McCauley Mountain

In 1994, Maxine Swalin donated 23 acres of untouched wooded land atop McCauley Mountain to the Triangle Land Conservancy. Mrs. Swalin wanted to see it left the way she and her husband remembered it when they purchased the land in 1960.

The property, two miles from downtown Chapel Hill, is special because it has remained remarkably undisturbed despite the development all around. Hardwood oak and hickory trees grew so massive that Mrs. Swalin and her husband together couldn't completely hug them. The many different types of wildflowers and the fact that the property is one of the highest points in Chapel Hill contribute to its significance.

In 1996, Hurricane Fran left the property severely damaged, according to Dave Ellum, a TLC botany volunteer, but the forest's natural recovery cycle is well underway.