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.

Hundreds of years ago, men proposed draining the swamp to access the trees for lumber and later the land for farming. In 1763, men founded the Dismal Swamp Company to drain the swamp and to profit from it, according to mountvernon.org. George Washington held shares in the company and helped manage it. Over the years, speculators cut ditches to drain the swamp. One of the first ditches is named Washington Ditch.

At the same time men speculated on profits, the Great Dismal Swamp offered refuge to thousands of runaway slaves.

From the late 1600s until the end of slavery in the United States, runaway slaves, called maroons, sought refuge in the swamp. Some probably lived the rest of their lives on high ground, or islands, within the swamp.

The speculators and maroons are stories in themselves. I mention them only by way of background.

Roads beside the ditches now serve as access for cycling, hiking, and wildlife viewing, as well as for Refuge management. On my first trip to Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, I entered on Railroad Ditch Road, on the west side of the Refuge, about 800 feet south of the Visitor’s Center and four and a half miles north of the Virginia/North Carolina boundary.

I drove along Railroad Ditch Road looking for the Visitor’s Center. Instead, I found a large oak tree down across the road. On the other side of the tree stood a man in front of a pickup truck. He told me that he had driven in earlier and found the road blocked by a downed tree. He turned around to leave and found that another tree had fallen across the road blocking his exit. He told me where the Visitor’s Center was located, and I went there to report the downed trees.

I left my car at the Visitor’s Center and returned to Railroad Ditch Road on my Surly bicycle. A Fish and Wildlife crew cleared the trees from the road (there had been a storm the night before) and I pedaled six miles to Lake Drummond, which covers more than 3,000 acres. Its water, like the water in the ditches, is brown. Vast deposits of peat beneath the swamp stain the water, as tea discolors water.

Railroad Ditch Road leads to West Ditch Road and then intersects with Interior Ditch Road, ending at Lake Drummond and wooden pier. The hard gravel surface makes for easy cycling and shade covers most of the roads.

From Lake Drummond, I returned to the intersection at West Ditch Road. It continues but is blocked from motor vehicles. I pedaled around the barrier and followed it two miles to South Ditch Road, which runs another three miles and parallels the nearby state border. These two sections challenged me. Since no vehicles pass on them, the surfaces become overgrown and bumpy. As I bounced along, I constantly looked for snakes and bears. I saw none.

I returned to the Visitor’s Center the way I had come, as there is no other trail. I logged 25.5 miles for the day. I didn’t see much wildlife, only White-tailed Deer, Yellow-bellied Sliders, lots of butterflies, and I heard birds but couldn’t spot them in the trees.

I decided to return to Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge at another time to further explore the trails, most of which are not accessible from the area I entered. There are various entry points. The trails I pedaled ranged from easy to challenging and, considering the solitude of the area, the experience was fantastic.