Open to the public, the ECWA Urban Nature Preserve consists of 17 acres of floodplain forest owned and managed by the Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association. Purchased with grants from the Durham County Matching Grants Program, it now extends from Albany St. to Maryland Ave, on both sides of the creek. The Preserve complements two city parks, Indian Trail Park and Westover Park, that border it at either end.
Since the initial purchase, in 2000, some 300 volunteers have transformed the Albany Street end of the preserve from an impenetrable thicket of invasive exotic plants into an oasis for people and native plant diversity. Neighbors and ECWA members, with help from volunteer groups like ScienceStars and the Sierra Club, cleared out exotics and built the nature path that now winds through a portion of the preserve. Educational signage and a kiosk aid self-guided tours. Represented plant communities include prairie and wetland, in addition to the mature floodplain forest.
A paved trail, part of the West Ellerbe Creek Trail that will eventually extend under I-85, through Northpointe and over to the Museum of Life and Science, follows the creek through the middle of the Preserve.
Unique among city trails, its corridor is managed by ECWA for native floodplain and prairie wildflowers rather than for turfgrass. Volunteer groups from the EPA, Duke University and the Community Center of Durham have helped in this effort. Management of the trailsides has proven an opportunity for volunteers to learn basic plant ID while helping preserve Durham’s rich natural heritage.
The trail and preserve also serve as refuge for native plants rescued from development sites elsewhere in the watershed. In addition to resident wildlife like barred owls, beavers, muskrats and box turtles, the preserve provides food and resting place for migrating birds and other wildlife moving up and down the creek. Periodic sightings of wild turkey, great blue heron, deer and fox show that even an urban nature preserve can play an important role in a larger web of life.
Since acquiring the 17-Acre Wood Preserve, ECWA has acquired an additional 130 acres including the Beaver Marsh, Pearl Mill and Glennstone Preserves as well as a 4.7 acre preserve and conservation easement that is currently open to the public only for scheduled events. 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 of 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