ECWA
Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association
  • Our Watershed
    • What is a Watershed?
    • History of the Ellerbe Creek Watershed
    • Plants & Animals
    • Stories from the Watershed
    • Ellerbe & Me
    • Blog
  • Our Preserves
    • Overview
    • 17-Acre Wood
    • The Rocks
    • Pearl Mill
    • Glennstone
    • Beaver Marsh
  • Our Work
    • Overview
    • Protect
    • Restore
    • Engage
    • Advocate
    • Creek Smart​® >
      • About Creek Smart​®
      • Downspout Disconnection
      • Cisterns
      • Rain Gardens >
        • Siting
        • Designing
        • Installing
      • Support Creek Smart​®
  • About Us
    • Our People
    • Careers
    • Our Supporters
    • History of ECWA
    • Guiding Documents
  • GET INVOLVED
    • Volunteer
    • Stewardship
    • Visit a Preserve
    • Make Your Property Creek Smart
    • Attend An Event
  • Donate

Glennstone
​Nature Preserve

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Glennstone

East Durham Glennstone Neighborhood
Glennstone Nature Preserve is an 83-acre woodland with about two miles of walking trails that connect to Falls Lake Game Lands and Ellerbe Creek.​ ​
ACCESS TRAIL MAPS

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Like all our preserves, Glennstone is home to many fascinating critters.
Learn More
With over 2 miles of trails just minutes from downtown Durham, Glennstone Preserve is a beautiful hiking destination. Hikers will discover native prairie grasses and wildflowers, a new growth forest, an old cabin site, and rocky tributary streams that feed into one of the most wild and scenic stretches of Ellerbe Creek. The eighty-three acre preserve in northeast Durham borders the Glennstone neighborhood, land protected by Army Corps of Engineers, and City of Durham property that serves as a nesting area for Great Blue Herons. Red-headed Woodpeckers are also a common sight along these trails. Join us for our annual Glennstone Memorial Day hike!

The Story of Glennstone Preserve
The Glennstone Preserve story, which began in 2002, is a beautiful example of what can be achieved when local government, developers, interested citizens, and land trusts work together to protect our watershed. Glennstone was created as a "conservation subdivision," preserving land in return for increased density of houses, keeping roads and houses away from the creek and floodplains. Today, ECWA actively manages the trails at Glennstone and works to restore native plant diversity. Like the prairie grasses and flowers that spring up after a prescribed burn, the future for Glennstone is promising. We are working towards an active Preserve Stewards community in this preserve and have received funding from REI and the Triangle Community Foundation for a new trail that will provide more access to the heron rookery.


ECWA manages Glennstone Preserve to restore forest and diabase prairie remnant ecology, and provide Durham residents with a nearby, but serene getaway. Nearly all of the preserve was logged beforehand, some years ago. The plant survey showed there to be a rich variety of native wildflowers and grasses persisting in areas that have yet to become dominated by tree saplings. Red-headed woodpeckers inhabit one area with lots of snags.  Glennstone is also home to our annual Memorial Day hike to one of the largest, most western heron rookeries around (at least that we know of).

READ MORE ABOUT PRESERVE PLANTS & ANIMALS »
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Heron rookery
Plan Your Visit
Opening Hours: Dawn to dusk year-round.

Directions & Parking: Take Glenn Road north from East Club Boulevard, about 2.2 miles. Then, turn left on Glennstone Drive (3600 Glennstone Drive, Durham, NC 27704). You can park on Glennstone Drive to access the Prairie Loop, Tributary, and Lone Pine/Woodcock Trailheads. Follow the Ellerbe Creek Trail on to U. S. Army Corp Gamelands for a shorter hike down to the creek.

Using the Durham Public Bus: There is no current bus service near this preserve. 
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​​Want to know the lie of the land? ​Download trail maps to use on-the-go.
ACCESS MAPS

ECWA protects lands that are in critical riparian areas, floodplains and wetlands along the creek, creating needed habitat for wildlife and protecting water quality by preventing urban development in these special places. 

Help us continue this vital work, which improves the quality of life of all Durham's residents.

DONATE

More Nature Preserves

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Beaver Marsh

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Pearl Mill

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The Rocks

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ECWA​
Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association

Mail: PO Box 2679
Durham, NC 27715
Office: 2600 W. Carver St., Suite C 
Durham, NC 27705
919.698.9729
info@ellerbecreek.org
​
​OUR WATERSHED

What Is a Watershed?
History of the Watershed
Plants & Animals
Stories from the Watershed
Ellerbe & Me




​OUR PRESERVES

Overview
Glennstone
Beaver Marsh
Pearl Mill
The Rocks
17-Acre Wood
Non-Public Preserves
​
​OUR WORK

Overview
Protect
Restore

Engage
Advocate


​
​ABOUT US

Our People

Our Supporters
History of ECWA
Guiding Documents
​
​GET INVOLVED

Donate
Volunteer
Visit a Preserve
Creek Smart
Attend an Event
Copyright © 2019 ECWA   |   Terms   |   Privacy
  • Our Watershed
    • What is a Watershed?
    • History of the Ellerbe Creek Watershed
    • Plants & Animals
    • Stories from the Watershed
    • Ellerbe & Me
    • Blog
  • Our Preserves
    • Overview
    • 17-Acre Wood
    • The Rocks
    • Pearl Mill
    • Glennstone
    • Beaver Marsh
  • Our Work
    • Overview
    • Protect
    • Restore
    • Engage
    • Advocate
    • Creek Smart​® >
      • About Creek Smart​®
      • Downspout Disconnection
      • Cisterns
      • Rain Gardens >
        • Siting
        • Designing
        • Installing
      • Support Creek Smart​®
  • About Us
    • Our People
    • Careers
    • Our Supporters
    • History of ECWA
    • Guiding Documents
  • GET INVOLVED
    • Volunteer
    • Stewardship
    • Visit a Preserve
    • Make Your Property Creek Smart
    • Attend An Event
  • Donate