How we build an itinerary
Every itinerary on Carolina Weekend is checked against live sources before it goes up. We do not work from memory, and we do not fill a gap with a plausible guess. Here is what that means in practice, including where we are still catching up.
Every fact is checked against a live source
Trail names, distances, elevation, difficulty, park hours, fees, and closures are checked against official park pages, the US Forest Service, NC State Parks, the National Park Service, or the operator of the site itself, at the time we write the itinerary. Numbers come off the page, not out of our heads.
Every activity names where it came from
Each activity on an itinerary lists its source. Itineraries published since October 2026 also record the exact page address in our data, so you can open the same page we read. Earlier itineraries recorded the source name but not the address, and we are working back through those to add it.
If we cannot stand behind it, it is not in the itinerary
When a fact cannot be confirmed, we leave it out or say plainly that it is unconfirmed. We do not invent a trail, a distance, a fee, a review, or a detail that makes a trip sound better than it is.
Disagreement between sources gets stated, not averaged
When two official sources give different numbers, we tell you both rather than quietly picking one. You will see this on things like wildlife distance rules, where the park publishes one number as regulation and a longer one in its seasonal guidance.
Prices are ones we actually saw
We quote a price only from a live listing or an official page, and we say when it can change. Where we could not confirm a rate, we point you to check current booking rather than print a number that looks authoritative and is not.
You can check the work
Sources are named so you can go read them yourself, and seasonal facts come with a note on how to confirm before you drive. If you find something that is wrong or has changed, tell us and we will correct it.