A Beech tree grows between boulders (left) and another one (right) sinks its roots down into a crack in the rock next to the Hungry Beech Loop Trail at the Hungry Beech Preserve near Walton, Roane County on April 11, 2025.
Mike Powell (lower left), of the Nature Conservancy, leads hikers on the Hungry Beech Loop Trail to where old growth oak and hickory trees remain in the forest near Walton, Roane County, on April 11, 2025.
Hikers walk along the Hungry Beech Loop Trail at the Hungry Beech Preserve near Walton, Roane County, as they make their way under a large boulder on April 11, 2025.
The Nature Conservancy welcomes visitors to the trailhead of the Hungry Beech Preserve near Walton, Roane County at its official opening in Roane County on April 11, 2025.
Mike Powell, of the Nature Conservancy, talks on April 11, 2025, about old-growth oak and hickory trees that remain in the forest while leading hikers on the Hungry Beech Preserve trail near Walton, in Roane County.
A Beech tree grows between boulders (left) and another one (right) sinks its roots down into a crack in the rock next to the Hungry Beech Loop Trail at the Hungry Beech Preserve near Walton, Roane County on April 11, 2025.
CHRIS DORST | Gazette-Mail photos
WALTON — One of The Nature Conservancy’s lesser visited West Virginia nature preserves is becoming more visitor-friendly, thanks to a new, professionally built two-mile hiking trail and a soon-to-be-completed off-road parking area.
The 121-acre Hungry Beech Preserve off Paxton Ridge Road, in the southeast corner of Roane County, was acquired in 1977 — with assistance from the West Virginia Garden Club — to become The Nature Conservancy’s fourth West Virginia preserve. It is now part of a network of 16 open-to-the-public preserves, totaling more than 130,000 acres, scattered across the state, and is the closet TNC preserve to ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä, about 25 miles away.
Mike Powell, of the Nature Conservancy, talks on April 11, 2025, about old-growth oak and hickory trees that remain in the forest while leading hikers on the Hungry Beech Preserve trail near Walton, in Roane County.
CHRIS DORST | Gazette-Mail
“This little preserve has sat out here for years and was rarely visited,†said Mike Powell, land management stewardship director for The Nature Conservancy in West Virginia.
“We’re hoping that will be changing soon with a new, family-friendly trail that will let people walk along a ridgetop meadow, into a deep cove and see an old-growth forest segment surrounded by huge boulders and rock formations,†Powell said. “This summer, we’ll complete a new, 100-foot parking area and install a trailhead kiosk with informational and directional signs.â€
Mike Powell (lower left), of the Nature Conservancy, leads hikers on the Hungry Beech Loop Trail to where old growth oak and hickory trees remain in the forest near Walton, Roane County, on April 11, 2025.
CHRIS DORST | Gazette-Mail
What you’ll see on the trail
The new two-mile Hungry Beech Loop Trail was completed last fall by the trail-building firm Appalachian Dirt of Davis in Tucker County, which also designed the newly opened, 3.5-mile, Herbert and Gloria Jones Woodlands Trail System in ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä’s South Hills section.
Several of the oak and beech trees in the old growth segment accessed by the trail approach 60 inches in diameter and are more than 13 feet in circumference.
Hikers walk along the Hungry Beech Loop Trail at the Hungry Beech Preserve near Walton, Roane County, as they make their way under a large boulder on April 11, 2025.
CHRIS DORST | Gazette-Mail
The preserve is home to more than 80 species of spring flowering plants, and numerous species of neotropical migrant birds, including cerulean warblers and wood thrushes, can be seen here.
The Hungry Beech Preserve’s cove serves as a haven for a diverse population of herbaceous native plant species, including the extremely localized Goldie’s shield fern, glade fern and shining clubmoss. The preserve gets its name from a large beech tree with roots that wrap around a huge exposed boulder before entering the soil, prompting a visitor to remark that the beech looked hungry, since it appeared to be devouring a large rock.
The Nature Conservancy welcomes visitors to the trailhead of the Hungry Beech Preserve near Walton, Roane County at its official opening in Roane County on April 11, 2025.
CHRIS DORST | Gazette-Mail
On April 11, the Hungry Beech Loop Trail was the site of The Nature Conservancy’s first hike of its 2025 hiking series, taking place monthly at selected preserves across the state.
The next hike in the series will take place May 16 at TNC’s Brush Creek Preserve in Mercer County.
Rick Steelhammer is a features reporter. He can be reached at 304-348-5169 or rsteelhammer@hdmediallc.com. Follow
