The Trail That Has Everything: Chinqua-Penn Walking Trail

We have found so many trails around us lately - all I can do is be grateful we live in such a beautiful state and country. For nature lovers like us, there is really no boredom when it comes to where to go next - so many choices, and now, we finally have the time. 

We usually get a different landscape with every trail we try: it could be a paved, city trail, or a dirt road, or it could be a true nature trail, not maintained much, paved with nothing but underbrush, pine needles and dead leaves. We walk sometimes by lakes, sometimes streams, sometimes farms, sometimes pastures, sometimes just trees and bushes. 

But we finally found a trail that has it all: the Chinqua-Penn Walking Trail in Residsville, NC. About an hour North from our house, the trail has been maintained by NC State University in more recent times. The trail sits on the old grounds of the Chinqua Penn Plantation, so you'd find old fixture buildings from those days, alongside gorgeous, enormous, ages-old trees, a well-maintained farm, a couple of ponds, and a beautiful, tranquil stream running right through it, complete with a couple of waterfalls. Amongst those, the "Little Niagara" fall (with emphasis on "little"), flowing over a quarried rock wall. 

The trail is about 1.7 mile long, nestled in Rockingham County, in the middle of a sleepy community. If it were to describe it in one word, it would be quiet. Or better yet, peaceful. 

The day when we explored it, there were hardly any visitors on the trail, only two other cars in the parking lot besides ours. It feels like the world has not found it yet, which suits us just fine. 

This is the first trail we have found since we moved back to NC that promptly had us both say "let's go back to it tomorrow!". 

Here are some pictures that don't do it justice, but that might entice you to visit, if you live around these parts. 

The entrance to the trail reminds you why you're here. The stained glass "quilt" pretty much summarizes what you're about to see (you can click any of the pictures to see a larger version): 

The trail is a mix of dirt road/ gravel and wooden boardwalks, and it's virtually all flat. The boards come in handy over the marshy areas: 

Some of the old fixture buildings on the property were like hidden gems, just popping around all over the place: 

The stew site (a place where they gathered for the fall Brunswick stew parties): 

A locally harvested rock bridge that dammed a koi pond:

They used the same kind of rock for the pump house which sits on the stream:

A supporter of the Trail project paid to have this "observation" platform and stair walkway in front of the bridge. It dipped bellow the bridge, and it was framed by bamboo and a kudzu wilderness. It was like walking into The Emerald City: 

This shelter was built by a group of Boy Scouts, so, it is newer than the old Plantation, but it fit in with the rest of the place nicely. We were thinking we might need to use it, because a massive thunderstorm was threatening to approach as we were walking around: 

Part of the trail meandered alongside age-old, massive trees: oaks, and elms, and maples: 

A face in one of the trees besides the trail:

We saw a handful of creatures on our walk. The place is like a private reserve for bluebirds. They are everywhere. They fly, they perch, they chase each other, they are curious and gorgeous spots of blue peppered all over the meadows: 

There was surprisingly a penury of butterflies, but then again, the wildflowers are not in full bloom yet. We did see a couple, and a couple of dragon flies and other winged friends, too: 

A sparrow was friendly and chatty:

This is one of the ponds, the more "wild" one, tucked between trees and a meadow:

The koi pond looked mostly man-made, as it was barred by the dammed bridge. It actually did have koi in it:

... and turtles:

The stream was snaking around the heart of the forest and among bamboo groves, making these pretty waterfalls now and then. The moss carpet was soft and fresh, embracing exposed roots like soft, silky gloves. It almost didn't look real:

The blackberries were almost ready:

Some squirrels were hopping about, eating acorn: 

These arrows should really read "Farm to the right", "Wild nature and forest to the left". The estate is beautifully shared by a wild nature preserve (really) and a farm. They are both equally nicely maintained and gorgeous. You can kind of see the approaching thunderstorm: 

Farmland as far as the eye can see. And much quiet, and lazy: 

This picnic spot towers over the koi pond and the bridge. The picnic table and chairs are made from the same beautiful rock as all the other fixtures. 

Click the picture to see the whole album, and if you can, make this your next outing. Hope you agree with me that you would have found a new (to you) NC gem: