Notable Mid-Atlantic Wetland Site - Great Dismal Swamp, Virginia

Jericho Ditch in the Great Dismal Swamp, Virginia. Credit: Fish & Wildlife Service

The Great Dismal Swamp covers the coastal plain in southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina. It contains Virginia's largest natural lake, Lake Drummond , and boasts 110,000 wetland acres forested with:

• bald cypress
• water tupelo
• Atlantic white cedar
• blackgum
• sweetgum
• oak
• poplar
• pine, and
• red maple

The wetlands also include a sphagnum bog, a remnant marsh, and an evergreen shrub area.

The Great Dismal Swamp was subject to drainage attempts, fire suppression, and logging as early as the 18th century, and extensive human modification continued well into the 1970s. The Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge was established to protect the area in 1973.