Nature Preserves
Peaceful strolls
The region is fortunate that hundreds of acres of natural areas in both urban and rural communities have been preserved and protected from development. These preserves protect essential natural resources while providing free, year-round opportunities for low-impact recreation like hiking, walking, running, photography, bird watching, geocaching, and more.
These areas are “managed” as little as possible, and visitors are allowed in only on foot, so take a breath, slow down, and decompress while you listen to rippling creeks, leaves rustling in the soft breeze, warblers, the coo of the mourning dove, and the whistles of the cardinal, our most common bird.
Places worth protecting
Nature preserves in the Triad provide vital habitats for native plants and animals. Within the pine thickets and the oak-hickory hardwood forests, keep an eye out for white-tail deer, wild turkeys, and woodpeckers hunting insects in the trees. Along rivers and lakes, you’ll find blue herons perched in the reeds and turtles sunning themselves along the banks. Stroll along meadows filled with wildflowers, or hike along creek banks lined with maidenhair ferns, trillium, and wild blueberries. Boardwalks will take you over wetland forests home to native salamanders and past abandoned homesteads, offering traces of the humans that inhabited and farmed these areas from the late 1700s through the mid-20th century.
Some of the preserves are quiet havens tucked away within the cities of Greensboro, High Point, and Kernersville, and in these serene and restful settings, you’ll soon forget you are just a few miles outside commercial areas.
