If you want to get outdoors this summer and fall and become familiar with some of the best trails in the cities and the county, then local parks and rec officials have come up with just the thing for you.

The Parks and Recreation Departments of Greensboro, High Point and Guilford County together with some of their community partners are hosting the “Piedmont Discovery Guided Hiking Series,” which will run from August through November of this year.

According to the series organizers, the hikes are meant to “celebrate the primitive trails, greenways, and park pathways across public open spaces in Guilford County.”

It will also promote the Piedmont Discovery smartphone app.

And you don’t have to be a hiking pro to take part: All the hikes are accessible for beginners, open to hikers of all ages, and will be led by experienced local guides.

In addition to fresh air and exercise, each participant will get some free Piedmont Discovery-branded swag.

The hikes will take place on the first Saturday of each month, starting in August.

Participation is free; however, you have to register, which you can do by visiting

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090C44ABA923A5FD0-49806042-piedmont#/

If you go on all the hikes in the series, you’ll get a very good overview of what the city and county parks have to offer in the way of trails.

Here’s the schedule:

August 3 – Chimney Run Trail at Southwest Park at 6309 Southwest Park Dr. in Greensboro.

September 7 – Nat Greene Trail at 5945 Lake Brandt Road in Greensboro.

October 5 – Piedmont Environmental Center at 1220 Penny Road in High Point.

November 2 – Mountains to Sea Trail at 3220 Amick Road in Elon.

This hiking series is sponsored by the three parks and rec departments as well as by the Friends of the Mountains to Sea Trail.

The Piedmont Discovery app is a free mobile app that works on Apple and Android phones.  The app allows people to search hundreds of local parks, trails and recreation opportunities in the region. The Piedmont Discovery app also allows users to find outdoor amenities like playgrounds, or dog parks, and even the indoor recreation facilities that are owned and run by Gibsonville, Greensboro, Guilford County, High Point, Jamestown, Oak Ridge, Pleasant Garden, Stokesdale and Summerfield.

App users can search for parks or trails closest to them, get directions, and visit local parks department websites for more information about each location.

The app also lets users search for trails based on their difficulty and terrain.

Smartphone users can download the app for free by pointing their browsers to www.piedmontdiscoveryapp.com.

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