We were honored to recently host a group of travel writers and influencers at Hidden Brook Sporting Club, where they experienced everything from Five Stand and skeet shooting to hiking our scenic mountain trails. Their article, originally published by Screw It Wine, Spirits & More on Substack, captures what makes Hidden Brook unique—a place where outdoor adventure, sporting traditions, and North Carolina’s natural beauty come together. We’re also grateful for the support of Triangle Around Town, which helped share the story with its audience. Read the full article below to see why so many visitors leave already planning their next trip back.
Some places in North Carolina ask very little of you. Show up, look around, maybe buy a drink, maybe take a picture, then head back home feeling like you technically did something.
Hidden Brook Sporting Club is not really that kind of place.
This is the kind of place that gets you outside, gets you moving, and, if you let it, makes you remember how much fun it is to spend a day doing something that feels a little louder, a little more active, and a whole lot less ordinary. Set on 285 acres in Wilkes County’s Brushy Mountains, Hidden Brook was built as a public sporting and outdoor destination with sporting clays, Five Stand, skeet, trap, archery, hiking, mountain biking, and fly fishing all part of the mix.
And yes, if you are wondering, the 5 Stand is a blast. Just having a gun in your hands, blowing up clays, just makes the rest of the week feel like a distant blur.
When we visited, it turned out to be one of the most fun parts of the day. There is just something about standing there with a group, tracking targets, and trying not to embarrass yourself in front of other writers and influencers that keeps the whole thing lively. Hidden Brook describes Five Stand as a fast-paced setup with five stations and six traps, sending targets from different angles and keeping every round moving. That brisk pace is part of what makes it so addictive. You do not have time to overthink it. You just have to get in there and shoot.
We also did skeet as part of the outing with a team of other writers and influencers, and that group energy really fits what Hidden Brook seems to be building. This is not just a place for hardcore sporting-clays regulars. It is positioned as a place for families, groups, corporate outings, clinics, and events, which is probably why it feels approachable, even if you are not walking in like some seasoned sporting legend with a thousand-yard stare and a custom vest.
That broader vision is part of what makes the place interesting.
Hidden Brook is not just a shooting range tucked off in the woods. The club says it was built from a long-running dream by Tracey and Kelly Dickson, a husband-and-wife team who have spent more than 30 years in shooting sports and who are both NSCA-certified instructors. Their larger plan has included building not just the shooting side, but a fuller outdoor destination with trails, event space, and lodging concepts. A 2025 profile on the Wilkes County site described plans for a 7,000-square-foot clubhouse, pro shop, and event center, plus a tiny house village for guests.
That helps explain why the place feels like it wants you to stay awhile.
One of the better surprises about Hidden Brook is that it is not all about pulling the trigger and moving on. We also went on a hike while we were there, which added a completely different side to the experience. The property has hardwood forests, open fields, a creek, and hiking trails, which give the whole place some breathing room. It is nice to be able to shift gears a little—to go from the crack of clays breaking to something quieter without ever leaving the property.
That variety is probably the biggest reason we would tell people to make time for Hidden Brook.
You are not going there for one narrow experience. You are going because it gives you options. Maybe your group wants to try sporting clays. Maybe the Five Stand ends up stealing the show. Maybe some people want to hike, maybe some want to try archery, maybe somebody in your group gets intrigued by the club’s growing fly-fishing program. Hidden Brook’s current programming also includes private lessons, clinics, leagues,, and NSCA-registered tournaments, which suggests they are trying to serve both newcomers and people who take the sport seriously.
We got to meet the owners during our visit, and that made the day feel more personal than transactional. In our case, there was also a funny little connection: Kelly and Dathan had both worked for American City Business Journals at some point, which made the whole thing feel even smaller-world in the best way. That kind of unexpected overlap is exactly the kind of detail that tends to stay with you when you write about a place later. It stops being just a destination and starts feeling like an actual story.
And Hidden Brook is still growing.
The club is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday, according to its Instagram profile, and its website actively promotes sporting clays, Five Stand, hiking, archery, mountain biking, and fly fishing, along with equipment rentals, on-site ammunition, and scheduled events. In 2026, Hidden Brook also began hosting NSCA tournaments, putting it more firmly on the map as a real player in North Carolina’s sporting-clays scene.
So why spend time here “shooting away,” as they say?
Because some places give you a passive afternoon, and some places give you a memory.
Hidden Brook feels like the second kind.
It is scenic without being sleepy. It is active without feeling intimidating. It gives you enough structure to try something new, but enough elbow room to make a whole day of it. And when you add in the mountain setting, the hiking, the range options, and the fact that 5 Stand really is just flat-out fun, it starts to feel less like a niche stop and more like one of those North Carolina places you wind up telling other people about later.
The kind where you go thinking you are just trying something different for the day, and leave already half-planning when you’ll come back.
Hidden Brook Sporting Club is located at 469 Clays Court in North Wilkesboro, and current listings also list the club’s phone number as (336) 977-7030. The club says equipment, including 12- and 20-gauge rental shotguns, eye and ear protection, and ammunition, is available on-site.
Original article published on screwitwine.substack.com