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Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve

Weymouth Woods Preserve Map

LOCATION:
Coastal Plain
Moore County

SIZE IN ACRES:
898

INVOLVEMENT IN ACRES:
626


 Longleaf Pine
Longleaf pine, Weymouth Woods Preserve (© TNC)

TOPOGRAPHICAL MAP:
Niagara, Southern Pines

Topographical maps are available by contacting:
NC Geographical Survey.
1612 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-1612.
(919) 715-9718
www.geology.enr.state.nc.us/

ACTIVITIES & AMENITIES:
Hiking / Birding / Restrooms / Parking / Interpretive Exhibits

OWNERSHIP & ACCESS:
Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve
1024 N. Fort Bragg Road
Southern Pines, NC 28387
(910) 692-2167

SITE INFORMATION:                                              This longleaf ecosystem is open and grassy, with gentle rolling hills and longleaf pines spread across the landscape.  It contains a variety of Sandhills habitats. Turkey oak tower over wiregrass on the upland sand ridges, bottomland hardwoods and bay vegetation occur along branch heads and stream tributaries, and the park contains a small grass-sedge bog. The Boyd Estate tract is especially significant because it harbors a virgin stand of longleaf pine, in excess of 200 years old, bounded by mature black oaks.

Rare or uncommon species at Weymouth Woods include the red-cockaded woodpecker, eastern fox squirrel, Pine Barrens treefrog, and bog spicebush. Commonly seen wildlife includes salamanders, snakes, skinks, and box turtles. The park staff conducts prescribed burns to mimic the natural fires that many plants in the Sandhills region need to survive.

Paint Hill is a satellite of Weymouth Woods Preserve distinguished by its rugged topography with slopes reaching 618 feet. The name refers to the reddish clay hardpan soil that impedes the downward percolation of water, creating a habitat favored by wetland species on the upland slopes. Paint Hill has a canopy of longleaf pine, some scrub oaks, and a ground cover that includes a mix of wiregrass, creeping blueberry, and the rare Sandhills pyxie-moss, which is essentially restricted to the Sandhills region of the state.

CONSERVATION HIGHLIGHTS:
In 1963 the Conservancy and the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation sought to preserve Weymouth Woods by working with Katharine Boyd to protect her estate and establish North Carolina's first natural area in the state park system. More land was added to Weymouth Woods in 1979 with the help of Friends of Weymouth, Inc. Thanks to a series of bargain sales from the Ives family, the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation and The Nature Conservancy are working to protect the entire Paint Hill natural area.

DIRECTIONS:
Head one mile southeast from Southern Pines on US 1, turn east onto Saunders Boulevard (SR 2053), go 1.3 miles and turn left onto Bethesda Road (SR 2074). This road becomes Fort Bragg Road and the preserve entrance is located a few miles down the road on the left.