I pedal my Surly Long Haul Trucker north on Laurel Trail at Dismal Swamp State Park. Pines and oaks shade the trail. Grass brushes against my ankles. The scent of pine and composting leaves fill the chilly morning air. Sunlight filters through the branches of trees against a blue background. I see figures on the trail ahead and stop.
A bobcat sits in the middle of the trail facing me. Beyond the bobcat, a White-tailed Deer grazes. I take my camera from its case and snap a photograph before the animals vanish into the trees.
I continue my ride, bouncing over roots and large chunks of gravel, swerving around water-filled holes and branches in the trail, and rolling over grassy, moist soil. To my left in dark, shallow water, Yellow-bellied Sliders slip from logs into the water at my approach. To my right thick brush and dense trees hide birds that I catch glimpses of: Red-headed Woodpeckers, Eastern Bluebirds, Northern Cardinals, Blue Jays, Northern Mockingbirds, and warblers such as the Prothonotary.
Further on I turn left, west, on Corapeake Trail. White-tailed Deer and Wild Turkeys scatter as I pedal through their home. I think of events that have happened in Dismal Swamp.
Today, Dismal Swamp covers about 480,000 acres, less than half its original size. Approximately 120,000 acres are protected. Dismal Swamp State Park in North Carolina protects more than 14,000 acres. Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in Virgina and North Carolina protects 113,000 acres.
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.
Slaves built Dismal Swamp Canal at the rate of ten feet per day for twelve years (1793 to 1805). Dismal Swamp Canal, 22 miles long, created a link between Chesapeake Bay, Virginia, and Albemarle Sound, North Carolina, by connecting the Pasquotank River at South Mills with Deep Creek in Chesapeake. The canal still functions today as a federal waterway.
An 85-foot swing-span, floating bridge provides access to Dismal Swamp State Park, and the bridge opens to allow water traffic to pass.
Besides the Dismal Swamp Canal, in the 1800s, smaller channels were cut through Dismal Swamp to drain it so men could log it for Juniper, White Cedar and Cypress. Logging continued until the 1960s, and only now is it recovering.
Dismal Swamp State Park opened to the public in 2008. About 22-miles of former logging roads provide access for hikers and cyclists, like me. In the four times I’ve ridden there, it has been fantastic. The trails are flat and good, except for parts with roots growing across the trails, branches and sometimes trees across the trails, large, chunky gravel over wet areas, and water-filled holes. Each time I have gone there, all in the spring, I have not seen another human being from the time I have left the Visitor’s Center until I return to it.
I do see birds and other wildlife: bears, a bobcat, many deer and wild turkeys. There are several picnic tables throughout the park, mile markers, and maps at major intersections. It’s excellent for off-road cycling.
As I bounced along the trails, my bicycle pump fell. I didn’t hear it or feel it go. The bike makes noise rolling over sticks and leaves. The wheels often throw up branches that hit my legs, so, even if the pump hit my leg on its way down, I would have thought it was a branch. I rode 25 miles looking for it but didn’t find it. Nevertheless, I sure enjoyed the ride.
