Roanoke Valley — Medoc Mountain, Kerr Lake & Historic Halifax

The rolling northern Piedmont above Raleigh holds a quiet trio of destinations that string together into an easygoing three-day loop through the Roanoke River watershed: an ancient worn-down mountain, the state's largest reservoir, and one of colonial North Carolina's most important towns. Day one climbs Medoc Mountain State Park, the eroded stub of a mountain range far older than the Appalachians, whose slopes above Little Fishing Creek were once planted with grapevines that gave the place its wine-country name. Day two spreads out along Kerr Lake, a vast reservoir on the Roanoke River straddling the Virginia line, for shoreline trails, swimming, and paddling. Day three follows the Roanoke Canal Trail along a 19th-century navigation canal to Historic Halifax, birthplace of the Halifax Resolves, before the short drive home. Nights are spent near Henderson and Roanoke Rapids. It is a relaxed, close-to-home weekend of forest, big water, and deep history.