CANCELLED – This walk has been cancelled.

Dates:  Saturday, September 26 and Sunday, September 27, 2026

Location:  Sandhills Game Land – Moore, Richmond and Scotland Counties, NC

• Meeting Time (both days):  9:30 am – to 4:00 pm (approximate)
• Meeting Spot: See information below by specific date

General Information: The scenic Sandhills Game Land encompasses 63,061 acres across Hoke, Moore, Richmond, and Scotland counties in North Carolina, with 32,235 acres being in Richmond County. The Game Land is one of the largest remaining examples of a Longleaf Pine ecosystem in North Carolina. There is approximately 6700 acres of Oak/Hickory dominant forestland on the Game Land.

Saturday, September 26

Meeting Spot: Sandhills Horticultural Gardens; along Airport Road north of Southern Pines, about 400-500 yards west of the intersection with Central Drive (NC 22), on the south side of Airport Road; meet in the parking lot to the left of the building. GPS coordinates for the parking lot are 35.2244, -79.4050.

Description: We will cover the plantings at the gardens for maybe an hour. We will then head south to southern Moore and Richmond counties, working along the dirt Thunder Road (southern Moore County), then on to McKinney Fish Hatchery, and then Bagget Lane.

Sunday, September 27

Meeting Spot: The parking area at Broadacres Lake, at the east end of the lake by the dam; location is along Butler Road. Turn off US 1 in Hoffman onto School Road, and follow this road to its end at Butler Road, turn left and the lake is about 500 yards on your right.  Please use Google Maps or a GPS, as the road names on signs along US 1 and in Hoffman might not match this description, or might not be visible. Make sure the map shows the name of Broadacres Lake! GPS coordinates for the parking area are 35.0166, -79.5446.

Description: We will briefly cover the lake near the dam, including for dragonflies and damselflies. We then head south into the Scotland County portion of the Game Land, better for Dotted and Meske’s skippers, including working along the Scotland Lane annual burn area with its seeps. We will also spend some time at a paratrooper drop zone for open country species and then work at Scotland Lake. We may need to drive around to find places with lots of purple/pink flowers on BOTH days, as the seeps and pond margins are usually not good for butterflies in the fall season.

Target Species: Dotted Skipper, Meske’s Skipper, Southern Skipperling, Whirlabout, Long-tailed Skipper, and perhaps other southern migrants. On both days, we will look at and try to identify dragonflies and damselflies, reptiles and amphibians, birds, noteworthy plants, and other Sandhills flora and fauna of interest. We will treat these two days as somewhat corresponding to South Carolina’s excellent SCAN (South Carolina Association of Naturalists) outings, for which North Carolina (sadly) has no similar statewide naturalist outings, except for the (NC) Sandhills Natural History Society outings, which cover just the North Carolina Sandhills region that we will be covering on this trip.

Notes:  Please bring snacks or lunches to be eaten in the field. The Sandhills Game Land has no restrooms or other facilities. There should be restrooms in the visitor center at the Sandhills Horticultural Gardens. There are also restrooms at one or two convenience stores along US 1 just south of Hoffman, where Caddell Road intersects; their use would mainly be prior to meeting at Broadacres Lake, on your own. You should wear long pants, as though most of the time we will be walking on trails at the Horticultural Gardens and on dirt roads at the Game Land, we likely will walk along the shoreline of a few lakes (if looking for odonates) and certainly through open Sandhills vegetation away from roads when searching for pink or purple flowers for nectaring skippers. It never hurts to bring bug spray, sunscreen, water and/or sports drinks, and hats with wide brims. We should carpool and use 4-wheel drive vehicles for certain portions of the game land, as roads can be sandy in places, or less often muddy in places. No one wants to get stuck on a field trip, something we have done on more than one occasion! Again, sunscreen, bug spray, long pants and close-toed shoes are highly recommended.

Trip Leaders:  Harry LeGrand and Lori Arent

Lodging & Dining Recommendations: There are numerous (a dozen or more) hotels/motels along US 1 in “the strip” between Southern Pines and Aberdeen. Dining, at least for Saturday evening, can be discussed on Saturday morning.

Sign-up:  Please contact Lori Arent at ljarent1@gmail.com if you are planning to attend. You can also register by using the “Register” link above.

Directions:  N/A