On our second day in the park, we walked on several different trails.
We began with Sundew Trail, named for a carnivorous plant (Droseraceae). While loop trail over a boardwalk was an easy hike, we saw neither sun nor sundew while on this trail.
We tried Beaverslide Trail in the Big Sandy unit at the northwest section of the park, but we found the bridge underwater. Fortunately, we had not walked far along the trail.
We saw wildflowers and deer as we walked on the wooded Big Sandy Trail. This hike was interrupted by a brief rain shower, but the sun came out not long after we had returned to the car.
We also visited a Nature Conservancy site near the national park and took the Longleaf Loop Trail, named for the longleaf pine (Pinus palustris). This plant's first five to twelve years of life in the "grass stage", as it looks like a patch of grass above ground as it grows a deep tap root below ground. Once its roots are stable, the tree grows rapidly. This tree is also fire resistant thanks to their thick bark. Older trees may have charred bark at their bases, which prove how they survived wildfires and scheduled burns.
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