CEDAR MOUNTAIN – DuPont State Recreational Forest staff will be instituting hours of operation on Nov. 2. The forest will be open from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
Hours will be posted at each of the DSRF access areas: High Falls, Hooker Falls, Corn Mill Shoals, Fawn Lake, Lake Imaging and Guion Farm.
Only forest employees and authorized persons will be allowed within the forest between closing and opening hours except under permit.
DSRF will offer permits for legitimate use of the forest after hours. Requests for permits may be submitted through the DSRF website or by email to afterhours.dsrf@ncagr.gov.
As with any permitted activity, the volume of permits issued will be based on available staff resources and observed impacts to the forest. The permit will be free of charge and must be displayed on vehicles parking at access areas and various trail entrances. The after-hours permit will allow for up to four people to use the forest, as long as they remain in a group during the permitted activity. The most current version of the DSRF after-hours policy can be found at http://ncforestservice.gov/dsrf/contacts.
There will be an introductory period between Nov. 2 and Jan. 1 in which the enforcement of the policy will be primarily through education and verbal warnings. After the introductory period, the N.C. Forest Service and local law enforcement will fully enforce the hours of operation. Violations can result in expulsion from the forest and a citation for a Class III misdemeanor.
To learn more about DuPont State Recreational Forest, visit http://ncforestservice.gov or call the forest at 828-877-6527.