, and clay every few hundred feet along the shore line located in draws where the water naturally drains away from the surrounding land. These small beaches are easily accessible from the campsites. We had a great day of camping, swimming, fishing, and kayaking on our little "private" beach. Venturing out on the lake in our kayaks, we discovered several more of these little beaches, many of them occupied by boaters who wanted a place to drop anchor, swim, or relax...

This is a great hike in the winter when the foliage is off the trees, providing better views on the lake. The trail is well marked an a bit hilly in some sections. Plan on navigating a fair number of roots and some rocks. It's heavily wooded, providing shade in the hot summer months. But in the summer you can expect a fair amount of boat traffic on the lake, which can detract from the peace with the noise of power boats. There are 2 loops that can be combined to do one large loop of 5.5 miles. The individual loops are about 2.7 and 3 miles each. Be aware there's a fee to enter the park in the peak season, which is maybe May through Oct??? They don't seem to charge to enter the park...