Lowlands Trail

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The Lowlands Trail gives visitors to Jordan Lake Educational State Forest an up-close look at a fascinating ecosystem. The lowlands area at Jordan is a small valley not far from the lake. Its low elevation makes it prone to flooding, but also encourages the growth of several plants and is attractive to several species of wildlife, such as turkey and quail.

Blowdown from past hurricanes is common in the area. Many of the downed trees have been left alone to serve as wildlife habitat, but some trees are simply too large to remove. This area has also been thinned by Forest staff. This combination of artificial and natural tree removal has created a fairly open area that different species have been quick to exploit.

The trail itself is a winding path off of the main trail system. It was carefully planned to create a pleasant, low-intensity walk, while minimizing land disturbance.

Hand tools were used to remove vegetation from the trail and make it flat, to a width of about a foot. Then a Gator (a small all-terrain vehicle) was driven over the pathway, both to ensure that it could be used in the area, and to help flatten and compress the ground.

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