There is a special carnivore that only lives in an area stretching out from Wilmington, N.C., and nowhere else in the world. It’s a master at trapping its prey. It waits patiently to snap its clutches shut and then slowly dissolve and consume its victim over time.
It sounds like the stuff of nightmares, but don’t fear. This carnivore is not a huge blood-thirsty creature, but rather a 3-to-5 inch tall plant. The Venus flytrap to be exact.
Venus flytraps — dubbed "one of the most wonderful plants in the world" by Charles Darwin— is indigenous to the longleaf pine savannas of North Carolina’s Coastal Plains and Sandhills within a 75-to-100 mile radius of Wilmington.
The areas within this radius are mostly in N.C. plus a few counties in neighboring South Carolina. Although Venus flytraps have been planted and naturalized in some other states, such as Florida, they don’t grow naturally in the wild anywhere else in the world. Pretty cool!
Finding Venus flytraps in the wild isn’t easy, so consider visiting these N.C. spots to see them. When you do visit, keep in mind the once threatened flytraps have rebounded after federal protection, which was only lifted in 2023. To ensure continued success, the state legislature made it a felony to poach the plants. So, admire and enjoy the flytraps, but don’t even think about touching or removing them.
Want to learn more about what makes the Venus flytrap so intriguing it fascinated Darwin and was immortalized by Hollywood? Then, check out the trivia below this sightseeing list.
Stanley Rehder Carnivorous Plant Garden
Wilmington, NC
For a sure bet to see Venus flytraps, the Stanley Rehder Carnivorous Plant Garden in Wilmington is the place to go. The garden was cultivated by its namesake over a 25-year period and is part of the Piney Ridge Nature Preserve, a special, 39-acre oasis tucked into one of the city’s suburbs.
The garden itself is small (just under an acre) and it’s collection of carnivorous plants also includes sundews and pitcher plants.
Getting to the garden is a snap — easily accessible from the city and just a few miles from I-40. From the parking area, a shaded, paved path leads to the garden. There are two observation areas and a path leading through the middle of the garden.
You can enjoy an overview of the garden and the taller carnivorous plants from the observation decks, but to easily see the fly traps it's best to walk the path. The flytraps’ required habitat — a longleaf pine forest and adjacent pocosin (a shrubby wetland) — are part of the area’s beauty, as well.
Throughout the park is informational signage about the plants and their habitat by the North Carolina State Parks Department.
Tips For Visiting
• Free and open everyday during daylight hours.
• Bring a camera — it’s so pretty, especially when the picture plants are blooming (April/May to late summer depending on the variety).
• The garden is in a low-lying, wetlands area and the path is narrow, just a line of two square pavers side-by-side. If there’s been any rain expect the pavers to be muddy, so bring old shoes.
• Stay on the path since the Venus flytraps grow right next to the pavers and would be easily crushed underfoot.
• Bring water. The garden isn’t very big, but the area can get super hot and humid.
• Parking lot and the pathway to the garden’s main observation deck are wheelchair accessible, but not the path through the middle of the garden.
Carolina Beach State Park
Carolina Beach, NC
Carolina Beach State Park (about 12 miles south of Wilmington), offers self-guided and guided tours along its Flytrap Trail to see and learn more about the plant.
The trail is a half-mile loop through pocosin wetlands and longleaf pine forests. Park rangers regularly host “Carnivorous Plant Hikes” along the trail. The tour focuses on the flytraps, as well as the other plant and animal life within the park's habitats.
The park’s beauty is spread among 13 different coastal habitats and 8.5 miles of hiking trails. The park features a host of recreational activities including camping, canoeing, hiking, boating and biking.
Tips for Visiting
• Free admission and the park is open every day (except Christmas Day), Hours vary seasonal.
• Flytrap Trail is fairly flat (as are most of the park’s trails) and wheelchair accessible.
• The park's website includes trail status updates and events, such as the Carnivorous Plant Hike schedule.
• Prepare for the elements (sun, heat, bugs, etc.).
• The park fronts the Cape Fear River and other waterways with accessibility to the Atlantic Ocean, but there are no designated swimming areas. The public, oceanfront beaches are only about two miles away.
Green Swamp Preserve
Supply, NC
To feel even closer to nature, head to Green Swamp Preserve in Brunswick County. Owned by the Nature Conservancy, the preserve is huge — 17,000+ acres — and considered one of the best examples of longleaf pine savannas in the U.S. It’s a beautiful area.
The preserve features a large variety of carnivorous plants, but don’t expect to just hop out of your car and see them. The preserve is large and it will take some trekking to find the plants.
Most of the preserve isn’t what comes to mind when you hear the word “swamp.” In fact, 13,000 of its acres are pocosin shrub bogs. The path, which goes through a small section of the preserve, leads through a series of savannas and pocosins. In addition to flytraps and other carnivorous plants, the preserve is also home to a variety of orchids.
The path through the preserve isn’t long (2.5 round trip), but it is primitive. The preserve is remote and not attended by rangers like a state park. The preserve’s website notes the local sheriff’s department has had to rescue people who veered off the marked paths. Make it more fun and err on the side of caution, go with a friend.
Tips for Visiting
• Prepare for the elements (sun, heat, bugs, etc.).
• Wear closed-toed shoes.
• The preserve is in a coastal area, so alligators may live in the ponds.
• Parking at the trailhead is a gravel lot just off Hwy 211, a two lane road with some fast traffic. There’s a pretty good bump moving off the asphalt road into the lot, so slow down. If there’s been heavy rains, expect some standing water in parts of the lot.
• Check out the preserve’s website and the onsite informational kiosk for tips on how to enjoy the preserve safely and where you’re most likely to find Venus flytraps and other carnivorous plants.
What Makes Venus Flytraps Viciously Cool
Venus flytraps are unique, rare and rank among the most unusual and coolest plants on Earth. People are fascinated by the idea of a plant with an “appetite,” so to speak. It’s no wonder a giant human-eating version was immortalized in “Little Shop of Horrors” for Broadway and the big screen. So what makes this carnivorous plant so interesting? Consider this flytrap trivia:
• One of the few plants in the world that uses motion to trap its prey.
• Grows in areas with nutrient poor soil, so they eat insects and arachnids, such as spiders, ants and grasshoppers, to supplement their diet. It can also digest a small frog.
• Catches prey by snapping together two hinged lobes found on the end of each leaf.
• Ultra-sensitive trigger “hairs” on the surface of the lobes signal when prey is on the plant. The “hairs” can tell the difference between prey and non-prey. For instance, it won’t close on a drop of rain water.
• Bristles on the edge of the lobes prevent bugs from escaping once it closes.
• The flytraps digest prey over 5-to-12 days.
• As a flowering plant that requires pollination to reproduce, the flytraps flower grows away from its leaves so it doesn’t eat insects that help with its pollination.
• Flytraps live in longleaf pine savannas on the edges of pocosin, which is a type of coastal wetland bog characterized by sandy, peat soil and low growing shrubs.
• The savannas are a fire-dependent ecosystem, meaning they needs fire to thrive. Fire maintains an open understory (area beneath the forest canopy), which flytraps require to meet its sun-loving needs. Longleaf pines and the flytraps have adapted to survive fires.
-National Wildlife Federation and the North Carolina State Parks Department
This story is part of an series that highlights some of the historic, kitschy and beautiful sites when driving coast-to-coast along 1-40 and Route 66, a.k.a. “The Mother Road.”
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