Explore Trails
Connecting People to Nature
Knight Brown Nature Preserve
Plan Your Visit
Knight Brown Nature Preserve is located in southwestern Rockingham County near Carolina Marina at Belews Lake. The preserve was PLC’s first self-owned and managed preserve open to the public in October of 2013. This beautiful property offers visitors a peaceful opportunity to enjoy the quiet beauty of nature.
Hours
Knight Brown Nature Preserve is open to the public from sunrise to sunset, 365 days a year.
Directions & Parking
The preserve is located at 221 Waterfield Ln, Stokesdale, NC 27357. You can parallel park in the cul-de-sac at the end of Waterfield Lane or along the edges of the wide road.
Trails
With almost five miles of walking trails, the Knight Brown Nature Preserve showcases a wooded valley, two gently rippling streams, many different types of ferns, spring wildflowers, and the rare eastern leatherwood shrub. The preserve has an informational kiosk at the trail head, handmade benches at various places, two bridges and picnic tables.
The two large streams on the property feed into Belews Creek just before it flows into the Dan River. There is at least one vernal pool that is prime breeding habitat for spotted salamanders and other amphibians.
The Story
The main part of the Knight-Brown Nature Preserve was donated to PLC in 2008 by Cecilia Brown who lives in Santa Barbara, California. She inherited the property from her partner, Paul Knight, who was from Stokesdale, and she did not want to see this beautiful property developed. She found Piedmont Land Conservancy’s website on the internet and donated the land to be used as a nature preserve. Cecilia Brown has donated additional tracts to add to the preserve.
Piedmont Land Conservancy gratefully acknowledges the contributions of the many volunteers who donated their time building the Knight Brown trails, and to the donors who helped fund the development of the Preserve: Reidsville Area Foundation, McMichael Foundation, the Family of William Hatcher Conner, and the Conservation Trust for North Carolina. The Knight Brown Nature Preserve is part of the Rockingham County Pathways Plan, a county-wide trails plan adopted in 2013 by the Rockingham County Commissioners.