Flower Hill Trail

Dogs Leashed

Features River/Creek · Wildflowers

Much as it did 70 years ago, Flower Hill offers a quick escape to the high country. A short, half-mile trail briefly passes across the bluffs more Piedmont-like plateau before tiptoeing atop a cliff face clustered with rhododendron. Its an stunning collection, as dense as youll find in western North Carolinas Pisgah or Nantahala national forests. Take the trail down to Moccasin Creek for an impressive bottom-up view.

With just a half mile of trail (a mile out-and-back), dont come to Flower Hill anticipating an aerobic workout (although be aware that the east end of the trail is challenging). Rather, come expecting to marvel at a geographic anomaly that once brought this tiny slice of Johnston County into national prominence.

A large group of longleaf pine are found on top of the steep bluffs along Moccasin Creek. The bluffs also lower the temperature several degrees and have allowed a plant community more commonly found in the mountains to thrive. Galax, catawba rhododendron, and other mountain species grow along the bluffs, as they have for 10,000 years since the end of the last ice age.