C.G. Hill Park is the site of a legendary 500-year-old Tulip Poplar tree. Find the park by going northwest on Reynolda Road to Reynolda Commons Shopping Center and Yadkinville Road. Turn left on Yadkinville Road, go 2.4 miles and turn right on Grandview Drive. Look for Balsom Road to the left (obscure brown sign “C.G. Hill Park”), go 1.5 miles to park entrance.
Photo by Jean Chamberlain
Look in the pines at the entrance for migrating warblers. Eastern Phoebes have nested for several years at the bridge at the near end of the pond. In Winter, look for Brown Creeper and woodpeckers in the nearby trees.The wooded area upstream of the pond is a good place for Hermit Thrush, Pileated Woodpecker and feeding Woodcock. On summer evenings, listen for Whip-poor-will and Chuck-will’s-widow.
Forsyth County has acquired the fields and the scrub pine-cedar acres above the pond. Go to the lower end of the pond, turn right and walk up the hill. At the top of the hill, take the gravel road past the large field and walking loop. At the edge of the field in the back corner, listen for Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Northern Bobwhite and Wild Turkey. Return to the path into the scrub woods and listen for Brown Thrasher and Prairie Warbler. In Winter, check for kinglets, nuthatches, Fox Sparrow and Purple Finch.