Sandhills Hikes

I took the Wednesday before Thanksgiving off so Sandy and I could take Alex for some hikes.  We headed south towards Fayetteville for our first hike at Carvers Creek State Park.  Our first order of business was to get Alex's passport stamped.

Then we set off on Rockefeller Loop Trail heading down the old gravel road.  I was surprised to see a fair amount of fall color down here in the Sandhills.

We didn't have much up in the Triangle and most of the trees down here are pines.  As we got towards the former millpond, there were a few old buildings.

The most impressive was the Rockefeller House.  It's not open to the public currently, but may in the future following restoration.

Next to here was the Spring House where water was stored and items could be refrigerated.

The millpond was no longer - flooding in 2016 had destroyed the dam and the millpond drained.  We hiked around to where the floating overlook had been.  It was completely destroyed.  There were still some cypress trees in the creek that fed the millpond.

A creek flowed through the middle of the former millpond but most of it had dried out.

There are plans to replace the dam in the future, so one day it will hopefully be restored.  Heading back, we went right on Rockefeller Loop.

Last time we were here, it was an out-and-back, but now it was a loop that ran along the property's edge right behind some private homes.  Near the visitor center, the trail cut back across, leading across the entrance road and back to the park office.

From here, we headed to Weymouth Woods-Sandhills Nature Preserve.  Parking at the visitor center, we got Alex's passport stamped.

Then we hit the trails, taking Bower's Bog Trail to Lighter Stump Trail and heading north through the preserve.  At Pine Island Trail, we went right and got on the Equestrian Trail to hike around the perimeter of the preserve.  Like Carver's Creek, there was a lot of fall color along the trail, despite being a pine forest.

Water levels were higher than normal for autumn and it was noticeable along the creek and at Moccasin Crossing.

Past the crossing we took Gum Swamp Trail past some shrubs with pretty red foliage.

Then finished up our hike on Pine Barrens Trail.  But we had one more hike for the day.  We made the short drive over to the Paint Hill section of the park as we had never visited here before.  Starting out on the Pyxie Moss Trail, it was too late in the year to see the trail's namesake, which bloom in spring.  But we did see some other pretty pine barrens gentians blooming in a couple places.

At the far end of the loop, we followed service roads to an old cemetery.  Two grave markers were readable - a couple born in the late 19th century.

We followed the service roads back to the main trail and followed to the end at Fox Squirrel Loop.

This short loop led back to Pyxie Moss Trail near the trailhead.

Leaving the park, we headed into Pinehurst and had dinner at Hickory Tavern.  They had a nice outdoor seating area so Alex could join us.  After dinner, we made the drive home.

Thanksgiving Hikes at Weymouth Woods

This Thanksgiving, Sandy and I headed to Southern Pines to visit family for the holiday.  On the way, we stopped for a hike at Weymouth Woods-Sandhills Nature Preserve to work up an appetite.  First, we went to the Boyd Tract and parked outside the Weymouth Center.  Passing through the gardens, we saw some beautiful Japanese maples with bright orange foliage.

There was a pretty fountain here as well.

The gardens were very nice, but we decided to stroll through after hiking.  We continued across the open field and picked up the orange-blazed Round Timber Trail.  The trail follows an old roads and makes a one-mile loop around the tract.  The oldest known living longleaf pine is along the trail, but it's not marked so I'm not sure if this is the right one.

Just before the trail ends back at the meadow, we hiked a short ways on a service road to the second largest longleaf pine in North Carolina.  This tree didn't need a sign - it was a lot bigger than any other trees around.

After some pictures of this enormous tree, we headed back to the gardens and enjoyed the lovely views of the Boyd House and gardens.

When we were finished, we made the short drive over to the main section of Weymouth Woods.  We had some time to kill so we tried to hike every trail in the park, excluding the service roads.  It was such a beautiful day and the weather was just perfect and we had a very nice hike.  Along the Equestrian Trail, we saw a box turtle along the trail.

Hiking along Lighter Stump Trail, we could tell where prescribed burns had occurred recently.  Many longleaf seedlings were sprouting up in this area.

At about 330, we finished up our hike back at the visitor center and drove to Vass to visit family and eat lots and lots of turkey.

Weymouth Woods

Our next stop was Weymouth Woods in Southern Pines. It took a little over a half-hour to make the drive over and we got ready for our next hike. Weymouth Woods is a small park, actually a nature preserve and there are fewer amenities than parks. There are only about 4.5 miles of trails in the preserve, so this would take up the rest of our day until we had to go eat turkey with the family. From the visitor center, we took the Pine Barrens Trail through a lovely forest of longleaf pines.

At the intersection, we turned left to get on Gum Swamp Trail. At a couple of point along this trail, we saw some holly growing; it was just starting to produce red berries. At the next intersection, we turned left again to cross a footbridge and turned left yet again to get on Holly Road Trail.

Ultimately, this path would make a big loop around the preserve, hiking all or parts of the five trails in the preserve. Holly Road is the longest trail in the preserve and intersects with several service roads and bridle trails. I had picked up a map at the visitor center. Although the preserve is not big, having a map was helpful with the many trail intersections. We stayed on Holly Road Trail most of the way around the loop, turning left to get on Pine Island Trail, which leads through a very swampy area with several small streams and creeks together.

Three-quarters of the way through this loop, we turned left to get on Lighter Stump Trail heading back towards the visitor center. This trail is the only one in the preserve that is not a loop. I was surprised to see that there was actually a little bit of elevation gain on this trail. All the trails had been so flat today, even the mild climb on this trail was unexpected. At the end of this trail, we turned left one last time and took Bower’s Bog Trail back to the visitor center.

It was still a little too early to head over from dinner, so we did one last short hike, doing the entire Pine Barrens Trail. About half-way through the loop, we stopped to see a woodpecker. He was quite a ways away up in a tree and by the time I got the telephoto lens attached, he had flown off. I couldn’t get a good enough look to tell what kind he was, but he was definitely a woodpecker, possibly the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker. After the last loop, we had worked up quite an appetite and it was about time to head over for Thanksgiving dinner and eat lots of turkey, stuffing, and pie. We changed into more appropriate clothes in the bathrooms at the visitor center and then made our way to Vass to eat with the family.