Explore Preserves
Connecting People to Nature
The Future
Bashavia Creek Preserve
Owned and Managed by Piedmont Land Conservancy
Opening 2025-2026
The future Bashavia Creek Preserve (*not yet open*) is located in the Pfafftown area of Northwest Forsyth County, off Kilmurry Hill Rd. The preserve protects 127 acres of a scenic valley with farmland and wooded hillsides in a rapidly developing area of the county. The preserve is named for Bashavia Creek which runs through the center of the preserve.
Piedmont Land Conservancy is currently in the process of creating a plan for the preserve, which will protect the natural space for wildlife while allowing the public to explore the land in low-impact ways, like natural surface hiking trails.
With potential for longer processes like applying for grants, completing restoration projects, hand-building trails, and constructing a parking area, we hesitate to put a timeframe on the official opening of the future nature preserve but estimate sometime in 2025 or 2026.
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Saved in the Nick of Time
The Story of Bashavia Creek Preserve
When 127 acres of a scenic, rural valley in the Pfafftown area of Northwest Forsyth County went up for sale in December of 2023, a new housing development seemed the likely fate of the land, until a neighbor intervened.
“This may be the first time we’ve gotten a call from someone who said, ‘The land behind my house is going up for sale, and I want to buy it and donate it to you,’” said Kevin Redding, Executive Director at Piedmont Land Conservancy (PLC).
The people on the other line were Drs. Peter and Ann Weigl, neighbors to the land since 1976 and both lovers of the outdoors, rural settings, and of this property in particular.
“We did a lot of soul searching about it.” shared Dr. Ann Weigl, a biologist and retired Professor at Winston-Salem State University. “It was a huge decision, and it had to be done very quickly, because [the sellers] had offers.”
“There wasn’t any other way it was going to be preserved,” added Dr. Peter Weigl, an ecologist and retired Professor of Biology at Wake Forest University.
He went on, “When we heard that it was going up for sale, we were afraid it was going to be developed, but it’s just too beautiful a place. And there are fewer and fewer places like that now in the county.”
With a desire to purchase and protect the land, but not to take on the management of it, the Weigls called PLC. Staff and board members explored the land and saw its great potential as a nature preserve.
The property is partially farmland, with several grassy fields and a historic farmhouse dating back to 1853. Surrounding the farmland are wooded hillsides, elevated enough to see Pilot Mountain in the distance when the trees are bare. A soft flowing Bashavia Creek cuts through the valley as it runs west to the Yadkin River. This is the feature inspires the name Bashavia Creek Preserve.
This protected land is a big win for conservationists in a rapidly growing area near Winston-Salem’s planned Northern Beltway.
“It’s awesome to have this chance to save the land while it’s still whole,” shared Redding. Rather than a multitude of rooftops, the farmland and forest will become a public preserve where people can get outdoors and experience some of the rural character that has been disappearing in the area.
“This land is now a gift of protected greenspace in the community for generations, and that’s all thanks to Ann and Peter’s passion and generosity,” says Redding.
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