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Streamside
Forest
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Recreation/Parks
...Great Places to Play
 
Always on the lookout for appropriate public parkland, we partner with with local government agencies and others to find, purchase and preserve these natural areas.
 

Mayo River State Park,
North Carolina

DRBA volunteers were instrumental in the establishment of a new state park along the Mayo River in Rockingham County. The park study area extends to the Virginia state line, and DRBA has asked Virginia to consider studying the feasibility of establishing a state park in Henry County that would link to the Mayo River parklands in North Carolina. 

For details visit Mayo River State Park's Web site

 
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Smith River Trail System/Gravely Nature Preserve
Henry County, VA,

The Dan River Basin Association was awarded funds from The Harvest Foundation to develop the Gravely Nature Preserve in southern Henry County between Martinsville and Ridgeway. The 75-acre Preserve will be a major part of the Smith River Trails system, which will include multiuse trails, riverside parks, and boating access points at intervals along the entire river through Henry County and into North Carolina where the Smith converges with the Dan River. These funds are supporting the design and construction of nature trails and a trailhead including the necessary park facilities, as well as the publication of a brochure about the natural and cultural features of the preserve.

The Gravely Nature Preserve is completely forested, primarily with mature hardwoods, and the north facing slopes are covered with mature stands of rhododendron and laurel. The key topographic feature is a steep hogback ridge that rises about 200 feet above the river. The property also contains the Burgess family cemetery, two century-old tobacco barns, and remnants of old logging roads that can be used for trail development.

The parcel was acquired in 1981 by Richard P. Gravely, a local businessman, naturalist, and amateur archaeologist, whose will stipulated that it be maintained and preserved as “a wildlife habitat and nature conservancy.” After his death, the Gravely family gave the property to the Virginia Museum of Natural History Foundation but reserved the right to restrict its use according to the provisions of his will. Accordingly, conservation easements held by the Virginia Outdoors Foundation since 1993 restrict the property’s use to nature study and limit construction to a 3.6-acre section adjacent to the intersection with Old Mill Road .

Henry County purchased the property from the Virginia Museum of Natural History Foundation in July 2006 with the understanding that the Dan River Basin Association would help develop the property as a nature preserve open to the public for recreational and educational purposes. Henry County has further agreed to support the Gravely Nature Preserve through in-kind assistance in its construction and long-term maintenance of the preserve.

 
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Dan River Basin Association

Suite 401, 413 Church St.
Eden, NC 27288
Phone: 336.627.6270
drba.nc@danriver.org
 

Henry County
Administration Building
PO Box 7
Collinsville, VA 24078
Phone: 276-634-2545
drba.va@danriver.org

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