NATURAL AREA INVENTORY 

 Basic Information Summary Sheet 



1. Natural Area Name: Southwest Ridge 



2 . County : Pender 



3. Location: East central part of county in the Northeast Cape Fear 

 River Basin. Area is south to west of Ashes Creek and lie adjacent 

 to and parallels the northern boundary of Holly Shelter Game Lands. 

 Coordinates: 34°32'N, 77°44'W (FIGURE 11). 



4. Topographic Quadrangle (s) : Maple Hill, NC 1981 



5. Size: 200 acres 



6. Elevation: 33 ft to 44 ft above mean sea level 



7. Access: From Northeast Cape Fear River on NC 210, go 1.1 miles east 

 on NC 210 to the intersection of SR 1520. Turn left (north) and go 

 approximately 7 miles to the Holly Shelter Game Lands headquarters. 

 Turn right (east) through a gate on the Game Land's Lodge Road and 

 go 4.2 miles to the last hunter access trail (unmarked, but with 

 pocosin trees and shrubs cut in a more or less linear corridor) just 

 before large impoundment on right side of Lodge Road. Walk the hunter 

 trail to the ridge, about 0.5 miles. 



8. Names of Investigators: S. W. Leonard Ricky Davis 



P. 0. Box 3475 126 Duncansby Court 

 Wilmington, NC 28406 Cary, NC 27511 



9. Date(s) of Investigation: May 19, June 25, and July 23, 1981 



10. Priority Rating: High 



11A. Prose Description of Site: Southwest Ridge is a weakly crescent- 

 shaped sand body which trends east-west and is located adjacent to the 

 northern boundary of Holly Shelter Bay. An inspection of aerial 

 photography or the USGS topographic quadrangle shows Southwest Ridge 

 matching a counterpart northeast ridge, thus forming an elliptic 

 landform of the general shape and orientation of a Carolina Bay. 



The ridge is composed of loose well-drained and grayish-to-pale 

 yellow sand, except along the edges and the topographically lower 

 western tip where this layer of sand covers dark organic materials. 

 Elevation of the ridge is about 10-15 ft higher than the adjacent 

 pocosin. Water table varies, and fluctuations are hampered by the 

 presence within the soil profile of pans. The typical occurrence of 

 a large body of sand along the southeast margin of most Carolina bays 

 is missing from this area — a fact which may be related to the 



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