CHAPEL HILL -- Battle Park Natural History and Restoration Tour guided by park curator Stephen Keith will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Jan. 30 at the N.C. Botanical Garden Education Center.
The public is invited to enjoy a winter hike and learn the natural history of Battle Park. Participants will take tours of the pedestrian trails, discuss the colorful history of the area, examine the flora, enjoy "Lover's Leap," the "Monarch of the Forest," "Piney Prospect" and other named locations in Battle Park. Perhaps the tour will even get to see the Battle Park volunteers working to restore the Piedmont forest.
Participants should meet on the stage of The Forest Theatre. The tour price is $10 for the public and $5 for Botanical Garden members. For more information, call (919) 962-0522 or visit http://ncbg.unc.edu.
The Botanical Garden assumed responsibility for Battle Park in 2004, at the request of UNC Chapel Hill Chancellor James Moeser.
The park is a 93-acre wooded tract on the east side of campus, downhill from Coker Arboretum. It includes one of the most awe-inspiring legacies of the university, including the stone amphitheater known as Forest Theatre.
Maps of the tract are available at information kiosks in the park.
Although not pristine forest, much of the 93-acre Battle Park consists of forest that predates the 1740 European settlement in the area. The garden has been working to restore the trails with funding supplied by UNC.
The park is named for Kemp Plummer Battle, president of UNC from 1876 to 1891, who laid out the original trail system and was a frequent visitor to the area.
There is no identified parking for Battle Park. Please use UNC visitor lots or metered parking on Country Club Road during your visit and come prepared for the weather and wearing good walking shoes
The park is located off Country Club Road, some two blocks from its intersection with N.C. 54.
