The Darlingtonia fens, found on serpentine soils in southern Oregon, are distinct communities that demonstrate a balance among high water tables, shallow soils, the presence of heavy metals, and limited nutrients. While conservative efforts have been made to preserve them, soil patterning or the specific processes that appear to underlie soil variability are poorly understood. I investigated the relationship of fire-free period on soil gradients and succession in three Darlingtonia fens, each with a different amount of time since last fire. Changes in vegetation and belowground variables were distinguished across fen, savanna, and shrub communities and across the three sites. I suggest that belowground gradients may be more important than time since fire at preserving these uniquely adapted systems, since vegetation undergoes post fire succession from fen to shrub to savanna after approximately 100 years since fire. Although restoration of ecosystem structure and processes was not the primary focus of this study, my data suggest that time since fire may drive ecosystem processes in a trajectory away from the normal succession cycle and that soil moisture decreases and nitrogen levels increase with an increase in fire-free period.