Skip to Main Content

Happy Hollow Garden

Description

Elevation: 1841 ft.

Happy Hollow Garden houses an enormous array of over 800 azaleas amidst 34 acres of manicured gardens and surrounding woodlands. This area is home to variety of wildlife in a peaceful, serene, and easily accessible setting. The gardens offer 5 trails, each blazed and marked, and offering glimpses of different types of habitat. Walk through creekside woodlands, stands of white pine, blazes of azaleas, stands of oak and mixed deciduous forest. Spring migration could be the most fruitful time to bird this park producing birds like Cape May and Tennessee warblers. In summer, look for nesting Louisiana waterthrush, American redstart, and scarlet tanager. Canopied under the surrounding woodlands, moist understories, especially along the creek, provide suitable habitat for other critters as well. Listen for the serenades of spring peeper (in the spring, of course!). Turn over a few rocks and watch northern dusky salamander squirm deep into the mud. Other denizens of these grounds include eastern red, eastern gray, and eastern fox squirrels, and eastern chipmunk. Watch for eastern box turtle slowly moving along the forest floor.

Wildlife Sightings

90 species have been reported at this site to date.

Birds Recently Seen at Happy Hollow Garden:

  • Turkey Vulture
  • Red-bellied Woodpecker
  • Downy Woodpecker
  • Pileated Woodpecker
  • Blue Jay
  • American Crow
  • Tufted Titmouse
  • White-breasted Nuthatch
  • Carolina Wren
  • American Robin

Recent Checklists:

Date# of SpeciesSubmitted By
7 Apr 202623Linda Cory
3 Apr 202621Linda Cory
28 Mar 202622Linda Cory
8 Mar 20268August Arzaga
7 Jun 20256Jacob Warner

See more recent checklists…

Amenities & Accessibility

Amenities

  • On-site Parking
  • Restrooms

Other Amenities: Hiking Trails, Viewing Blinds

Accessibility Considerations

This location does not have a Birdability Site Review available at this time

Learn more about Birdability’s efforts to map accessible outdoor spaces

Maps & Directions

View on Google Maps

Continue south on Twelve O’Clock Knob Road for 3.8 miles to Rt. 694. Continue south on Rt. 694 for 0.5 miles to US 221. Turn left onto US 221 East and go 0.5 miles to Rt. 692. Turn left onto Rt. 692/Mt. Chestnut Road; travel for 2.4 miles to Happy Hollow Garden on the left.

Access Requirements:

  • Free, Daily

Contact Information:

  • (540) 387-6078 jbalon@co.roanoke.va.us
  • Visit Website
  • Sites, or portions of sites, can be closed periodically for management activities. Please always check the site’s website for additional information prior to visiting.

About the VBWT

The Virginia Bird and Wildlife Trail is a network of over 600 greenspaces and blueways throughout the Commonwealth selected for their wildlife viewing potential. Walk a nature trail, paddle a river, or enjoy a scenic overlook and you’ll soon see why Virginia is a premier destination for birding and wildlife viewing.

Related Links