Nags Head Woods Ecological Preserve is the first classic hike presented in Joe Miller's book 100 Classic Hikes in North Carolina. Every vacation I must include at least one trail from this book if the driving distance is reasonable. This forest was just little over a 50-minute drive from our campground at Cape Hatteras.
The sign that lets you know that you have arrived.
It's quite surprising to find a Forest on the Outer Banks. This map shows only the specific trails we hiked, but the map doesn't include all the other trails within the 1100 acre maritime forest.
Throughout the woods is the greenest slimmest algae swampland you will ever encounter.
Cattails are nothing special to look at, but I have never seen cattails 10 feet plus tall.
Partridgeberry
Cinnamon Fern
Sweetgum
This American Beech and other plant life including several oaks estimated to be more than 500 years old is just a small sample of what you will see in Nags Head Woods. What you may or may not see but are present within this forest are "five species of salamander, fourteen species of toads and frogs, eight species of turtles, five species of lizards, and twenty species of snakes including the venomous water moccasin and timber rattler. '
The nearly 90-degrees made this 3.7-mile hike an exhausting affair. Unforturnly I forgot to take a picture of the two other brave souls who went with Aaron and me which was Logan and Kelly. They bowed out after doing the Sweetgum (2) and Center Trails (1). Aaron and I added the Blueberry Loop Trail (3) to our adventure.
There is nothing better than to relax and chill out at the campsite after a sweaty hike. Our home away from home was site 399 at Camp Hatteras RV Park.
No comments:
Post a Comment