Yankauer Nature Preserve
I have a few favorite outdoor places that I like to visit at any time of the year. For me, a return visit to certain outdoor areas provides some comforting familiarity each time but also promises new wildlife sightings or experiences, too. There may be a new bird, plant, tree, or animal species to see each time and familiar old friends to visit. Yankauer Nature Preserve north of Shepherdstown is one of those places.
Yankauer Nature Preserve is named for Dr. and Mrs. Alfred Yankauer, who donated the 104-acre property to the Nature Conservancy in 1967. Yankauer is managed by the Potomac Valley Audubon Society (PVAS). The preserve is mostly wooded, with a wide variety of tree, plant, and animal species. It is old farmland that has slowly been reclaimed by nature and returned to forest. The PVAS provides inventory lists on their excellent website (www.potomacaudubon.org) for the different tree and plant species, insects, and birds that a visitor might find when walking through Yankauer’s excellent trail system. On previous visits in the spring and summer, I have seen beautiful wildflowers and stood under a dense tree canopy. I have watched red-bellied woodpeckers look for grubs in dead trees, listened to mourning doves call their mates, and watched cardinals, tit-mice, and blue jays do their daily chores in the trees and shrubs. There are always deer and squirrel and other small animal tracks to follow.
On this late afternoon visit on a cold February day, we found the animal life was wisely bundled up in their roosts and nests for the evening. Instead of bright, bold wildflowers, verdant green leaf cover, buzzing insects, and busy birds, we found a quiet woods full of browns and grays and some patches of snow here and there. Except for a talkative nuthatch and a distant dog barking, the woods of Yankauer on this February day were still and peaceful.
We started out on the Kingfisher Trail from the parking area and followed this well-marked path through oak, maple, locust, cedar, and sycamores. After 20 or so minutes of walking and viewing on the Kingfisher Trail, we took a break and sat on a nicely positioned bench with a panoramic overlook of the Potomac River.
At this spot in the Potomac, the flow slows way down. On this visit the river was frozen over. I sat for a while and enjoyed the absence of town noise and remembered the pond I played on in winter when I was younger, lighter, and less wise. The seat got cold, so we continued on the Kingfisher Trail until it intersected the South Trail.
We took the South Trail, which heads away from the Potomac and follows the southern boundary of the preserve. The woods gradually change from the oaks and sycamores found closer to the Potomac, and here include redbud, black cherry, sassafras, sumac, and some invasive tree species, such as ailanthus and multiflora rose. We kicked out a few deer who were heading toward the neighboring fields for some late afternoon feeding. We stayed on the South Trail for another 20 minutes or so until I hit the Dan Fisher Trail.
I found fine limestone outcroppings on the Dan Fisher Trail that I hope to examine a little more the next time I visit. I sat on one exposed limestone rock to listen to the February wind move through the dry leaves on a nearby tree. A loud nuthatch, gathering hidden seeds from a tall oak nearby, reminded me that we were not alone and that I too was hungry. We hiked the Dan Fisher Trail for another 15 minutes until it ran into the Kingfisher Trail and then back to the car.
Yankauer is a place that I never get tired of visiting. It is like an old friend you see a few times a year to catch up on news and changes in your lives. I always find something new at Yankauer. The Potomac Valley Audubon Society and the Nature Conservancy have done an excellent job in managing the preserve and have provided good tools through well-maintained trails with good signage. Their guides and information make Yankauer Nature Preserve a great place for all outdoor enthusiasts to visit.
Directions from the four-way stop (Routes 45 and 480) in Shepherdstown: Drive north toward Sharpsburg—please follow the 25mph speed limit through town! Before the bridge, turn left onto Shepherd Grade Road (note the brown wildlife viewing sign on the right). Travel about 1.4 miles and turn left onto Scrabble Road. About two miles farther, the road splits, but stay left on Scrabble Road (there is another wildlife viewing sign.) Go through the hamlet of Scrabble, then turn right onto Route 5/4, Whiting’s Neck Road (look for a wildlife viewing sign at the turn). The Yankauer Preserve is about a quarter mile on the right.