Piedmont Ridge: Potential future trails

Potential Future Piedmont Trails Projects

After leaf drop in late fall, it’s cooler, there’s less of a poison ivy threat, former and critter paths are easier to see, and there are fewer bugs. But the hearty might want to start exploring now.

Black Walnut Trail

Scyene Overlook to DART Crossing to Nowhere

Last year, Joe, a Friends of Piedmont co-founder, shared that he’d done a rough exploration for a trail from Scyene Overlook Trail to the DART service road. “Really nice trees,” he said, noting that the famous Beeman black walnut grove extended past the road.

Joe was right! At a restoration day, Daniel, Sara, and I explored the area alongside the DART service road. Large healthy trees!

By following a series of cut privets that had grown back into multiple trunks, it was evident that someone had long ago cut a trail through there!

The LiDAR shows a huge gully running through the center, which will need to be navigated around. But imagine the views and elevation changes!

Keeton Woods Loop

BOP 1 & BOP 2

Two side loops off the southern end of JJ Beeman. BOP = Big Old Pecan

A fantastic location for a short loop trail. Kristi is forming a working relationship with the golf course manager to see if perhaps they can assist us. Trails that bring more eyes to the woods behind the clubhouse benefit them.Since impending DWU pipeline work make access to much of the trails (especially the overlooks) problematic, and with the baseball field parking lot being torn up, JJ Beeman and the trails south of the golf course entry road will become more important.

I am enchanted by the forested triangle north of the golf clubhouse. It has a primeval feel, with large, decades-old vines, a thick carpet of Virginia creeper, and huge holdovers from the pecan orchard that stood there in the early 1900s. Fun and edible elderberry shrubs, and uncommon herbaceous natives like elephant’s foot and black snakeroot. There’s even a native magnolia!