Roy J. Maness Nature Preserve — Attraction in Troy

We are from Cabarrus County and enjoy walking unique trails alongside our NC waterways, whether up in the mountains, down in the Piedmont or over in the Sandhills -- with beach trails to come. It's a privilege to çommune with the land and water.

The reservoir and pathway here are quite lovely. The fact that the preserve is off the beaten path, secluded, was a plus for me. This place has so much potential, but parts of it seem to have been neglected for some time.

When we came here we were hopeful to breathe in the wild air, experience the creek in a meaningful way, even if only through observation. There was very little opportunity to do so. The one bench we came across, well, in front of it was overgrown by brush, blocking the view.

The 4 mi trail through the woods itself was strewn with limbs, branches, much of which we cleared as we went, much of the stairs have decayed wood and at about a mile in the path began to disappear under overgrowth. We pressed on till about 1.6 mi where we finally turned around, as the overgrowth overwhelmed the path, making it more or less invisible. We both came out with ticks. Be aware even if you have bug spray.

Like I said, we think this trail has potential. It just needs to be remembered and given some TLC, much like a trail in Albemarle we recently went on at City Lake Park. These natural areas need our attention and preservation. We cannot protect what we as a community cannot safely access to immerse ourselves in, you know, get acquainted with. Get to know our land as an extension of ourselves, because...

I absolutely love, love, love this place! It is definitely in my top 5 favorite places to walk and I have only been once, but plan to return regularly. Not only does it have a walking trail around the lake, but also a trail through the woods that leads to a dam and all along the riverside to underneath a bridge, I believe it goes further, but this is where I turned around to go back after sitting awhile on some rocks underneath the bridge and enjoyed the view and the sounds of the moving water over the rocks. On my way back to my car I stopped at sat on a bench and watched two men in a boat rowing in the lake with their fishing poles in Tow. I can't wait to get back there and...

We really enjoyed this lovely hike around the pond. Unfortunately last week with my granddaughter our window was smashed in our locked Honda. They got away with many personal items much to my horror. There was a white Honda Civic with dark tinted windows (even windshield) that parks uptop that apparently had something to do with this. So please be very careful and please if you see a white Honda Civic with tinted windows parked in the area call the very nice helpful Troy...