
DATE: Sunday, June 22, 1997                 TAG: 9706200327

SECTION: CAROLINA COAST          PAGE: 30   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: FUN IN THE SUN 

SOURCE: BY MILES DANIELS, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: BUXTON                            LENGTH:   94 lines

HIKE ON WILD SIDE: ENJOY THE BUXTON TRAIL

As a rule, I don't hike nature trails. Don't get me wrong, I love the outdoors.

But I hate snakes.

So last week I decided to face my fear and trek the Buxton Woods Nature Trail - home of the potent cottonmouth.

The Buxton Woods Nature Trail is a 3/4-mile self-guided tour through the largest forest on the Outer Banks. Complete with thick hanging vines, tall sand dunes and freshwater marshes, this trail is a nature lovers' paradise. The loop begins - and ends - near the Cape Point campground, just south of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.

The state preserves 825 acres of maritime forest in Buxton Woods.

``I love it here,'' said Dade Thornton, an eager naturalist from western North Carolina. ``I enjoy the peace of it and the large variety of plants and trees.''

Thornton is a freelance photographer who has hiked the Buxton Woods trail more than 20 times. Last week, he was hoping to photograph a cottonmouth.

Lucky for me, none showed up for the shoot.

Several other creatures like a hefty raccoon, a small gray squirrel, and a slimy lizard came out to see what strange humans were creeping through their beautiful homeland.

I'm far from a tree hugger. But the forest here was absolutely grand. I spent almost two hours lingering beneath its shady canopy.

And the plaques along the walkway helped explain what species of foliage I was observing.

Loblolly pines, the only native Outer Banks pine, line the looping path. Used for fuel, paper and lumber, these trees are easily identifiable by their long, flexible needles that are grouped in threes.

The dwarf palmetto's fan-like leaves also caught my eye. A member of the palm family, the dwarf palmetto is an American palm that approaches its northern natural limit on the Outer Banks.

To my untrained eye, Buxton Woods looked healthy and lush. So when I came upon a plaque labeled: ``Fight for Survival,'' I had to stop and read. I learned that the maritime forest ecosystem is extremely stressed due to severe environmental factors including salt, wind and erosion. The woods are about 30 miles from the mainland and are surrounded by local waters. They're only a stone's throw from the surf.

As I was reading the plaque, a family of three from Richwood, New Jersey walked by.

Like the naturalist I met earlier, they were looking for snakes.

``If you're lucky, you can see them swimming,'' Cathleen Salber, 47, said of the reptiles. ``If you don't disturb them, they won't disturb you.''

That's good for me, I thought.

Besides snakes, the Salbers said they were walking the woods trail in hopes of seeing what the islands looked like before they were developed.

A honeymooning couple from Greenville, S.C. also was drawn to the path because of the untouched environment that flanks it on all sides.

``We're into outdoors stuff,'' Jon Thackston, 21, said. ``This is a very romantic spot.''

``But this week everything's romantic,'' said Thackston's bride, Tammy.

As the trail looped around, the sand gave way to a wooden ramp that bridged the gap between dry and wet land.

Echoing from the marshland, bullfrogs seemed to be singing the bass line of an original tune. From the tree tops, mocking birds carried the melody. In the bushes, a gray squirrel brushed the rhythm with his tail.

The song of the wild was splendid as I stopped for just a minute to take it all in before heading back into my natural habitat - the developed Outer Banks. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by WILLIAM P. CANNON

The Buxton Woods Nature Trail is a nature lover's paradise. It

begins and ends near the Cape Point campground, just south of the

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.

At left: Myla Tolson, left,

a guide for Buxton Stables, takes Jeanette Keadle through the Buxton

Woods Coastal Reserve.

Graphic

HOW TO HIKE IT

BUXTON WOODS NATURE TRAIL

What: A 3/4-mile loop trail through the woods

Where: Buxton, near the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

When: Open during daylight hours