Buffalo Mountain Wildflowers

Sunday morning, we checkout out of the hotel and headed to Buffalo Mountain Natural Area Preserve.  We started out on the Oak Trail that went through an area with a tremendous amount of wildflowers.

We also spotted a little snail along the trail.

There were a lot of trillium as well as rue anemone.

Wild geraniums were flowering in large patches.

It was a really scenic trail as the leaves hadn't popped out so we had nice views.

There was some Virginia saxifrage flowering along the trail.

At the top, we went left on Barrens Loop Trail to head to the summit.

Some birdsfoot violets were flowering up here.

The trail was roped off to keep visitors on the trail to avoid trampling sensitive vegetation.

The views from the summit, highest point in Floyd County, were beautiful.

From the top, it was a short scramble down to make the loop and then we headed back down the Ridge Trail, spotting more wildflowers along the way.

We spotted some mountain timbleweed.

And some star chickweed.

There were lots of trillium, but only the white and rose species, I didn't see any red trillium.

We saw bloodroot along the trail, but all were done flowering.  Near the end we finally spotted a flowering bloodroot.

Then we finished up the hike back at the car.

From here, we started making our way home along US-58.  We made a quick stop at Fred Clifton Park next to Lover's Leap.

There were two overlooks here with really nice views of the Blue Ridge Mountains and valleys.

Continuing east on US-58, we got off in Martinsville and parked at Gravely Nature Preserve.  We started off on Jones Cliff Trail and passed an old tobacco barn next to the parking lot.

As we headed into the woods, we started seeing a fair number of wildflowers.

Geraniums and may apples were flowing on the forest floor.

In about a quarter-mile, we got on Rhododendron Trail and started heading down towards the river.  There were even more wildflowers as we got closer to the river, but the trillium were done.

Along the river, we found a nice bench with a view to take a short break.  A water snake was enjoying the nice weather as well.

Continuing on the trail, there as a lot of rhododendron along the steep slopes, but it was too early for blooms.

There were a number of spots to go out and get a view of the river.

The trail then headed back up and ended near the parking area.  Finishing our hike, we next went to the Marrowbone Creek River Access just up the road.  It was a short walk to Eggleston Falls or Fishers Dam.

Although it's not a natural waterfall, it was rather scenic.

We got a few pictures and then headed back.

It was just 2 hours back to Raleigh from here.