Family Photo Sunset on the beach. © Freepik Company S.L. - www.freepik.com
Picture getting in the car. Snacks are packed; it's a breezy, sunny day. You can roll the windows down and feel the wind on your face. There is something special about traveling in the South—the open roads, diverse landscapes, Southern charm and mouthwatering food.
Add These Stops to your List
Our southern states are full of different natural areas, including mountains, beaches, rivers, forests, marshes, and even caves! The Nature Conservancy is working on creating more welcoming, inclusive, and safe spaces where everybody can connect with nature.
Click the points on the map for a brief introduction to each preserve, then scroll down the page for a more detailed overview of each preserve on the map.
Minnesota
The two TNC preserves highlighted here feature a rare jack pine savanna and a high point in the state's prairie region that overlooks a pristine lake.
Wisconsin
In Wisconsin, find cacti blooming in the state's desert-like prairie, followed by a refreshing visit to one of Wisconsin's most pristine kettle lakes.
Illinois
In this state, you'll visit a rolling grassland where bison roam and lively wetlands that serve as a respite to hundreds of thousands of migratory birds
Indiana
In Indiana, swing by a free festival celebrating monarch butterflies, then travel down and hike one of the new trails at one of Indiana’s most scenic preserves.
Ohio
Experience Ohio's diverse natural beauty with a visit to the rolling Appalachian foothills followed by a stop at a conservation and recreation campus that's nestled within one of the largest protected wetland forests in the state.
Michigan
The final state in our road trip, Michigan takes us to a birder's paradise in a restored coastal wetland followed by a trek to the Upper Peninsula to visit the breathtaking rocky shores of Lake Huron.
RETURN
The best songs from the South
Follow this playlist and enjoy your road trip!
Whether you are traveling with a stroller or have a disability, consider adding these TNC preserves to your list of road trip stops!
Making our preserves accessible is an ongoing process and a long-term commitment. This page will be updated with more preserves and new projects as they start emerging.
North Carolina: Nags Head Woods Preserve
Nags Head Woods Preserve is located on the Outer Banks. It is home to one of the largest remaining maritime forests on the East Coast. A maritime forest is defined as a woodland habitat affected by the ocean. Something unique about this preserve is that it is shielded by two active sand dunes, which creates the perfect home for a diversity of plants and animals. Nags Head Woods has eight hiking trails, and one of those is fully accessible and ADA-compliant. This trail hosts a butterfly garden, a maritime swamp forest, a freshwater pond where you can fish and a stunning overlook of the brackish marsh.
The trail is comprised of a wooden boardwalk and concrete with two handicapped parking spaces at the trailhead.
Visit Nags Head Woods
Plan your trip, listen to the audio tour, and download the preserve's map.
More information
Explore Nags Head Woods Preserve
Virginia: Vandell Preserve at Cumberland Marsh
Vandell Preserve at Cumberland Marsh is a mixture of freshwater tidal marsh and wooded upland. The preserve provides important migratory and wintering habitat for waterfowl. It also has the world's largest population of the rare sensitive joint-vetch (Aeschynomene virginica), a member of the pea family listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act.
The preserve has an accessible parking area, a boardwalk and an observation area where you can spot bald eagles, ospreys, great blue herons and egrets.
Vandell Preserve at Cumberland Marsh
Visit Vandell Preserve at Cumberland Marsh
Plan your trip and learn more about this preserve.
More information
Florida: Tiger Creek Preserve
Tiger Creek Preserve sits on the eastern edge of Lake Wales Ridge, one of Florida’s ancient islands. Long ago, a shallow sea separated the ridge from the mainland, making it peninsular Florida’s oldest and highest landmass. This unique separation has made this preserve the perfect home for the highest concentrations of threatened and endangered plants and animals in the country—some of which exist nowhere else on Earth.
Tiger Creek Preserve is in the pilot stage of its Accessible Track Chairs Program. TNC volunteers are leading this project and have donated over 100 hours to make the trails, parking lot and office more accessible.
Visit Tiger Creek Preserve
Plan your trip, download the preserve's map, and learn more.
More information
Kentucky: Dupree Nature Preserve
Dupree Nature Preserve protects important grasslands and forestland. It provides a foraging habitat for endangered bats. Besides the biological importance of this preserve, it offers hands-on, place-based environmental outreach and education. It is located near Lexington, ensuring its accessibility to rural and urban residents, young and old. Its infrastructure and activities that do not exist at any other nature preserve in Kentucky.
Soon the Duree Preserve will include a fully accessible trail. TNC in Kentucky recently completed fundraising to build the first accessible trail. Stay tuned for the big opening around the spring of 2025.
Visit Dupree Nature Preserve
Plan your trip and learn more about the preserve.
More information
Tips for an accessible adventure
-
Plan ahead
Find the preserve that is right for you. Besides this information there are two other platforms where you can find more trails. Birdability has done an excellent job of sharing the joys of birding with people who have disabilities and ensuring that birding is accessible to everybody. Their website has a map that you can use to search for accessible birding sites close to you. Check out Birdability
Nature Right to your Inbox
Sign up to receive monthly conservation news and updates from North Carolina. Get a preview of North Carolina's Nature News email.
