For that person, there is the Ev-Henwood (pronounced “heaven wood”) Nature Preserve, run by the University of North Carolina Wilmington. For at Ev-Henwood, located 10 miles south of Wilmington, the 15 trails that explore this 174-acre preserve are not measured in miles, or even half or quarter miles. Or yards or feet, for that matter. Rather, they are measured in the number of minutes it takes you to stroll the trail at a pace that will let you take careful note of the more than 50 bird species identified at the preserve, or the recovering farmland or timber tracts, or the old rice paddies. Thus, if you take either the David Sieren Learning Trail or the Troy Henry Learning Trail, your estimated hiking time would exceed two hours. We’re guessing even a beginning trail runner can eclipse that time.
In short, this is a trail network to run when you’re more interested in exploring than working toward a new PR.
Maps (download 33-page brochure to get map)
Getting there from downtown Wilmington
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Difficulty: Moderate
Distance: 20 minutes from downtown Wilmington
Time to complete: Varies
Address: 6150 Rock Creek Road
City: Leland
State: N.C.
Zip: 28451
Latitude: 34.0999
Longitude: 78.0702