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100 Mason Farm Road
UNC Campus, Chapel Hill, NC
I checked out the NC Botanical Garden for the first time a few weeks ago, when I was in the mood for a hike. It's run by UNC Chapel Hill and includes the Piedmont Nature Trails and the Display Garden, which features herb, poisonous, flowering, aquatic, piedmont, and fern gardens. It's all free to walk through.
The Piedmont Nature Trails aren't very long, but they do connect to outside trails that lead into Chapel Hill neighborhoods and some sort of stream that looked like you could follow it for quite a long while. Between veering off on those, walking nearly all the on-site trails, and strolling through the display gardens, I managed to spend a good three hours there. Here are some pictorial highlights.
Purple peeking through the canopy.
Two oddly shaped trees.
More purple creeping through.
Tree hollow by the creek.
Creek bed on the grounds.
First view of the herb garden.
Bottle trees and alien plants (or what I always consider alien plants, at least).
Venus flytraps.
Pitcher plant forest.
"Travel Guide"
My travelogues tend to follow my day’s schedule when I’m out exploring. I chronicle my meals and sweet treats along with tourist sites worth checking out, including hiking trails. Sometimes, I may include just one particular trip highlight; other times, I’ll include several so you can make a day trip out of them.