The Butler Creek Trail is uniquely different from other Phinizy Swamp Nature Park trails. This trail provides excellent views of the Butler Creek floodplain swamp from a high bluff and features a wide variety of native and non-native (exotic) plant species. The trail also provides many examples of humans' influence on the natural environment.

As you enter the trail, you will cross a ditch created by erosion. Look to your left and see if you can spot the chain link fence through the woods. As water ran down the hill to the left, the erosion increased and created a dangerously steep ditch that has been fenced off. If you followed this ditch to the right to Lock and Dam Road, you would discover that the ditch starts at the airport. Rainwater striking the runway is channeled off the pavement and runs into low areas (this, along with the pollution it carries, is called "runoff"), creating erosion areas such as this along the edges of the airport. Our airport was built long before the 1972 passage of the Clean Water Act and before measures to control runoff were in place. Today, areas with large amounts of pavement are required to build retaining ponds at low areas to collect runoff. With today's laws, this ditch would never have been created -- thank goodness for environmental progress!

On the other side of the ditch is a thicket of Privet, one of our many exotic plants. Although we do not particularly like the shrubby Privet, it does provide a summer home for the White-eyed Vireo. Look carefully and you might find a nest. On the other side of the Privet thicket the woods open to a beautiful hardwood stand filled with vines. Be careful, as many of the vines are Poison Ivy. Other vines include Virginia Creeper, Smilax, Blackberry, Peppervine, Trumpet Creeper, Wild Grape, and Japanese Honeysuckle (an exotic).

Follow the left branch of the trail and you will find yourself walking uphill toward a bluff lookout point. In early spring the beautiful blooms of the Red Buckeye will surround you. After the Buckeye bloom, the native Azalea, Blueberry, and Sweet Shrub start to flower. As spring turns to summer, the flowers of the Blackberries, Honeysuckle, and Trumpet Creeper provide nectar for insects and hummingbirds. In late summer, the purple berries of Pokeweed and American Beautybush fill the trail with color. As you can tell, each hike of this trail should offer a new experience for the visitor!

Stop and enjoy the view from the bench. In the winter this is an outstanding view of the swamp and a great vantage point to spot waterfowl or one of our many woodpecker species. Notice the large trees with smooth bark near the bench. These are American Beech, whose small nut provides winter food for squirrels, turkeys, and deer. This long-lived tree is sometimes known as the "graffiti tree" as it is found at many old home sites across the South still carrying the messages of young lovers. As romantic as this sounds, we would prefer our trees to remain unmarked, so please do not deface them!

As the trail continues up the hill and starts to curve to the right, you may notice many shaggy-barked trees. Most of these are White Oak (Quercus alba) but at least one is an Overcup Oak (Quercus lyrata) easily identified by its acorn if you can find one. Look farther up the hill on the bluff and you may notice an evergreen shrub. This shrub is known as Common Sweetleaf and it produces a cluster of soft yellow flowers in early spring. Its leaf produces a sweet taste if chewed (hence the name) and is said to be a favorite of cows. Look around and see if you can find a Devil's Walkingstick, a small tree with a compound leaf (three to four feet long!) and some wicked thorns. You may also notice an occasional Hawthorn, another small tree with thorns but with a simple leaf. On the right side of the trail in the spring, look for the red tubular flower of the Red-Trumpet Honeysuckle (a native honeysuckle).

As the trail curves away from the swamp, look for a spur trail leading off to the left. This trail leads to an 1800's family cemetery. We have been told it is in excellent condition for its age. Nine members of one family rest in the cemetery, including Elizabeth Hart, her first and second husbands, five of her children, and one grandchild. Elizabeth Hart (1771-1832) survived both husbands and several of her children, many of whom died of "swamp fever." We now know that "swamp fever" was really yellow fever or malaria, both of which have been eradicated in the South. For more information on this family, see the kiosk at the cemetery. Note that behind the kiosk is a low fence, which delineates Cranefly Orchid habitat. The Cranefly Orchid is a very small late summer flower often only seen on hands and knees. Please be cautious in this area to prevent trampling of this rare species.

Rejoin the main trail by retracing the spur route and then turning left back onto the main trail. You should almost instantly come to a small hill. Standing at the top of the hill, look back at the forested area you have just walked through. It is a beautiful stand of mature hardwood forest. Now look at the trail ahead of you. This is a fairly young stand of Loblolly Pine. You are standing on what was probably a dirt road leading to the cemetery and old house site (we don't know where the house might have been, however). Look through the woods and see if you can still find where the road goes. The hardwood trees were probably still here when this road was functioning, but the pine growth probably indicates that the other side of this road was farmland at one time. Every forest has a past and a future and one can usually find evidence of the past with observation.

The trail ahead curves to the right and takes you through the pine stand. Look to see if you notice any pine trees coming up in the understory. The understory consists of mostly Sweetgum and Winged Elm saplings. These are the trees that will take over when the pines die off. After the Sweetgum and Elm die, Oaks and other long-lived hardwoods will move in. This is called succession, which is the change of the plant community over time.

Continuing down the hill, see if you can find where the old roadbed crosses the path again. After that point, notice that the trail feels like a roller coaster with many little bumps. These are probably the furrows of an old farmland. Imagine how these furrows have influenced the flow of water across this area for the past few hundred years. Can you guess how much longer they will still be visible?

The path curves to the right near the bottom of the hill and connects with the beginning of the trail. Go to the left to exit the trail. Look around in this area and see if you can find a Dwarf Palmetto, a native palmetto in the Augusta area.

We hope you have enjoyed the Butler Creek Trail and will explore some of Phinizy Swamp Nature Park's other trails. Please feel free to ask us any questions you may have. We (Southeastern Natural Sciences Academy) can be reached Monday - Friday from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm at (706) 828-2109.