This significant property is one of the few publicly owned tracts of land in the Upper Red River state wild river corridor. It is entirely forested with a variety of forest communities and over 189 plant species have been recorded. The primary plant communities found include a beaver pond with much cinnamon fern, various sedges, hedge hyssop, and bugleweed. There are large amounts of sandstone cliffline present and both wet and dry cliffs occur and some common species include intermediate wood fern, climbing fern, stonecrop, hairy alumroot, and round-leaf catchfly. On upland dry sites, the forest is mostly pine-oak forest and the southern pine beetle left numerous pitch and short-leaf pines on the forest floor. Other typical species found here include downy serviceberry, mountain laurel, American holly, pignut hickory, and chestnut oak. There are blueberries and huckleberries in the shrub layer and some common wildflowers include trailing arbutus, tea berry, forest tickseed, and Appalachian stitchwort. The most common forest tree on this property is the white pine and it occurs in every habitat type except the driest site. The white pine mixed forest is dominated by white pine, eastern hemlock, and tulip tree and where present, large-leaf rhododendron dominates the mid-story level. Other common trees found in this habitat include red and sugar maple, cucumber, big-leaf, and umbrella magnolia, sweet birch, chinquapin, black, and northern red oak, and black walnut. Other than large-leaf rhododendron, common shrubs include paw paw, witch hazel, spice bush, wild hydrangea, and sweet mountain pepperbush. Common wildflowers and ferns include white baneberry, jack-in-the-pulpit, hepatica, downy rattlesnake orchid, twinleaf, long-spurred and roundleaf violets, and cliff and purple meadow rue. This community extends to the stream and there is very little typical riparian habitat although some species like black birch, hazel alder, ironwood, and silky and alternate-leaf dogwood do occur. Wildflowers in this zone include spotted and pale jewelweed, cardinal flower, river oats, American water willow, wild sweet william, marsh blue violet and yellowroot. The final plant community, Appalachian subxeric forest, occurs in a band above the cliffs and below the ridgetops. It is mostly young, recovering forest of white, scarlet, black, and chestnut oak, tulip tree, red maple, and big-leaf magnolia. Mid-story trees include flowering dogwood, black gum, sourwood, sassafras, and hop-hornbeam. The shrub layer is mostly maple-leaf viburnum, wintergreen, American holly, and blueberries and the herb layer is very sparse with few wildflowers except bluets. No rare, threatened or endangered species were found here except the Rafinesque's big-eared bat which was observed along a cliffline. One uncommon wildflower species, the Canada lily, was found and there are few exotic plants present that pose significant problems.
This area is part of the KNP shortleaf pine restoration project, access for research is by written permission only.