Explore Maple Flats Ponds

A mere 25 miles outside Staunton in the George Washington National Forest lies an unassuming natural habitat with ponds, vernal pools and comfortable walking trails.

Maple Flats Ponds near Lyndhurst offers hikers views of sinkhole pond ecology and is home to a variety of frogs, salamanders, beavers, and other aquatic-loving critters.

Driving into Coal Road to the small parking area by the ponds is a two-mile drive – the first mile is paved and then gravel takes you along the additional distance. Once parked and heading to the trail that follows a bevy of ponds, you’ll note on the right a vernal pool. What is a vernal pool, you may ask? It’s a temporary wetlands habitat caused by rain or snow. Salamanders in particular, thrive in them, since fish cannot get into the pools, and so they are protected from this predator.

The day I was there, I noted a couple of people in the parking lot donning hip waders – which made me nervous. No need! They were heading to the pool to apparently, slosh around among the salamanders. The trail itself is dry and flat and about 3-miles to the end and back.

Home to rare and endangered plants and animals, these Shenandoah Valley sinkhole ponds are at least 15,000 years old, dating from the end of the Pleistocene epoch.

Virginia Master Naturalists, Headwater Chapter

What I did note on the walk was that the area seems bereft of diversity in its flora and fauna. This could be since spring has still not fully arrived, and so the bare trees in the forest all seemed to look alike. We noticed lots of acorns along the ground, and some pine trees, but not a lot of active wildlife rustling around. Signage along the way notes beavers in the area, and other ponds had signs outlining that the water wildlife is protected.