Wolf Creek Trout Lily Preserve

07/19/2026

Seeing new visitors, thanks! These photos were taken earlier this spring…we will begin working again once the weather cools preparing for

06/30/2026

Every walk is better with your best friend.

Looking for a new place to explore with your pup? Pebble Hill's 73 acres of scenic grounds offer peaceful paths, historic outbuildings, shady oak trees, and plenty of room to enjoy the outdoors together. The daily Grounds' fee is $10.

Want to get in FREE? Bring an adoptable dog from Thomasville Humane for a Doggie's Day Out and we will waive the Grounds' fee for you and your four-legged companion. Just check in at the Visitors' Center when you arrive.

If you love walking Pebble Hill in every season, ask about our Annual Grounds Pass. It's the perfect way to enjoy unlimited access to our beautiful Grounds and Outbuildings all year long.

Grab the leash, bring your best friend, and make your next walk one to remember. We can't wait to welcome you both! pebblehill.com. 229-226-2344. Thomasville Humane Dog Lovers Best Friends Dog Rescue Thomasville Georgia

04/13/2026

03/29/2026

We've teamed up with Florida Nursery Mart for a native plant giveaway in celebration of 25 years of wildflowers!

03/29/2026

At the Preserve, marking the borders of where the trout lilies grow...

03/28/2026

03/28/2026

Hello, I'm the turtle that's been crossing your driveway since before you bought the house.

I'm an Eastern Box Turtle. I'm 41 years old. I know every tree, stone, stream crossing, and sunny spot within a quarter mile of where you're sitting right now. I've been walking this same route — the same 300-foot loop through your yard, your neighbor's garden, and the woods behind the development — for longer than you've had a mortgage.

I'm not passing through. This is my home range. And it's smaller than you'd guess — two to five acres for my entire life. I don't wander. I don't explore. I patrol. Every day, the same circuit, adjusted by season and weather. In March I use the south-facing slope near your compost bin because it warms first. In July I shift to the shaded ravine behind the houses. In October I'm back at the slope, digging in for winter.

Here's the part you need to know. I navigate by the Earth's magnetic field. Box turtles have magnetite crystals in their heads — literally compass needles embedded in tissue — that orient them within their home range. If you pick me up and move me half a mile, I know which direction home is. I start walking. If you move me five miles, I may never find my way back. And I'll spend the rest of my life searching.

This is why "relocating" a box turtle kills it. Every year, well-meaning people pick up box turtles from roads and move them to "better" habitat. If that habitat is outside my home range — even by a few hundred yards — I'm lost. I don't adapt to new territory. I was imprinted on THIS quarter mile when I was a juvenile, and I will try to return to it until I die or I give up.

Eighty-seven percent of relocated box turtles die within a year. Not from predators. From searching.

If you see me on your driveway — and you will, I cross it every May and September — carry me to the nearest shrub line in the direction I was heading. Not to the woods three blocks away. Not to the park. To the edge of your property, in the direction I was already walking.

I've been here for 41 years. Four owners of your house. Two renovations. One new fence. I was here when the driveway was gravel. I'll be here when it's repaved.

I don't need a better place to live. I just need you to stop moving me.

03/26/2026

Checking on plants and marking the perimeter of the trout lily bloom...lunch at SOCO, and enjoying Whigham's celebration of the Preserve... ,

03/24/2026

The Georgia Tree Council is excited to be a part of the Georgia Tree Network, the group hosting a talk by Doug Tallamy in Athens later this month!

ICYMI, Dr. Doug Tallamy is an entomologist, conservationist, and professor at the University of Delaware, whose work has transformed our understanding of the relationship between native plants and wildlife.

His research and books, including Bringing Nature Home and Nature’s Best Hope, have inspired millions to see their own yards as part of the solution to the biodiversity crisis. Driven by the belief that everyone can play a role, Doug co-founded Homegrown National Park to encourage people to plant natives in the spaces they care for.

This event is FREE (registration required) and open to the public. Stop by and see us at the Georgia Tree Council booth during the reception!

Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-nature-of-oaks-a-talk-by-doug-tallamy-tickets-1983560023426?aff=oddtdtcreator