Old-growth longleaf pine forest, ten minutes from the first tee.
Weymouth Woods-Sandhills Nature Preserve protects 898 acres of longleaf pine forest on the southern edge of the Pinehurst area. The preserve contains some of the oldest longleaf pines in the eastern United States, with specimens exceeding 300 years. The forest is managed with controlled burns that maintain the open, parklike understorey that characterised the original Sandhills landscape before European settlement.
The trail system covers approximately 4.5 miles across several interconnected loops. The Pine Barrens Trail is the primary route, running 1.2 miles through mature longleaf stands with an understorey of wiregrass and turkey oak. The Bower's Bog Trail extends to a beaver pond and wetland area that supports a different plant community. The terrain is gentle throughout, with sandy soil and minimal elevation change. The trails are well-marked and maintained.
The preserve is home to the red-cockaded woodpecker, a federally endangered species that nests exclusively in mature longleaf pines. The birds are present year-round, and the nest trees are marked with white paint bands. Early morning visits offer the best chance of observation.
For golfers, Weymouth Woods provides a direct encounter with the landscape that underpins the Sandhills golf experience. The longleaf pines that frame the fairways of Pinehurst No. 2 and Mid Pines are the same species that grows here in its unmanaged form. The wiregrass that Coore and Crenshaw restored to the No. 2 surrounds is the same grass that covers the forest floor at Weymouth Woods. The connection between the natural landscape and the designed landscape of the courses becomes tangible on these trails.
A nature centre near the parking area provides exhibits on the longleaf pine ecosystem and the geological history of the Sandhills region.