Chinqua-Penn Walking Trail

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Chinqua-Penn Walking Trail Chinqua-Penn Walking Trail
Free to public The 1.7 miles trail is excellent for recreational walking.

Its beautiful surroundings offer opportunities to watch wildlife, examine historical sites, and observe agricultural research done by the Upper Piedmont Research Station. The trail begins and ends at a parking lot on the corner of Trail Way off Wentworth Street, 1/3 mile west of the entrance to Chinqua-Penn mansion.

As of Thursday, 105 calves have been born in the UPRS pastures and more to come! They like to frolic, run around, but...
10/24/2026

As of Thursday, 105 calves have been born in the UPRS pastures and more to come! They like to frolic, run around, butt heads with one another, and go places they're not supposed to go - wait, didn't we do that when we were kids?

We tried to create an "event" on Facebook for our upcoming Quarterly meeting, but we're just not sure if it got any trac...
10/16/2026

We tried to create an "event" on Facebook for our upcoming Quarterly meeting, but we're just not sure if it got any traction. So we're announcing the meeting in the old fashioned way! ("old fashioned" and Facebook seem incongruous, but you get what we mean.)

Sorry for the short notice! Friends of the Chinqua-Penn Walking Trail (FCPWT) will hold a quarterly meeting for both board members and all friends on Thursday, October 22 at noon.

Join us for discussions (and, we hope, decisions) on:
> New board officers for 2027
> New signs for the kiosk
> Reports on FCPWT's finances
> Volunteer projects, ongoing and upcoming
> Setting priorities for 2027 - What needs our attention? What should we aim for?
> Report from the Upper Piedmont Research Station (UPRS)

And come and get your copy of the FCPWT 2027 calendar! We don't have many left, so bring your $15 and snag one (or two)!

As a bonus, those attending the meeting on October 22 will have a chance to sign up for a tour of the UPRS on October 27 at 10am. Spaces for the tour are limited and we may need to draw names out of a hat. You must be present at the meeting on Thursday to submit your name.

We look forward to seeing and talking with you on Thursday, October 22!

One more blast from Chinqua-Penn's past and then we'll move back into nowadays! Thanks to Cary Ware and the late Bob Ca...
10/11/2026

One more blast from Chinqua-Penn's past and then we'll move back into nowadays! Thanks to Cary Ware and the late Bob Carter, we have pictures of some of the men who built the Lake Betsy dam in 1935. Pat Ware (Cary's dad) was the manager of the project. Head rock mason was Louis (Da) Ross, who was born in Venice, Italy in 1890 and came down to work on the dam from his home in Litchfield, Connecticut. Second mason was Paul Ranzini, also Italian, who lived in Pontiac, Michigan. The other workers were local. When the dam was finished, Jeff Penn had them put up a plaque with a poem he had written, under one of the seven millstones incorporated into the dam, adjacent to the overflow pipe. That plaque is still there today.

In 1996, Chinqua-Penn Plantation horticultural staff were doing an inventory of the grounds around the mansion with the ...
10/01/2026

In 1996, Chinqua-Penn Plantation horticultural staff were doing an inventory of the grounds around the mansion with the goal of restoring the extensive landscaping plan created in the 1920s by Gordon Hurleman. They discovered a Helleborus orientalis plant, also known as Lenten rose. In an article from Rockingham county local newspaper The Ledger (published by longtime journalist Bob Burchette) in July 1996, Dwight Talley, the director of horticulture and historic landscaping at the plantation at that time, said the plant might be as old as the mansion, but he and his father, Charles Talley, did not remember anyone planting hellebore. Charles Talley came to work on the plantation as groundskeeper in 1929, and raised his family on the plantation. There were extensive records on what was planted where and when, but hellebore was not on the list: “It must have sneaked in with the ferns,” Talley said.

The hellebore blooms in early spring (hence the name Lenten) and is lovely but toxic, even to the touch. It is long lived (deer and insects avoid it) and thrives when it is undisturbed.

This past spring, longtime trail photographer Lynn Carter discovered a hellebore blooming not far from the farm road near the parking lot. Its lineage may go back 100 years. Similarly, the rhododendron bushes along the trail near the quarry were planted by the Penns 100 years ago and they still bloom every year. Photos by Lynn Carter.

Our faithful volunteer trio - Dianne, Hugh, and Mark - took a break from replacing boards on the boardwalks and turned t...
09/20/2026

Our faithful volunteer trio - Dianne, Hugh, and Mark - took a break from replacing boards on the boardwalks and turned their attention to moving big rocks. They are repurposing rocks into edge barriers along the trail to minimize erosion. They've mined rocks from the quarry, the stew site, and the Spring House, encouraging the rocks to do something useful rather than just sitting around looking pretty. A work in progress, as long as their backs hold out. Thanks to Mark for the photos, which is why he is not in them.

Calving season has begun! Just a reminder: those calves are small, curious, and kind of stupid, so they may get under...
09/13/2026

Calving season has begun! Just a reminder: those calves are small, curious, and kind of stupid, so they may get under the fences and out on the trail. They don't need us to intervene! Please don't touch or attempt to wrangle them! The mothers will see to it that they return to the fold. Also, UPRS staff are out there at all hours: they have to document and tag each calf. We are guests in their home, so we should respect their house rules!

The rock formations that you see surrounding the Chinqua-Penn Walking Trail are probably more than 150 million years old...
09/09/2026

The rock formations that you see surrounding the Chinqua-Penn Walking Trail are probably more than 150 million years old. The rock is mostly quartzite, a metamorphic rock formed from sandstone subjected to high heat (300-400 F!) and pressure (like tectonic collisions!). In the 1920s rock masons cut this rock into various sizes and transported it from the quarries to build structures all around the Chinqua-Penn Plantation. Can you imagine how they did that without today's equipment?

Thanks to Danny, Craig, and Lee for toting the logs up the trail to the parking lot. They were gone by the end of the ...
09/01/2026

Thanks to Danny, Craig, and Lee for toting the logs up the trail to the parking lot. They were gone by the end of the day.

Address

2258 Wentworth Street
Reidsville, NC
27320

Opening Hours

Monday 7am - 6pm
Tuesday 7am - 6pm
Wednesday 7am - 6pm
Thursday 7am - 6pm
Friday 7am - 6pm
Saturday 7am - 6pm
Sunday 7am - 6pm

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