EAST—The Hillsborough Preserve contains the remains of at least four precontact Native American sites dating primarily from A.D. 1000 to the early 1700s, including Occaneechi Town. The Conservancy acquired the 24-acre property in 2025 as part of a broader effort to protect land along the Eno River in North Carolina’s Piedmont.
A segment of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail—more than 1,000 miles statewide—runs through the property. As staff planned new trail signage, Tropical Storm Chantal struck, causing significant damage to the Town of Hillsborough and the preserve when the Eno River crested at more than 25 feet. Floodwaters inundated a nearby sewage treatment facility, scoured gravel from the trails, and left a thick layer of mud and debris.
Staff visited in September to replace signage and plan next steps. A bridge over the Eno River was deemed structurally sound, and a local contractor laid and compacted new gravel along the trail to prevent impacts to archaeological sites from trail use.
Additional work is scheduled this fall to address trees that have grown over site areas and threaten buried deposits with their roots. Bill Boyarsky, the local task force leader for the Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail organization, offered a chainsaw-safety training program to pair experienced sawyers with trainees and gradually remove trees that have established over the past 20 years.
The Conservancy is grateful to Bill and FMST for partnering on the tree-removal effort and thanks local stewards—Beverly Payne of the Occaneechi Saponi Tribal Nation and neighbors Holly Reid and Richard Shaw—for documenting storm damage and assisting with site management.
Pictured: Eastern Regional Director Kelley Berliner visited the preserve in September to help replace signage and plan the next steps. Photo by Kelley Berliner.
