‘Old growth forest’ dating back centuries found on land bought by NC conservancy

A stand of trees that survived nearly 400 years has been discovered on a 1,513-acre mountain tract purchased for preservation by the Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina.

That means the oldest of oak and hickory predate the American Revolution, the Spanish Inquisition and Isaac Newton’s experiments with gravity.

Five “pockets” of old growth forest were found during a survey on and around Mike Mountain, which the conservancy is adding to its Pinnacle Mountains Preserve in Rutherford County.

It’s a mystery how the 200 to 300 trees dodged aggressive logging in the region, but a key factor could be the steep terrain, according to Kevin Caldwell, a conservation biologist with Mountains-to-Sea Ecological.

Some of the trees stand as much as 140-feet, while others are twisted and bent due to rocky soil and lack of sunlight. Such imperfections may have kept loggers from bothering with the trees, he said.

“The majority of these canopy trees are easily 250 to middle 300 years, and some are probably 400 years old,” Caldwell told The Charlotte Observer in a phone interview.

“It’s a fairly big deal. Ninety percent of the forests in this region have been pretty much cut one or more times. It’s the equivalent of owning a minted 1776 gold coin, an uncommon find. It’s a forest that has never experienced timber extraction and all the biomass is intact. ... It (has been) subject only to natural disturbances like fire, wind and ice damage.”

Caldwell has been surveying forests for 25 years, and he says the sight still left him in awe, including dead trees that remained standing and others that had tumbled to the ground and were sprouting plant life.

“It’s a feeling of reverence. Old timers will say there’s not one square inch of old growth forest left, which is false,” Caldwell said. “And there’s an idealization of old growth that it’s tall, but there are also stunted trees and even bushes and colonies of plants that could be hundreds if not thousands of years old.”

Techniques used to age the trees on Mike Mountain included bark characteristics, tree height and circumference. The five “pockets” of forest ranged from a 75-acre block to a 25-acre block, he said.

In one case, remnants of an old road were found nearby. However, there is currently no “publicly accessible trail” to the trees, the conservancy says.

The 1,513 acres was purchased from conservationist Tim Sweeney at an undisclosed price, and brings the total acreage of the Pinnacle Mountains Preserve to 4,150 acres, conservancy officials said.

The preserve borders a 62,500-acre network of state and federal conservation lands, and the newly purchased land creates a “conservation corridor linking the South Mountains to the Blue Ridge Mountains,” the conservancy says.

“At the heart of the property lies the Mike Mountain-Pinnacle Mountain Natural Area, designated as ‘Exceptional’ by the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program. This recognition reflects the presence of 17 rare species and natural communities, making the site one of the most significant biological hotspots in the region,” the conservancy reports.

“In the upcoming years, FCNC plans to work with local and state partners to design and implement a public trail on the property. ... Future public access will eventually connect to the Wilderness Gateway State Trail, a 170+ mile trail system currently under construction by FCNC on nearby conservation lands.”

The non-profit Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina is a nationally accredited regional land trust that has conserved more than 74,000 acres in Alexander, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Cleveland, Lincoln, McDowell and Rutherford counties.

This story was originally published January 7, 2026 at 10:27 AM with the headline "‘Old growth forest’ dating back centuries found on land bought by NC conservancy."