In South Carolina, November is the time to discover nature. The heat has subsided, and the bugs have gone dormant, but there continue to be sunny afternoons in which you can go exploring. One of Lexington County’s best examples of nature at its best is the Peachtree Rock Nature Preserve, easily accessible west of Gaston and south of Red Bank along Route 6.
Only 30 minutes from downtown Columbia, Peachtree Rock Heritage Preserve is a great introduction to the rich biodiversity of South Carolina. On 460 acres, Peachtree Rock gets its name from the sandstone structure that looked like an inverted pyramid balancing precariously on a cliff. The rock toppled in 2015, but a smaller sandstone structure still stands in the preserve.
The preserve’s origins go back eons. The property is near the headwaters of Hunt Branch, which feeds into Second Creek and eventually the Congaree River. The land, like much of the Midlands, was once washed over by oceans, leaving behind marine fossils, beach-like sand, and intertidal deposits. At times, you will feel like you are walking through a sandy trail near the beach.
It has the only waterfall in the coastal plains and a shrub bog, an area of mucky soil that absorbs much more water than normal ground. More than 245 different plants have been identified in the preserve, some that can’t be found elsewhere in the state.
Thanks to the state’s Department of Natural Resources and The Nature Conservancy, Peachtree Rock has easy trails that take you along sandstone outcroppings. They range from the Loop of 2.5 miles to the Red Trail of 1.2 miles. Four other trails interconnect with them on the heritage preserve.
Here’s some of what you can find there, according to The Nature Conservancy, which helped create the preserve in 2004.
Plants. The sandhills and boggy conditions harbor plant life such as pines, turkey oaks, and sparkleberry bushes, along with the endangered Rayner’s blueberry. More unusual plants include the crane-fly orchid, whose flowering spike 4 to 20 inches tall appears in September. A woody goldenrod grows on drier slopes of the sandhill. Near the preserve’s waterfall are ferns and maple leaf viburnum, which grow in abundance.
Animals. Because of the wet and rocky terrain, Peachtree Rock Natural Preserve harbors creatures such as Northern Red salamanders found around creeks and streams, skinks, and several species of beetles. Birds such as red-tailed hawks, turkey vultures, blue jays, and several kinds of woodpeckers can be found in the preserve year-round. In the winter, look for the Blue-headed Vireo, the hermit thrush, a red-breasted Nuthatch, or the Cedar waxwing.
Prepare for your visit:
- Wear walking shoes or hiking boots
- Keep pets on a leash and clean up waste
- Do not touch or climb on Peachtree Rock
From Lexington, get to Peachtree Rock Heritage Preserve by taking SC 6 south 11 miles past Edmund to Peachtree Rock Road.