Beaver Dam Creek Trail

Beaver Dam Trail Jigsaw Puzzle

This is a great little hike right in the town of Hillsville. Here is the description of the trail from the Virginia Wildlife and Birding Guide which is now available online.

"Elevation: 2288 ft. Located in the Town of Hillsville, this trail follows Beaver Dam Creek for approximately 0.75 miles. (Note: this trail has been extended since this writing so is now about 1.5 miles long.) Situated along a shrubby creek embankment with views of open fields opposite the creek, the trail meanders through some riparian hardwood habitat. The open fields lend themselves to northern bobwhite, eastern meadowlark, red-winged blackbird, American goldfinch, indigo bunting, and field and song sparrows. Also, look for the swooping flight of a hungry Copper's hawk among these fields. The brushier scrub areas along the creek may produce views of flitting brown thrasher, calling eastern towhee and meowing gray catbird. White-tailed deer are abundant throughout this community. In the summertime, look for families of wild turkey foraging along woodland edges. Black rat snake can be found basking in sunny grassy patches throughout this trail. Green frog is also common in and around the creek. Butterflies can be abundant along creek edges lined with dancing wildflowers. Look for a variety of sulphurs, skippers, and hairstreaks."

"swooping flight," "flitting brown thrasher," "meowing catbird," and "dancing wildflowers." What a literary feast!

These guides are available
here, and they are stellar little gems: Wonderful prose and exquisite illustrations. It used to be free, but now they are charging $8.50 for them which is still a steal considering what you get.It is every bit as nice or better than some guides I have seen for much more money.