Bush Mill Stream Natural Area Preserve is a 103-acre (42 ha) Natural Area Preserve in Northumberland County, Virginia. The preserve protects an area of fresh and brackish tidal wetlands at the confluence of the freshwater Bush Mill Stream and the saltwater Great Wicomico River, which serves as important habitat for numerous species of birds.
Bethel Beach Natural Area Preserve is a 105-acre (42 ha) Natural Area Preserve located in Mathews County, Virginia, near the Chesapeake Bay. It contains beach, low dune, and salt marsh habitats, and provides a haven for rare marsh and colonial nesting birds, The preserve also protects habitat for two globally rare species, the northeastern beach tiger beetle and sea-beach knotweed.
Big Spring Bog Natural Area Preserve is a 50-acre (20 ha) Natural Area Preserve located in Grayson County, Virginia. The terrain is hilly, and within its borders is Chestnut Creek, a tributary of the New River. The preserve features a rare wetland known as a "cranberry glade".
Cape Charles Coastal Habitat Natural Area Preserve is a 29-acre (12 ha) Natural Area Preserve located in Northampton County, Virginia on the Chesapeake Bay side of Virginia's Eastern Shore. The small preserve protects coastal beach, dune, and maritime forest habitat, preserving a home for the northeastern beach tiger beetle, listed as threatened in the United States. Coast bedstraw grows on the dunes. The preserve serves as a staging area for southward-bound migratory birds in the fall.
Chestnut Ridge Natural Area Preserve is a Natural Area Preserve located in Giles County, Virginia. A 233-acre (94 ha) tract of old-growth forest, it is dominated by northern red oak and chestnut oak. The extent of unbroken forest on the property is unusual for southwestern Virginia; many of the trees, including cucumber magnolia and American basswood, are between three and four hundred years old.
Cleveland Barrens Natural Area Preserve is a 1,288-acre (5.21 km2) Natural Area Preserve located within the Clinch River Valley in Russell County, Virginia.
Dameron Marsh Natural Area Preserve is a 316-acre (128 ha) Natural Area Preserve located in Northumberland County, Virginia. It is one in a series of protected areas lining the shores of the Chesapeake Bay, and contains one of the region's most significant wetlands for marsh-bird habitats. Its pristine beaches serve as a home for the northeastern beach tiger beetle. Some of the land had been used in the past for agriculture, however these former fields were restored to forest through the combined efforts of the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, The Nature Conservancy, and the United States Army Corps of Engineers.
Dendron Swamp Natural Area Preserve is a 636-acre (257 ha) Natural Area Preserve in Sussex County, Virginia. Located along the Blackwater River, the preserve supports a bald cypress and tupelo swamp. Canopy trees over 98 feet (30 m) tall line the river for two miles (3.2 km), and the swamp shows only occasional signs of logging. Some of the larger cypresses are believed to be over 600 years old. Within the preserve is a nesting site for the great blue heron.
False Cape Natural Area Preserve is a 3,573-acre (14.46 km2) Natural Area Preserve located in Virginia Beach, Virginia, just north of the state border with North Carolina. The preserve covers a one-by-six-mile strip of largely undeveloped land located on False Cape between the Atlantic Ocean and Back Bay, and is one of the most undisturbed areas of coastal habitat remaining in the Mid-Atlantic.
Goshen Pass Natural Area Preserve is a 936-acre (3.79 km2) Natural Area Preserve located in Rockbridge County, Virginia. The oldest state-managed natural area in Virginia, it was first acquired in 1954 to help protect views of the gorge along the Maury River. The site contains stands of chestnut oak, pine-oak-heath woodland, rocky scrub communities, regionally rare plants such as freshwater cordgrass, and habitat for the Appalachian jewelwing, a locally rare damselfly. The site was dedicated as a preserve in 2001.
Mark's and Jack's Island Natural Area Preserve is a 2,000-acre (8.1 km2) Natural Area Preserve located in Accomack County, Virginia. The preserve supports Chesapeake Bay beach habitat, as well as various types of marsh, shrub, and forest vegetation. Many species of birds can be found in the preserve's wetlands, and numerous plant species live in the marsh, including marsh-elder. Loblolly pine and black cherry may be seen along the tops of some old dunes. The beaches provide a home for the northeastern beach tiger beetle.
Mount Joy Pond Natural Area Preserve is a 274-acre (1.11 km2) Natural Area Preserve located in Augusta County, Virginia in the United States. Located on the western side of the Blue Ridge Mountains, it supports a large population of the rare Virginia sneezeweed. 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 hardwoods and pines.
Mutton Hunk Fen Natural Area Preserve is a 516-acre (2.09 km2) Natural Area Preserve located in Accomack County, Virginia. Fronting on the Atlantic Ocean's Gargathy Bay to the east, it is also bounded by Whites Creek and Mutton Hunk Branch to its north. The property contains a rare "sea level fen" community, one of only four in Virginia. Despite the proximity to the ocean's saltwater, freshwater wetland plants are able to survive in this environment due to the influence of freshwater springs. Acidic conditions also encourage the growth of plants normally found in bogs, in addition to tidal freshwater wetland plants; five of the species found at the preserve are regionally rare.
New Point Comfort Natural Area Preserve is a 105-acre (42 ha) Natural Area Preserve located in Mathews County, Virginia. The point is situated on Chesapeake Bay along the Atlantic Flyway, and consequently provides habitat for nesting and breeding birds, both during the migration season and at other times throughout the year; among the birds that may be found there is the rare least tern. The northeastern beach tiger beetle, listed as threatened in the United States, also makes its home in portions of the preserve.
North Landing River Natural Area Preserve is a 3,441-acre (13.93 km2) Natural Area Preserve located in Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States. It almost entirely consists of wetlands, including five wetland types considered rare in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The preserve protects pocosins, an increasingly scarce type of wetland in the southeastern United States; also in the area are a number of forested swamps and freshwater tidal marshes, all found along the lower North Landing River and supporting numerous rare species. Breeding and wintering waterfowl also make their home in the area.
Ogdens Cave Natural Area Preserve is a 131-acre (53 ha) Natural Area Preserve located in Frederick County, Virginia. The preserve protects a cave that carries a below-ground branch of Buffalo Marsh Run, which also flows overland through the preserve.
Parkers Marsh Natural Area Preserve is a 759-acre (307 ha) Natural Area Preserve located in Accomack County, Virginia. The preserve incorporates beach habitat along the Chesapeake Bay as well as low marsh, high marsh, shrubland, and forest vegetation; the wetlands provide a home for many different species of animals and plants. About 75% of the site is saltmarsh. Marsh elder and black cherry may be found on old dune ridges on the site, as may loblolly pine. Some lower dunes support various grassland species. Peregrine falcons have nested in the area since 1998, and the rare saltmarsh sparrow has been observed nesting at the site. In addition, the beach provides a home for the northeastern beach tiger beetle, listed as threatened in the United States.
Poor Mountain Natural Area Preserve is a 933-acre (378 ha) Natural Area Preserve located on Poor Mountain in Roanoke County, Virginia. The preserve protects the world's largest population of piratebush, a globally rare parasitic shrub. The mountain derives its name from the fact that the soils on its slopes are poor, due to their base of metamorphosed sandstone bedrock. The preserve's pine-oak/heath woodlands include Table Mountain pine, eastern hemlock, several species of oak, and shrubs including huckleberry, mountain laurel, and fetterbush.
Savage Neck Dunes Natural Area Preserve is a 298-acre (121 ha) Natural Area Preserve located in Northampton County, Virginia on the Chesapeake Bay. Fifty-foot-tall (15 m) dunes within the preserve are among the highest points on Virginia's Eastern Shore. The preserve contains beach, dune, and maritime forest natural communities of various sorts, as well as habitat for migratory songbirds and northeastern beach tiger beetles. Regionally rare plants at the preserve include Engelmann's umbrella-sedge, dwarf burhead, and southern bladderwort.
