On property belonging to the NC Upper Piedmont Research Station, the 1.7-mile loop winds through old-growth forest, skirts two ponds, and follows the fence lines of pastures where a prized Black Angus herd grazes. Crops are tested in fields alongside farm roads once used as carriage trails by the wealthy owners of Chinqua-Penn Plantation. Remnants of their lavish parties linger in structures built of locally quarried stone. Many birds, insects, amphibians, and small mammals call this home.