by Carol Ann McCormick, Curatrix, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Herbarium
On a recent January afternoon we had the time and inclination for a walk. The day was not as bitterly cold as it had been in recent days, and while there had been rain in the morning, it looked as though the weather would clear in the early afternoon. Our time was limited — we had a two hour window in which to drive, walk, and return home. My husband suggested that we explore a segment of the Haw River Trail that we’d explored on a hot summer afternoon a year or so ago. An added draw was that we thought the trail had been extended northward since that visit, so we put our dog in her hiking harness and ventured to Saxapahaw.
No matter which portion of the Haw River Trail you choose, you are bound to get a good dose of both cultural history and natural history all in one hike. “Built on the idea of conservation through recreation, the land and paddle trails allow the community to explore and appreciate its river while helping to conserve and protect this important resource… The planned Haw River Trail (HRT) corridor extends approximately 80 miles along the Haw River from Haw River State Park on the Rockingham – Guilford County line through Alamance County to Jordan Lake State Recreational Area in Chatham County. The HRT is part of the state-wide Mountains-to-Sea Trail (MST) which allows hikers to travel across the state from Clingmans Dome to Jockey’s Ridge. Approximately 40 miles will pass through Alamance County once complete.”1 I am proud to say that I am one of the landowners helping to create a corridor for the trail.2
Since I’ve already mentioned cultural history, it is important to note that Clingmans Dome has returned to it’s original name, Kuwohi (pronounced koo-WHOA-hee) as of September 2024. The Eastern Bank of Cherokee Indians submitted a formal request to the United States Board of Geographic Names to return the mountain to it’s original name, and that request was strongly supported by both the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.3 When I go to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in April, 2025 for the annual Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage, I’ll have to remember to use the current name for the peak.
The names of many villages and waterways along the Haw River Trail — Ossipee, Altamaha, Saxapahaw — are testaments to the many Indigenous people who have lived here for centuries. The Sissipahaw, Eno, Saponi, Shakori and Catawba are just a few of the people who settled in what is now called Alamance County.4 Last year I missed going to the annual Occaneechi-Saponi Pow Wow held on the Occaneechi Tribal Grounds in central Alamance County, but it’s on my to do list for this October.5
The section of the Haw River Trail that we chose to explore in January is on the west bank of the Haw River, and north of the village of Saxapahaw. Start your adventure by parking in the lot on Saxapahaw Island Park. Lock up your vehicle, and head back to the bridge over the Haw. Turn left, and walk on the bridge (SR 2146, Church Rd) across the Haw River to the western bank. Pass the Saxapahaw United Methodist Church, and turn right on Moores Chapel Cemetery Rd (SR 2172), then bear right again onto Petty Rd (SR 2173). Walk about 70 meters, and look for a trail sign for the Haw River Trail on your right. The trail goes along the perimeter of the Saxapahaw Campground then turns northward along the bank of the river.
As we strolled, I was on the lookout for wintergreen, but then realized I was seeing a great deal of winter green. Let me clarify — while there are plants whose common name is “wintergreen” there are even more plants that remain green for most of the winter. (Note that for the plants listed below, I’ve included a link its entry in the Flora of the Southeastern United States. Each link has a map showing the plant’s range, plus photos of each plant.)
Our local “wintergreen” plant is stiped wintergreen (Chimaphila maculata), and despite its common name, it lacks any wintergreen odor or flavor. It is woody, therefore classified as a shrub, even though it rarely reaches six inches in height. Its stiff leaves are retained on the plant through the winter. You’ll have to wait until mid-summer to appreciate its delicate waxy white nodding flowers. What I think of as “true wintergreen” (Gaultheria procumbens) is another sub-shrub, barely reaching a few inches tall. Gaultheria leaves exude wintergreen odor when broken. However, as a single plant may have only 4-6 leaves, be judicious in enjoying this aspect of the plant! It is a far more rare plant in the North Carolina Piedmont, and has not been documented in Alamance County.
Wild ginger always puts on a good winter show, and we found both little heartleaf (Hexastylis minor) and little brown jugs (Hexastylis arifolia) in many places along the trail. These native plants are collectively called wild gingers, yet are not related to Zingiber officinale which I use in the kitchen. Hexastylis and Zingiber both have aromatic roots, but Hexastylis contains aristolochic acid which is toxic.6
I had not really thought of poverty oatgrass (Danthonia spicata) as being winter green, but I certainly took note of it along this section of the Haw River Trail on this winter day. Poverty oatgrass is easily recognizable year-round by the tangle of curled and twisted leaves at the base of each tuft.
We saw only one of our winter green orchids, cranefly orchid (Tipulara discolor) on this particular hike. I’m sure that rattlesnake orchid (Goodyera pubescens ) is also found along this stretch of trail, so I’ll be on the lookout next time we visit. I’ll also be on the lookout for puttyroot orchid (Aplectrum hyemale ), which is less common than the other two orchids, yet far from rare in Alamance County.
Winter green ferns were common along the trail. Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides) and ebony spleenwort (Asplenium platyneuron) were making a fine show along the entire length of this section of the Haw River Trail. “[Ebony spleenwort] is the most often encountered fern in [North Carolina], but as it is rather small, it can be overlooked by the layperson in favor of larger an more obvious species such as Christmas fern,” according to Bruce Sorrie and Harry LeGrand, Jr. Ebony spleenwort has been documented from 99 of North Carolina’s 100 counties, whereas Christmas fern has been documented from “only” 91 counties.7,8 I spotted several clumps of resurrection fern (Pleopeltis michauxiana) gracing the bases of trees along the trail. Despite the light rain earlier in the day, the fronds were resolutely curled and un-resurrected.
Plants in the canopy also participated in being winter green. American holly (Ilex opaca) is very common along the
trail, as is the common evergreen eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana). I’m sure that there were some pines along the trail, but I’m ashamed to admit that I paid them no heed. I found a good clump of bushy beard lichen (Usnea strigosa) which had fallen from the canopy to the forest floor, most likely from the branches of an oak tree.
By far the most abundant winter green plants were mosses — but alas, I am utterly ignorant about them. I can reliably identify just one moss — common apple-moss (Bartramia pomiformis), but only when it has its spore -producing “apples” on display in February and March. I am motivated to find common apple-moss along the Haw River Trail as it has yet to be documented from Alamance County. There was one large rock along the trail that was a tapestry of mosses and lichens — and now that I look at the photo again, ebony spleenwort as well! I am sure that a bryologist and a lichenologist could spend many hours examining all the wonderful moss-covered and lichen-rich rocks that are along this stretch of the Haw River Trail.
On the slope by this rock, Mark found round-lobed hepatica (Hepatica americana ) in bloom — our first of the season! Hepatica is one of the few evergreen or wintergreen plants in the Buttercup Family (Ranunculaceae). North Carolina is home to two species of Hepatica: round-lobed hepatica is common across the Piedmont, while sharp-lobed hepatica (Hepatica acutiloba) favors the higher pH soils of the mountains of North Carolina.
In addition to the Saxapahaw Mill itself, the other outstanding cultural feature on this section of the Haw River Trail is the dam. “In 1829, John Newlin, a Quaker from Snow Camp [Alamance County], purchased [a] gristmill and an adjoining 150 acres from the Thompson family. Newlin and his sons, James and Jonathan, started construction of a cotton mill in 1844 and opened the Saxapahaw Cotton Factory in 1848. The mill used water from the Haw River to drive the machinery. The [enslaved people] who dug the millrace and their families were freed by John Newlin and in 1850 taken to new homes in Logan County, Ohio, a free state. Following the Civil War, the Saxapahaw Cotton Mill went through numerous expansions and owners, including textile magnate and inventor of the Alamance Plaid, Edwin M. Holt and U.S. Senator for North Carolina, B. Everett Jordan. Waterpower became hydroelectric power in 1938 when Sellers Manufacturing built a new dam over the old dam and added a new power plant. Refurbished in 1980, the plant continues to produce clean, renewable electricity. In 1994 after nearly 150 years of manufacturing, the Saxapahaw Mill closed after damage from a tornado.”9 I remember that tornado well, as I was at home a mere three miles away. I sheltered with my infant daughter, Rose, in our interior bathroom as the storm swirled around our house. The former textile mill is now “Saxapahaw Rivermill” with residences and businesses.
As we walked Mark asked, “Does the dam still generate power? The structure at the far end looks like it is in good repair.” A Google search revealed that the dam is owned by Haw River Hydro Company, it generates 3,338.4 megawatts of power annually, and that power is distributed by Duke Energy Carolinas.10 The Saxapahaw Dam is just one of nine dams along the Haw River, the largest being the B. Everett Jordan Dam which forms Jordan Lake.11
I am looking forward to this section of the Haw River Trail extending even further northward and connecting to the completed portion at Swepsonville. One reason for my enthusiasm is that I want to explore Varnals Creek which flows from the Cane Creek Mountains in central Alamance County then joins the Haw River about mid-way between Swepsonville and Saxapahaw. When Dr. Al Radford, Harry Ahles, and Dr. Ritchie Bell were documenting plants for the Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas, Alamance County was botanized in a cursory fashion. In April and May of 1956, Radford collected plants along Varnals Creek, which he usually wrote as “Vernal Creek” on herbarium specimen labels. Among the plants he found were blunt-lobed cliff fern (Woodsia obtusa), golden-club (Orontium aquaticum) and southern barren-strawberry (Waldsteinia doniana). None of these plants been documented elsewhere in Alamance County since that spring of 1956.
We reached the northern terminus of the trail, and turned around to head back to Saxapahaw Island for our car. As we exited the trail onto Petty Road, we noted a few drops of rain. By the time we reached the bridge over the river, it was sprinkling, and we sprinted the last 50 feet to our car in steady rain.
It had been the perfect short stroll for a January afternoon. I encourage you to explore the Haw River Trail — whether by paddling or walking or a combination of the two — for a short walk or an all day excursion.
Happy Trails!
SOURCES
- Haw River Trail. https://www.hawrivertrail.org/ Accessed 30 January 2025
- Currently there is a gap of about 3 miles between a completed segment of the HRT on the E side of the Haw River S of Saxapahaw, and the land I have given as trail easement.
- https://www.nps.gov/grsm/learn/news/kuwohi-name-restored-to-the-highest-peak-in-the-smokies.htm Accessed 30 January 2025
- Native Land Digital. https://native-land.ca/ Accessed on 30 January 2025
- https://calendar.powwows.com/events/annual-occaneechi-saponi-pow-wow/
- Mahr, Susan. undated. Ginger, Zingiber officinalis. Wisconsin Horticulture, Division of Extension. https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/ginger-zingiber-officinale/ Accessed on 30 January 2025
- LeGrand, Harry, Bruce Sorrie and Tom Howard. Account for Ebony Spleenwort. Vascular Plants, North Carolina Biodiversity Project. https://nc-biodiversity.com/ Accessed on 30 January 2025
- LeGrand, Harry, Bruce Sorrie and Tom Howard. Account for Christmas Fern. Vascular Plants, North Carolina Biodiversity Project. https://nc-biodiversity.com/ Accessed on 30 January 205
- https://www.rivermillvillage.com/history
- https://hydroreform.org/hydro-project/saxapahaw-p-4509/
- Wikipedia contributors. “Haw River.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 24 May. 2023. Web. 31 Jan. 2025.