Pilot Mountain State Park » Ecology
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Attention Campers: All sites are full for Labor Day Weekend
... details ±Campers: All sites are reserved for Labor Day weekend. We have a limited amount of sites available for walk-up visitors Friday night only, However you will have to vacate these sites on Saturday.
Attention Rock Climbers and Bridle Trail Users
Climbing route closure: There is a loose stainless steel bolt on the climbing route "my husband's going to kill me". Until this bolt can be repaired this route is closed. CCC and park staff will coordinate the repair.
ATTENTION HORSEBACK RIDERS -ALL BRIDLE TRAILS ARE CLOSED AFTER RAIN
To preserve park bridle trails for your continued use and enjoyment, all trails are closed to use by horses after rain. Riding on wet trails creates hazardous areas and erodes the trail. Riding trails when wet will cause their closure for maintenance and/or their closure to bridle use. If it has rained, wait to ride another day. If you want to know the weather for Pilot Mountain State Park you may check it at this address:
http://tinyurl.com/PilotMtnWeather
Trails will be closed after .5" or more of rain
Updated: 2010-09-01 04:09:49
The vegetation in the park is similar to that found in mountain habitats such as those in the Blue Ridge
Mountains. More than 70 families of vascular plants grow on and around Pilot Mountain. In late spring, the
Big Pinnacle is ringed with the bright pink blooms of Catawba rhododendron. Also abundant is mountain
laurel, distinguished by its leathery evergreen leaves and showy clusters of white flowers. Typical trees
include the chestnut oak, table mountain pine and pitch pine. Wild blueberry, huckleberry and grape can be
spotted along the trails.
Listen as American toads, chorus frogs and spring peepers call from nearby pools. Numerous songbirds
including the eastern bluebird, Carolina wren, brown thrasher and various warblers supply the woods with
music. Watch for ravens soaring above Big Pinnacle. The raven and the pileated woodpecker are two of the
rarer birds of Pilot Mountain. Other wildlife in the park includes red and gray fox, white-tailed deer,
woodchuck, opossum, gray squirrel, raccoon, and several species of reptiles and amphibians.