Field Trip to Stillhouse Bottom Nature Preserve, Chapel Hill FULL

Sign-up FULL.  Look for our next outing in April.

Johnny Randall, Director of Conservation Programs at the NC Botanical Garden will lead this trip to Stillhouse Bottom.

The Stillhouse Bottom natural area is the only undisturbed, steep, north-facing ravine left in Orange County according to the Inventory of Natural Areas and Wildlife Habitats for Orange County, NC (2004). Over 100 plant species have been identified.

Preservation of this site is a conservation priority for the state of North Carolina, Orange County, and the North Carolina Botanical Garden.

The Garden is currently fundraising to add to Stillhouse Bottom Nature Preserve, with the purchase of an adjacent 24.7 acre property. The site has incredible natural value and biological diversity importance. With the purchase of this property, the Garden will protect, manage, and provide public access for hiking trails, nature study, and the quiet enjoyment of the natural world. The existing Stillhouse Bottom site is accessible by guided tour only due to site sensitivity and steep slopes – the original part of the site will remain without trails.

Trip limited to 15 people. Sign up here to register if you plan to attend.   Directions to meeting place will be sent to those registered a day or two before the trip.  Parking is very limited at the site so we may need to carpool from a nearby meeting place.  For everyone’s safety, covid vaccinations and mask wearing will be required when in close quarters.

As noted above, the preserve we will visit has no trails.  We will walk on steep slopes and on very uneven ground. The leaf litter makes it difficult to see some tripping hazards and depressions.  So wear sturdy shoes!

For more information about the proposed addition to the Nature Preserve, and how you can contribute, visit  https://ncbg.unc.edu/2021/12/16/raney-property/