An estimated 350 American Black Bears live in the Great Dismal Swamp, which is protected by Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge (113,000 acres) and Dismal Swamp State Park (14,432 acres). I have been riding my Surly bicycle at both. During eight rides, seven of them at the State Park, I encountered bears three times.
All three encounters happened within about a quarter mile of one another. It is possible that I have seen the same bear more than once.
The first time, I pedaled east on Corapeake Trail, the northern-most in Dismal Swamp State Park. I stopped at the intersection of Laurel Trail, which runs south from Corapeake Trail. I looked to the north, toward the park boundary and the North Carolina State line. There in the trail, about 150 feet from me, stood an American Black Bear nibbling on something on the side of the trail. I slipped my camera from its case and tried to focus on the bear before it saw me.
I snapped a few pictures, but I wasn’t holding the camera steady. The presence of a bear made me nervous, and it was very windy. The bear looked at me and disappeared into the brush. The encounter lasted about a minute. The second time I didn’t get a photograph.
The second time I pedaled west on Corapeake Trail. When I reached the intersection of Laurel Trail, I turned left, south. There on the trail not fifty feet from me stood a bear. We saw one another at the same time. It dashed into the woods. I stopped and waited a few minutes to see if it would come out on the trail again. It did not. The third encounter happened again on Laurel Trail
I pedaled east on Corapeake Trail and planned to turn right, south, on Laurel Trail. I pedaled slowly as I turned on Laurel Trail and I looked for a bear. I saw nothing, so I continued south, still pedaling slowly. About a quarter of a mile along, a bear cub stepped from the brush and onto the trail. It saw me and turned tail and vanished.
I caught a movement in the corner of my eye and saw a second cub twenty feet up the trunk of an oak tree. I stopped, took out my camera, and snapped a few pictures of the cub. As I did, it looked at me and then it looked down. It looked at me again, and then down. After looking at me and then down a few times, it climbed down. I imagined that its mother signaled it to get down and get away from the human.
My pictures of the cub were not too clear. As I tried to focus on the cub through the tree branches, I thought that the mother bear might be at the base of the tree, not fifty feet from me.
My first month in North Carolina and I had three encounters with bears. I rode my bicycle in their habitat. During my rides, I saw no other human beings on the trails, only at or near the Visitor’s Center.
Also, on Laurel Trail and on Corapeake Trail near Laurel Trail on different days, I saw two bobcats and photographed them both. I might have seen the same bobcat twice.
From my limited experience at Dismal Swamp State Park, I would say it is an excellent place to see black bears. It’s also a fantastic place for off-road cycling.
