Martinsville Bulletin, Inc.
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204 Broad Street
Martinsville, Virginia 24115
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Things you should know before visiting Turkeycock Widlife Area
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
If you would like to visit the Turkeycock Mountain Wildlife Management Area, here are some things you need to know from the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries:
• Directions — Access to Turkeycock Wildlife Management Area from Martinsville is via Virginia 108 north through Figsboro; then Route 890 north to the community of Snow Creek; and south on Route 619 to the area entrance. (That last turn is across from Snow Creek Elementary School.)
• It is open daily, sunrise to sunset.
• As of Jan. 1, the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF) has required an access permit to department-owned Wildlife Management Areas (WMA) and public fishing lakes for visitors who are age 17 and older unless they possess a valid Virginia hunting, freshwater fishing or trapping license, or a current Virginia boat registration, or are otherwise waived.
Daily or annual access permits for WMAs and department-owned public fishing lakes statewide are available for purchase online, by calling 1-866-721-6911 during business hours, or at any license agent. The daily access permit costs $4. The annual access permit costs $23. Cost for the daily group access permit varies depending on size of group.
• Facilities — A number of roads and trails throughout the interior invite foot travel throughout the year. Three parking areas have been developed. The parking lot at the entrance on Route 619 is open year-round while two additional parking sites, one at Scout Pond and one near the center of the WMA, are available during hunting seasons.
Jim Bowman, a wildlife biologist with VDGIF, said the main access road is open seasonally: From the first Saturday in September to the second Saturday in February and from the first Saturday in April to the first Saturday in May.
Passive horseback riding on roads and trails is allowed by groups of 12 people or less.
• Inappropriate activities include mountain biking; swimming; golfing; ATV riding; skateboarding; sports such as football, soccer, baseball; and other activities not compatible with wildlife-related recreation and habitat conservation.
• The goal of DGIF’s Wildlife Management Area Program is to maintain and enhance habitats that support game and non-game wildlife while providing opportunities to hunt, fish, trap, and view wildlife. Other uses of WMAs may be allowed if they do not interfere with these goals and uses.
• DGIF uses science-based habitat management techniques that can include timber harvest, prescribed fire/burns and agricultural techniques on its lands to create habitat that will support optimal populations of native wildlife. At times certain areas of WMAs are closed to the public while these techniques are being employed.
• Motor vehicles are prohibited behind barricades or gates designed to prevent entry or in areas otherwise posted to prohibit motor vehicles.
