Bold Moon Preserve Trail - McLeansville, NC
“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” - Maya Angelou
"Success isn't about how much money you make. It's about the difference you make in people's lives." - Michelle Obama
The Story -
On a spectacular Sunday afternoon after seeing my daughters off to college, Ginger, Sophie, and I traveled thirty minutes to McLeansville, NC for a leisurely two-mile hike at Bold Moon Preserve, a relatively new passive park in northeastern Guilford County with a storied past.
Bold Moon Preserve -
At about fifty acres, the Bold Moon Preserve is a small preserve that was recently acquired by the now-defunct Guilford County Open Space Committee using bond money designated for the protection of land for open space, water supply protection, and recreation. And although recreational activities had occurred at the preserve for several years, the official opening of the preserve was held by county staff in October 2015. Interestingly, the name of the preserve, Bold Moon, was chosen by the previous owner to honor a women’s commune that thrived on the preserve in the 1980s until the early 1990s.
Womyn’s Land -
Bold Moon Preserve once was a thriving women’s only commune based on the principles of Womyn's Land, an intentional community organized by lesbian separatists to establish a counter-cultural, women-centered space, without the presence of men. Womyn's Land communities were and are rooted in the idea that women should and must exist separately from men in order to transform a corrupt and oppressive patriarchal society. More information on Womyn’s Land can be found here.
Spill The Tea -
The Bold Moon Preserve is a short but fun lollipop trail that begins and ends at a beautiful natural area containing wildflowers, fruit trees, mature hardwoods, and two intriguing structures used by the commune. You initially walk down an old wagon road once used as a postal route until the path narrows, diving deep into the forest. Along the way, you pass several items of special interest including a large rock outcropping uncharacteristic of the area and a red oak tree and a red maple tree magically merged together. The trail continues to the fast-flowing Reedy Fork Creek with several gorgeous rapids and a picturesque shallow ford used by the wagons to cross the creek.
Wrap It Up -
The Bold Moon Preserve Trail will appeal to most everyone and is a pleasant way to spend an afternoon. I especially enjoyed the rock scrambling, tree-plank walking, the isolation (despite hearing gunshots in the distance), and spending time next to the soothing Reedy Fork Creek. I recommend taking a picnic lunch, fishing poles, and a bathing suit to make a day of it, or visit the nearby Guilford County Prison Farm or Northeast Park for additional hiking or perhaps even some disc golf!
