Dismal Swamp State Park: A Bicycle Tour
This video follows a bicycle tour of Dismal Swamp State Park in North Carolina. During the bicycle tour, narration recounts the history of the swamp.
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Blog
Cycling in parks, wildlife refuges and other mostly off-road areas with birds and wildlife viewing.
An Excellent Ride at Dismal Swamp State Park
I knew it would be an excellent day as I pedaled my Surly Long Haul Trucker bicycle through gravel, grass and sand along Canal Trail at Dismal Swamp State Park, North Carolina, on June 17, 2024.
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Cycling Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, Part II
Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge offers great trails for cycling. The Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge covers 113,000 acres in Virgina and North Carolina. Gravel roads beside ditches crisscross the Refuge. Some of the roads are open for cycling beneath the canopy of pine, oak, and hickory trees. Despite its name, and because of the ditches, a good portion of Great Dismal Swamp is dry.
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Gravel Cycling at Back Bay NWR & False Cape State Park
Gravel Cycling at Back Bay NWR and False Cape State Park begins at the south end of Sandbridge Beach, Virginia Beach, Virginia. I parked at Little Island Park on Sandpiper Road on an overcast morning with a strong wind from the northeast that made for a chilly morning.
From the parking lot, I pedaled south a third of a mile to the Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge entrance and another one and a quarter mile to the Visitor’s Center. Hikers and bikers pay no entry fee.
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Black Bears in dismal Swamp
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.
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Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge Cycling Trails
The Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge covers 113,000 acres in Virgina and North Carolina. Gravel roads beside ditches crisscross the Refuge. Some of the roads are open for cycling beneath the canopy of pine, oak, and hickory trees. Despite its name, and because of the ditches, a good portion of Great Dismal Swamp is dry.
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Excellent Hiking at Nags Head Woods Preserve
Nags Head Woods Preserve is the largest remaining maritime forest on the east coast, according to The Nature Conservancy, the agency that protects and manages the land. Nags Head Woods Preserve covers 1,400-plus acres just west of Kill Devil Hills on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. I rode my Surly bicycle through there on its gravel access roads one day and returned the next to walk the trails.
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Excellent Trails for Bikes at Dismal Swamp State Park
During the ruthless times of slavery, thousands escaped captivity in Dismal Swamp. Escaped slaves formed communities, called maroons, on dry ground within the swamp. The Underground Railroad used the swamp to move escaped slaves. The harsh geography of the area, with its insects, snakes, and bears, deterred slavers from finding their runaways. Apart from the maroons, slaves worked within the swamp for heartless men.
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Cycling and Wildlife Viewing at Dismal Swamp State Park
I started this blog to focus on cycling, hiking and wildlife viewing in the Rio Grande Valley, but today will write about cycling and wildlife viewing at Dismal Swamp State Park. I live in Elizabeth City now, in northeastern North Carolina. I will continue posting from here about nearby sites.
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Searching for a Great Horned Owl
I set out on my Surly bicycle from the Visitor’s Center at Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge with the intention of seeing a Great Horned Owl. I rode a mile and a half along the caliche surface of Lakeview Drive and then took County Road north.
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