River

Cramerton has turned to the South Fork of the Catawba River, which once powered mills and was known as a hotbed of pollution, to help power the town’s revival in the wake of the textile industry.

As the Charlotte region urbanizes, what changes will take place over time in the Catawba River basin near the smaller creeks and watersheds? Two UNC Charlotte researchers hope questions like that can be answered with information they’ll start gathering, thanks to a Duke Energy Foundation grant. The $76,521 grant from the Duke Energy Water Resources […]

The trout lilies and trilliums are in full bloom, the turkeys are strutting, the smallmouth are biting, and the butterflies are flitting about in our fields and woodlands. One of the most common butterflies seen in our area is the Eastern tiger swallowtail (Papilio glaucus). Male Eastern tiger swallowtails are yellow with four black tiger […]

In neighborhoods like mine in Charlotte, squirrels are generally considered a nuisance. A dearth of predators and an abundance of acorns sustain an unnaturally large population. The scoundrels raid our birdfeeders and pilfer fruits and vegetables from our tiny food plots. (I know a woman who pops them with an airsoft rifle when they perch […]

As you kayak along the Uwharrie River, you’ll likely see longnose gar. These strange dinosaur-like creatures are hard to miss, with their large size of 2 to 3 feet, their brownish olive coloring, and long narrow snout and sharp teeth. Another species related to the gar and found in some parts of the state, but […]

When my niece and nephew were younger, they had large, shallow pans to take along on trips to the Low Water Bridge. Wading and skipping rocks were favorite pastimes on this picturesque section of the Uwharrie River, but on occasion they would also pan for gold. Grandpa provided the labor, shoveling pebbles and sediment into […]

Last summer, LandTrust of Central North Carolina staff, interns, and friends participated in the first backpacking thru hike of the full Uwharrie Recreational Trail. Thanks to more than 15 years of conservation work, this trail can now be hiked in its 40-mile entirety. We got such positive response from our first thru hike, that we […]

The Rocky River begins in Iredell County and flows through Cabarrus, Stanly, Anson and Union counties. This part of our region is very close to South Carolina and you find some interesting critters here you don’t see in other parts of the central N.C. Piedmont. One distinctive species is the Gulf Coast spiny softshell turtle […]

Years ago, a friend in Uwharrie showed me a crooked tree on his family’s property. Its trunk was bent at two right angles, creating a horizontal span about 4 feet off the ground. He said they called it their “ducker-header” tree. Their clever terminology came to mind again recently when I learned about the Trail […]