Events include Hikes, Open House Tours and Gala Brunch

Hillsborough, NC —(March 15, 2019) – Come spend a spring day at Hillsborough’s Historic Moorefields.  This idyllic site sits on 70 beautiful acres just 20 minutes from downtown Chapel Hill and Durham and a short drive from downtown Hillsborough, N.C. 

The 2019 Historic Roads Hike is Saturday, April 6 in the woods surrounding Moorefields to see the traces of roadbeds from times gone by. The hike, from 10 am – 12 pm, will be led by Tom Magnuson, of the Trading Path Association.  The TPA is a non-profit located in Hillsborough. Its purpose is to find, map, and protect landscape remnants of the contact and colonial era in southeastern North America, on England’s first American frontier. 

The annual spring wildflower hike is Saturday, April 13. The 2019 hike will explore the ridges and bottomlands near Seven Mile Creek, one of Orange County’s most significant and undisturbed natural areas. It will be led by Milo Pyne, an N.C. State-trained botanist, senior regional ecologist for NatureServe, former president of the Eno River Association, and an expert on Piedmont wildflowers. The hike from Moorefields is 10 am – 12 pm.  

Introduction to Identifying Birds, or “Birding 101”, will be hosted on Saturday, May 11 at Moorefields. The hike, from 8 am –10 am, will be guided by Helen Kalevas, an expert on avian ecology who has taught Ornithology lab and bird identification at Northern Arizona University. Please bring binoculars and prepare for insects and uneven terrain. (Rain date is May 12.)

Beginning the last Sunday of the month from April through August, come to Moorefields for open house tours to see the historic home and grounds.   Volunteers will be there to answer questions and direct you to points of interest- artistic, historical and horticultural. View artwork, sculpture and antiques; visit the old cemetery or walk down to the creek or stroll in the shaded back yard. Or just sit a spell in a rocker on the 230-year-old front porch and listen to the quiet. The Last Sunday open house is 1 – 5 pm with the first one on April 28.

All spring hikes and the open house tours are free. A suggested donation goes to the Friends of Moorefields to help coordinate events such as these.  

Finally, the Gala Brunch at Moorefields is Sunday, June 2 from 11 am – 2 pm. This annual spring event includes a catered buffet Brunch on the lawn with Champagne, Wine and Spirits, Live Music by The JazzTones and House Tours, Grounds Tours & Classic Lawn Games. 

Gala tickets may be ordered by check payable to Friends of Moorefields, 2201 Moorefields Road, Hillsborough, NC 27278 or secured online at www.moorefields.org by May 30.  You may call (919) 732-4941 for more information.  Proceeds benefit the educational, environmental, artistic and preservation mission of Historic Moorefields.

Moorefields was built in 1785 as a summer home by Alfred Moore, a military, educational and judicial leader who ultimately served as the second and last North Carolinian on the United States Supreme Court. It can be rented for weddings, retreats and other functions. 

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Media Contacts 
Andrea Tullos, President, Friends of Moorefields Board (919) 968-2714
Barry Jacobs, Executive Director, Friends of Moorefields (919) 732-4941

To request photos, email pgriffin@visitchapelhill.org