NEW YEAR’S DAY WALK IN THE WOODS

HICKORY HOLLOW NATURAL AREA PRESERVE

Lancaster, VA

January 1, 2024, at 2 pm 

New Year’s Day is the perfect day, to get outside for a stroll and start the New Year off naturally and focused on our native flora and fauna.  A number of years ago the Northern Neck (NN) Chapter of the Virginia Native Plant Society began a New Year’s Day Walk at Hickory Hollow Natural Area Preserve in Lancaster County. 

Once again for the New Year, the walk is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 1 at 2-4 pm with the co-sponsorship of the NN Audubon. The temperature will be perfect for a walk.

The goal of this walk is to get outside and see Virginia’s earliest blooming plant, Skunk Cabbage, Symplocarpus foetidus.  Hickory Hollow is home to a superb colony of skunk cabbage which usually begin blooming by New Years Day.

Hickory Hollow Natural Area Preserve with its 254 acres offers one of the best nature walks in coastal Virginia with numerous trails and various ecological communities ranging from a rare 22-acre coastal plain calcareous seepage swamp (Cabin Swamp) to a mixed pine-hardwood forest. We will walk to Cabin Swamp to check out the Skunk Cabbage blooms and enjoy the outdoors. The ravine trail down to Cabin Swamp is somewhat narrow and steep so wear sturdy shoes and carry a walking stick if you desire.

This walk is offered to all.  The walk will be led by Betsy Washington and Kevin Howe, both retired biologists and Virginia Master Naturalists.  For questions or more information, please contact nnaudubon@gmail.com. 

DRIVING DIRECTIONS to Hickory Hollow: From Kilmarnock, follow VA 3 towards Lancaster. Just before you reach Lancaster, turn right onto Regina Rd., VA 604 and Hickory Hollow will be on your left. If coming from the north, pass through Lancaster and turn left on Regina Rd. with the Preserve on your left.                   

Rising blooms of Skunk Cabbage                   

The Ravine trail to Cabin Swamp