Highlands of Roan Focus Area
Hawk Spur and Cane Creek Preserving Mountaintop Habitat and Clean Water View from SAHC’s new Hawk Spur Preserve, looking into Yellow Mountain State Natural Area
SAHC recently accepted a gift of 229-acres of land from 130 of Chatham LLC. The land is in Mitchell County, east of Bakersville, NC and just north of the community of Hawk. It includes a high elevation spur ridgeline off of Hawk Mountain, with rocky terrain and exceptional habitat and water sources. SAHC plans to own the property for the long term and manage it as a nature preserve. “The ridgeline, which runs through the center of the preserve, is known as Lightwood Mountain. It rises to 4,600 feet,” says Land Protection Director Michelle Pugliese. “It’s visible throughout the Yellow Mountain State Natural Area, and its slopes contain four headwater streams that feed into Cane Creek, a significant trout stream.” The uniquely steep ridgeline is situated between the streams of Dry Branch and Laurel Branch. Located within the Grandfather Unaka Priority Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Area (PARCA), with the northern portion of the property in the Audubon Society’s Roan Mountain Important Bird Area, the mountainous land provides excellent habitat for diverse plant and animal species.
The Hawk Spur tract contains interesting geologic features.
“This new preserve has some interesting geological features both natural and historical,” says SAHC Roan Stewardship team member Park Greer. “While walking the
4 | View from the Highlands 2023 Vol. 2 | Land Protection Updates
steep slopes, huge sections of exposed amphibolite bedrock, house sized boulders, and large crumbling cliffs greeted us at every turn. While sometimes making the trek difficult, the powdery gray hue of this metamorphic rock is beautiful as it often shows swirling patterns of the rock layers being bent and stretched under immense heat and pressure. On other parts of the property we could find outcrops of mostly white pegmatite, an igneous rock that intruded into the faults of the gray amphibolite. Pegmatite resembles a large-crystal granite with the feldspar, quartz, and mica components being many inches or feet across.”
