Dr. and Mrs. Alfred Yankauer donated the property which bears their name to the Nature Conservancy in 1967.
West Virginia’s slogan, “Wild & Wonderful West Virgina” truly fits, because no matter where I’ve hopped across this great state, all of the places I’ve seen live up to that promise! One of West Virginia’s hidden treasures that I recently visited is the Yankauer Nature Preserve, located just north of Shepherdstown, West Virginia on Whiting’s Neck Road.
The preserve offers approximately 2 1/2 miles of walking trails through the wooded section of the property, and there’s a lovely overlook of the Potomac River on the Kingfisher Trail. It’s a mostly flat walk with gentle slopes in a few sections, and I would categorize it as an “easy walk” or “hop”. (If you happen to be a frog!)
Travel Tip: GPS Coordinates: N39 30.086 W77 51.191
Coneflowers!
The preserve offers educational programs for children which inlcude: after-school enrichment programs, scouting and youth group programs, school programs, and summer camp sessions.
This is a picture of me enjoying nature–105 different species of plants have been identified on the preserve!
Which way should I go?
We went to the right and followed the South Trail, and along the way we spotted lots of beautiful lush fern plants and raspberry bushes tucked into the underbrush.
This way? Yes, always walk on the marked trails!
The paths were well-marked and well-maintained and I would like to offer a big thank you to the volunteers that keep this preserve in tip-top shape! Always make sure that you stay on the marked trails–for your own safety and you could easily, albeit unintentional, damage or tramp down plants and flowers which could ruin the habitat for the animals that live in the area.
This path pulled me deeper into my adventure...
Look what I found on my walk....raspberries!
Information Source: www.potomacaudubon.org/yankauer.html
Tags: Polly 3
July 18th, 2010 at 1:26 pm
Thanks for the information. I’m always looking for new places to take a walk.
July 19th, 2010 at 12:34 am
It is a great place to walk and has a great view of the Potomac at one point. In the fall, there are some ripe paw paws in the preserve as well.
July 19th, 2010 at 7:08 am
We saw some paw paws but you’re right, they weren’t ripe yet! Have you ever eaten a paw paw?
July 20th, 2010 at 8:18 am
Yes, I’ve eaten a paw paw or two along the way. I don’t know how to describe them, but Debbie does a pretty good job of it in her Paw Paw Tunnel post (banana and cantaloupe). It kind of reminds me of banana pudding with lumps.
November 14th, 2010 at 10:29 am
Believe it or not, I’ve lived in this area all of my life, and I just recently heard about this place. Obviously I’ve never been there, but I’m planning on checking it out one day soon.