New Hope Creek Corridor Advisory Committee

Orange County Wildlife Protection Areas

(Component 10 of New Hope Corridor Open Space Master Plan)

Photos

Click to enlarge.

10A. Piney Mountain Creek and Rhodes Creek

Map · Description & Special Features · In the News · Master Plan Text

10B. Duke Forest and Upper New Hope Creek

Map · Description & Special Features · In the News · Master Plan Text

Piney Mountain Creek and Rhodes Creek

Description and Special Features

In the News

Links to news stories:

Text from 1991 New Hope Corridor Open Space Master Plan

Existing Land Use & Ownership

Various private owners

Future Land Use

Low density residential and agricultural.

Significant Resources

In Orange County north of the Korstian Division of Duke Forest, there are a few locations suitable for wildlife corridors. Piney Mountain Creek and Rhodes Creek have excellent potential as protected wildlife corridors (see Master Plan overview map). Wildlife is abundant and is accustomed to ranging over the areas and entering and leaving Duke Forest. In addition, several sites identified in the Orange County Inventory are located in these areas and should be preserved and protected.

Recommendations for Protection & Use

Take steps to preserve Orange County wildlife corridors and incorporate them into the Master Plan as an extension of the Duke Forest open areas. These corridors should remain in private ownership.
Incorporate protection of the Orange County Inventory sites into the Master Plan and plan for specific wildlife corridors in Orange County.
Sign a route from NC 751 to the Eno River State Park, following NC 10 to Pleasant Green Road, north on Pleasant Green Road across the Eno River, and entering the Park on the north side of the River. This route would be primarily along roads with off-street paths where feasible. The route could provide for both bicycle and pedestrian use.

Duke Forest and Upper New Hope Creek

Description and Special Features

This component includes the Korstian division of Duke Forest. The office of the Duke Forest sells detailed trail maps of its Korstian and other divisions. Click here for details.

Also bordering New Hope Creek in this area is the Triangle Land Conservancy's Johnston Mill Nature Preserve.

In 2008, the N.C. Department of Transportation is making plans to replace the bridge over New Hope Creek on Turkey Farm Road, adjacent to Johnston Mill. See our special page on the Turkey Farm Road Bridge for details of efforts to make sure the bridge replacement is done in a scientifically, environmentally sound manner.

In the News

Links to news stories:

Text from 1991 New Hope Corridor Open Space Master Plan

Existing Land Use & Ownership

Duke University and other private landowners

Future Land Use

Use of Duke Forest lands is subject to Duke land resource policy and, therefore, may change over time. Land adjacent to Duke Forest is now and will probably remain primarily in low-density residential and agricultural use.

In 1999, as part of the implementation of the New Hope Master Plan, the Triangle Land Conservancy acquired two tracts of land along New Hope Creek between Mt. Sinai Road and Turkey Farm Road. That land is now TLC's Johnston Mill Nature Preserve, and it is open to the public year-round.

Significant Resources

This component includes the Korstian Division of Duke Forest and the western, upstream corridors of New Hope Creek, as shown on the Master Plan overview map).

A basic assumption in the creation of the Open Space corridor concept and the New Hope Master Plan has been that the inclusion of Duke Forest and its trails is a critical part of the Master Plan. As has been noted many times, the trails in the forest are already used by hikers. Plant and animal life are plentiful and worthy of protection.

This Component of the Master Plan takes advantage of the splendid and immensely popular Alluvial Forest Trail along New Hope Creek in the Korstian Division of Duke Forest. This trail has been created by informal hiking activity and for the most part is on floodplain soils that are scoured during flood events. In several locations, the trail connects with fire roads constructed and maintained by Duke Forest crews. These roads lead out of the forest to locked gates opening onto State-maintained roads. One of the roads, Wooden Bridge Road, leads to Whitfield Road at Gate 24. Another unnamed fire road leads to Gate 25, also on Whitfield Road.

Recommendations for Protection & Use

Recognizing that Duke University has assumed the management, maintenance, and liability responsibilities for Duke Forest and its trails, the Committee recommends that the appropriate local governments consider sharing in these responsibilities in order to support the continued natural use of Duke Forest and its trails as part of the Open Space corridor.
In the future, consider taking advantage of the location of the Sunrise Drive overpass over Interstate 40 in order to connect the Duke Forest trails and roads into a northern Chapel Hill open space/greenway system.