Mount Joy Pond Natural Area Preserve is a Natural Area Preserve located in

Augusta County, Virginia Augusta County is a county in the Shenandoah Valley on the western edge of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The second-largest county of Virginia by total area, it completely surrounds the independent cities of Staunton and Waynesboro. Its county ...

in the United States. Located on the western side of the Blue Ridge Mountains, it supports a large population of the rare Virginia sneezeweed ('' Helenium virginicum''). This and other plants are associated with a large sinkhole pond, the centerpiece of the property; fewer than two dozen such ponds remain in Augusta and neighboring Rockingham County. Much of the surrounding landscape consists of

hardwood Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood (which comes from ...

s and pines. , property managers are investigating why and how the sinkhole pond goes dry by early fall, despite historical photo evidence that the pond formerly retained water longer into the season. Management of the surrounding forestland, including thinning and prescribed burning, was planned with the goal of restoring the property's original hydrology. The preserve is owned and maintained by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. It does not include improvements for public access, and visitors must make arrangements with a state-employed land steward prior to visiting.

References

External links

Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation: Mount Joy Pond Natural Area Preserve
Virginia Natural Area Preserves Protected areas of Augusta County, Virginia Bodies of water of Augusta County, Virginia Sinkholes of the United States Bodies of water of Virginia Ponds of the United States Landforms of Augusta County, Virginia {{AugustaCountyVA-geo-stub

See also

References

External links