Gorgeous State Park Not So Dismal

Great Dismal Swamp. Just saying the name out loud conjures up a sense of dread. But there is more.

Tucked away in Northeast North Carolina and Southeast Virginia, the area is now a national wildlife refuge and the last remaining remnant of an area that once included more than a million acres. There’s also evidence that humans have lived there for over 13 million years.

But the swamp was also a barrier, an impediment. The idea of a Dismal Swamp Canal was born; George Washington directed the surveying of it. Today, the canal links the Albemarle Sound to Chesapeake Bay.

– Ron Smith, S&A Communications