Reynolds Nature Preserve

Coordinates: 33°35′56″N 84°20′54″W / 33.5989°N 84.3484°W / 33.5989; -84.3484

W. H. Reynolds Memorial Nature Preserve

Reynolds Nature Preserve is a 146-acre (59 ha) tract of protected forest located in Morrow, Georgia, United States. The nature preserve is owned and operated by Clayton County Parks and Recreation. The park has three miles (5 km) of hiking trails, a civil war era farm, native plants path, heritage garden, wildlife ponds, native azaleas, a wildflower field, and an interpretive center.

History

Huie Barn, circa 1867

Robert T.S. Huie was believed to have purchased the property that is now the Reynolds Nature Preserve around the time of the Civil War. Any history before this time was burned at the courthouse in Jonesboro, GA during Sherman's March to the Sea. The main farmhouse was originally constructed with four rooms, two upstairs and two downstairs with a chimney in the center. After the war Robert Huie added another fireplace, rooms, porches, and an attic. In the latter half of the 1920s the ever-growing naturalist, self-taught lawyer William Reynolds had purchased the property as his personal nature preserve. The Judge was known for giving tours of the preserve in his Cadillac on what are hiking trails today. At the time of his purchase there were two barns, a springhouse, spring box, corn crib, two tenant farmhouses, and the main farmhouse (closed to the public). Several of these structures, or their remains still stand today. Taking advantage of several springs on the land, the Judge constructed the five ponds during the 1930s. In 1976 Judge Reynolds donated 130 acres (53 ha) to the Clayton County government for preservation. Clayton County is the third smallest county in Georgia and the tenth most populated. The county received a federal grant from the Lands and Conservation Fund in 1979 to help provide funds to construct piers, bridges, a pavilion, and the interpretive center. The Reynolds Boards of Trustees purchased an additional 16 acres (6.5 ha) in 1997 along Jesters Creek. Today Reynolds, the bordering Morrow Greenspace Trail and the proposed Lake City Nature Preserve plan to incorporate over 300 acres (120 ha) of protected land among a sprawling Atlanta urban landscape.

Festivals

Yule log bonfire

The Reynolds Nature Preserve hosts an annual Yule Log every year on the second Friday night in December, centered in the Huie Barn. Live music is played at the amphitheater from local bands, with holiday stories by a campfire, and there is a children’s search for the Yule Log.

There is also an annual azalea festival.

Bibliography

60 hikes within 60 miles: Atlanta Randy and Pam Golden, 2005 ISBN 0897326733

References

External links

Protected areas of Georgia

Federal

National historic sites and military parks	Andersonville NHS Jimmy Carter NHS Martin Luther King Jr. NHS Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park

National monuments	Fort Frederica Fort Pulaski Ocmulgee

National forests	Chattahoochee Oconee

National wildlife refuges	Banks Lake Blackbeard Island Bond Swamp Eufaula Harris Neck Okefenokee Piedmont Savannah Wassaw Wolf Island

Wilderness areas	Big Frog Wilderness Blood Mountain Wilderness Brasstown Wilderness Cohutta Wilderness Cumberland Island National Seashore Ellicott Rock Wilderness Mark Trail Wilderness Okefenokee Wilderness Raven Cliffs Wilderness Rich Mountain Wilderness Southern Nantahala Wilderness Tray Mountain Wilderness

Wild and scenic rivers	Chattooga River

National trails	Appalachian Trail Pinhoti National Recreation Trail

Other protected areas	Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area Cumberland Island National Seashore Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve

State

Parks	Amicalola Falls Black Rock Mountain Bobby Brown Buck Shoals Chattahoochee Bend Cloudland Canyon Crooked River Don Carter Elijah Clark F.D. Roosevelt Florence Marina Fort Mountain Fort Yargo General Coffee George L. Smith George T. Bagby Georgia Veterans Gordonia-Alatamaha Hamburg Hard Labor Creek Hart High Falls Indian Springs James H. "Sloppy" Floyd John Tanner Laura S. Walker Little Ocmulgee Magnolia Springs Mistletoe Moccasin Creek Panola Mountain Providence Canyon Red Top Mountain Reed Bingham Richard B. Russell Sapelo Island Seminole Skidaway Island Smithgall Woods Sprewell Bluff Standing Boy Creek Stephen C. Foster Sweetwater Creek Tallulah Gorge Tugaloo Unicoi Victoria Bryant Vogel Watson Mill Bridge

Historic parks and sites	A.H. Stephens Chief Vann House Dahlonega Gold Museum Etowah Indian Mounds Fort McAllister Fort King George Fort Morris Hofwyl-Broadfield Plantation Jarrell Plantation Jefferson Davis Memorial Kolomoki Mounds Lapham-Patterson House Little White House New Echota Pickett's Mill Battlefield Robert Toombs House Travelers Rest Wormsloe

Forests	Baldwin Bartram Brender-Hitchiti Dixon Memorial Dawson Hightower Paulding Spirit Creek

Other	Centennial Olympic Park Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center Jekyll Island Len Foote Hike Inn Radium Springs Sapelo Island Stone Mountain Park

County,
municipal
and other

Parks	Chehaw Park Cobb County Parks McIntosh Reserve Murphey Candler Park Okefenokee Swamp Park Robert G. Hunter Memorial Park Roswell Recreation and Parks Seaborn Jones Memorial Park Shaking Rock Park

Forests and nature preserves	Autrey Mill Nature Preserve & Heritage Center Fernbank Forest Marshall Forest Morningside Nature Preserve Phinizy Swamp Nature Park Reynolds Nature Preserve

Nature and environmental education centers	Birdsong Nature Center Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center Chattahoochee Nature Center Cochran Mill Nature Center Dauset Trails Nature Center Dunwoody Nature Center Elachee Nature Science Center Georgia Nature Center Grand Bay Wetland Education Center Melvin L. Newman Wetlands Center Oatland Island Wildlife Center Oxbow Meadows Environmental Learning Center Panola Mountain State Park Nature Center Sandy Creek Nature Center Savannah-Ogeechee Canal Museum & Nature Center Tidelands Nature Center Tybee Island Marine Science Center West Atlanta Watershed Alliance Outdoor Activity Center

Georgia Department of Natural Resources
Georgia Forestry Commission (web)

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/4/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.