50 & 51: Pine Solved

Piney Grove Preserve, Wakefield, Virginia

W A K E F I E L D,  V A

The irony of certain lifeforms is that their desired qualities can become a reason for their demise - an elephant’s tusk, a tiger’s coat, an oyster’s pearl, or a forest’s lumber. In colonial times, when this country was being built, the desire for long straight lumber was passionate. The predominant woodland of the southern seaboard at the time was the longleaf pine forest - a magnificent resource that extended from Williamsburg all the way to Florida. Its primary tree was the lengthy, strong, and straight longleaf pine – an ideal material for a country being built from the ground up. Felled trees from that founding forest were becoming homes, churches, and ships. And so, the desired quality of the longleaf pine nearly led to its extinction. What once covered more than 90 million acres, by 1990’s was down to a mere three million.

Route 460 in southeastern Virginia is one of two main thoroughfares between Richmond and the ocean.  It’s a busy highway but a turn south from Waverly and a short mile’s drive brings you to a quiet edge of history.  The Nature Conservancy’s Piney Grove Preserve is the first of three contiguous conservation efforts that have accumulated into 7,500 acres of remaining longleaf pine forest.  Surrounded by the population pressures of east coast living, this historic forest is now well-protected, and frankly, a delightful respite. 

I arrive at Piney Grove just before sunrise and set out on the wrong trail.  Unknowingly, I’m following a service road rather than the Constance Darden Nature Trail.  After just a few minutes of walking I realize my mistake but damn-the-torpedoes and continue on.  It’s a lovely walk along the edge of the property through towering trees and muted undergrowth.  In low spots, water pools forcing me to veer into the brushwood in search of drier footing before reconnecting with the road.  It’s a light bush-whacking and tussock-hoping challenge. 

Along the way, unmarked trail options veer west into the heart of the property, and after passing a few, the temptation is too great.  I turn west following a new trail until it reaches a vast openness where an ephemeral swamp has formed cutting off my walk.  A quick GPS check confirms this to be the dead-center of the Piney Grove Preserve.  A light drizzle begins.  I stand still and listen to the soothing trickle as water falls upon the savanna – droplets patter the bill of my blaze orange hat adding to the cacophony.  The walking has brought with it deep breaths which I notice now in the stillness.  Each breath brings a breaking of the plaque that has formed in my lungs over an extended, sedentary indoorsy period.  The wide chasms of deep breathing far back in a pristine, trickling forest are amazingly refreshing… and pine-solving.

On my return I connect with the Darden trail – my original destination – and follow its loop.  It’s a short but well-located path to give visitors a quick and holistic feel for this amazing forest.  Halfway around is an elevated platform raised above the undergrowth.  From here, in all directions visitors see, feel, and hear the purity of pine savanna – a wonderful ponder spot indeed.  Many of the trees from this view are charred at their base – a mere inconsequential scar from the process which brings to life the openness between these defiant and historic longleaf pines.

* * * *

Nate Harrison Grade in the Palomar Mountains of California.

Farmcote Lane in the Cotswolds of England.

And now Chinquapin Road through a longleaf forest just south of Waverly, Virginia.

These have been some of life’s most enjoyable drives.

Chinquapin Road is a surprisingly lovely ride between Piney Grove Preserve and the adjoining Big Woods State Forest fifteen minutes to the south.  It weaves between stands of longleaf pine affording the sensation of a galloping deer bounding through the forest – a driving pleasure like few others.  

In 2010, The Nature Conservancy sold 2,200 acres that adjoins Piney Grove to Virginia’s Department of Forestry which turned the property into the Big Woods State Forest.  It’s simply a contiguous continuation of the beauty found at Piney Grove.  South of the state forest is the Big Woods Wildlife Management Area – another 2,000 acre adjoining parcel managed by Virginia’s Department of Game & Inland Fisheries. 

The 7,500 combined acres of conservation managed by three different entities is larger in size than the cities of Williamsburg, Manassas, and Fredericksburg.  There’s plenty of room to roam in this enchanting forest.  The longleaf pine forest seems to run on indefinitely, yet most citizens are blindly unaware of this wonderland.  Drop a Virginian in the middle of these 7,500 acres and surely most would be confused when told they are still in state.  

  

My visit is an abbreviated one.  The rain has picked up.  Intermittent deluges begin and the forecast brings no hope.  I turn cautiously onto New Road which leads toward the middle of the property and the Seacorrie Swamp.  But it’s a slick muddy mess and my 2-wheel drive, low-clearance car is not the ideal vehicle for this forest road today.  I stop and turn back when my comfort runs out, but then find a relatively safe pullover near the Canyon Path trailhead.  I step out into the rain for a quick feel, and a last taste of pine.  It’s as beautiful here as it is while walking the wrong path in Piney Grove, or from the platform along the Darden trail, or while galloping along Chinquapin Road. 

Rain or shine; this last vestige of longleaf pine forest, whose namesakes reach for the stars, is simply an amazing lifeform. 

LEARN MORE ABOUT TNC’S WORK AT PINEY GROVE HERE.