According to local lore, Daniel Boone and his family made use of the cave above the Yadkin River. If you travel through North Carolina in Davidson County or Davie County, you are guaranteed a lot of signs referencing Daniel Boone and his family as he did live there. Regardless of Daniel’s travels in the area, it’s a pleasant local park, boasting over seven miles of trails. Picnic tables and facilities are available, and I suspect it’s crowded in warmer weather. My first trip to Boone’s Cave was in January. It is an excellent time to visit.

There’s not a lot of elevation change in the park, but it does have a lot of great wooded hikes (my favorite). Some of the trails are on the Yadkin River with lots of bird watching opportunities.

We started with the Cottonwood Trail just to see the 169-foot tall Eastern Cottonwood Tree with its 219-inch circumference. A must see. We were joined by a couple of deer in this area of the forest. We also walked the Red Oak Trail (yes, the trail ends at a big red oak tree), before returning to check out the cave. The cave did not hold our interest long (it’s small), but I suspect children love it.

Because the Backcountry Trail was iced over, we took the Wildflower Trail through the woods and crossed into the Wetlands and Woodlands Trails. While still on the Wildflower Trail we made a side trip to the Overlook Loop where we could view the Yadkin River; however, there would be no view if leaves were on the trees.

Boone’s Cave Park would be an excellent day outing with the family, or a good place to have a picnic and stretch the legs when passing through.

More hiking posts by N. R. Tucker.