ECWA
Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association
  • Who We Are
    • Our Staff and Board
    • Our Volunteers
    • Our Supporters
    • Our Annual Report
    • History of Ellerbe Creek
    • Careers
  • Our Preserves
    • 17-Acre Wood
    • Beaver Marsh
    • Glennstone
    • Pearl Mill
    • The Rocks
  • Our Work
    • Preserve Stewardship
    • Water Management
    • Land Protection
    • Community Engagement
    • Advocacy
    • Creek Smart​® >
      • About Creek Smart​®
      • Make Your Property Creek Smart
      • Walking Tours
      • Downspout Disconnection
      • Cisterns
      • Rain Gardens >
        • Siting
        • Designing
        • Installing
  • Watershed Stories
  • Attend An Event
  • Donate

Our Preserves

Protected Habitats

Preserve Brochure
We started with protecting one 6-acre preserve. We now own and manage over 450 acres, including five public preserves. Three of our public preserves, 17-Acre Wood, Pearl Mill, and The Rocks, are located along paved, accessible greenways.  All of our public preserves, except Glennstone, are located in easy walking distance from public bus stops. We are actively working to add more protected land in the near future, as well as create positive Green Infrastructure in the watershed to protect and improve water quality.

ECWA's long-term goal is to establish a string of preserves from the creek's headwaters near Bennett Place to its terminus at Falls Lake. Our vision is a Durham where residents can simply walk or bike to a natural area from their home or place of business and can walk or bike across the watershed stopping at preserves, neighborhoods and points of interest along the way.

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17-Acre Wood

Watts-Hillandale Neighborhood
The Association's first preserve, 17-Acre Wood actually covers 20 acres of floodplain forest. The trail and preserve serve as refuge for native plants rescued from development sites elsewhere in the watershed.​ 
Preserve Map
LEARN MORE » ​
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Beaver Marsh

Colonial Village
Located between Club Boulevard and Interstate 85, just behind Compare Foods off Roxboro Road, Beaver Marsh is a beautiful oasis of green in an otherwise highly urbanized environment.
Preserve Map
LEARN MORE » ​

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Glennstone

East Durham Glennstone Neighborhood
Glennstone Nature Preserve is an 83-acre woodland with about three miles of walking trails that connect to Falls Lake Game Lands and Ellerbe Creek.​ ​
Preserve Map
LEARN MORE » ​

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Pearl Mill

Old North Durham and Duke Park Neighborhoods
Pearl Mill Nature Preserve is part of a corridor of wetlands and floodplain woods that surround the East Branch of the South Ellerbe Creek.
Preserve Map
LEARN MORE » ​
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The Rocks

Stadium Heights, Near Rocky Quarry Park
 The Rocks Nature Preserve is a 2-acre woodland along a scenic, rocky stretch of Ellerbe Creek. ​Named after its unique geology, The Rocks is special among ECWA nature preserves.
Preserve Map
LEARN MORE » ​
Non-Public Nature Preserves

Veasey Nature Preserve

 A 193-acre old farm that assists with filtering the water that runs into Falls Lake.

Lively Nature Preserve

One of the last remaining intact wooded lands in urban Durham.

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​Office: 904 Broad St Durham, NC 27705 | Mailing: PO Box 2679 Durham, NC 27715 
919.698.9729 | info@ellerbecreek.org
Copyright ©ECWA 
  • Who We Are
    • Our Staff and Board
    • Our Volunteers
    • Our Supporters
    • Our Annual Report
    • History of Ellerbe Creek
    • Careers
  • Our Preserves
    • 17-Acre Wood
    • Beaver Marsh
    • Glennstone
    • Pearl Mill
    • The Rocks
  • Our Work
    • Preserve Stewardship
    • Water Management
    • Land Protection
    • Community Engagement
    • Advocacy
    • Creek Smart​® >
      • About Creek Smart​®
      • Make Your Property Creek Smart
      • Walking Tours
      • Downspout Disconnection
      • Cisterns
      • Rain Gardens >
        • Siting
        • Designing
        • Installing
  • Watershed Stories
  • Attend An Event
  • Donate