When mapping out my route from Raleigh to Chesapeake, Virginia I noticed the Great Dismal Swamp on the map. I didn’t know much about it but with a name like that who could resist checking it out? 

Midafternoon I pulled into the Dismal Swamp State Park in northern North Carolina. A relatively small park, it provides access to a narrow swath of land alongside the historic Dismal Swamp Canal. My first stop was the visitor center where I was pleasantly surprised by both the history and nature exhibits.  

Less than half of the original million acres of swampland remain, much of it drained for settlement and logging. The majority of the bald cypress trees that once towered over the murky water were cut down for building materials for the early colonists. As you might imagine, transporting the logs out of that morass was incredibly difficult.

During a visit in 1763, a 31-year-old gentleman farmer by the name of George Washington proposed building a canal in the landlocked area. Twenty years later work commenced. When it finally opened in 1805, the 22-mile long watery highway was a boon to commerce between North Carolina and Virginia.

Taking a hint from the name, I used up the last of my can of bug repellant before hitting the trails. Unfortunately, I was the only person on the boardwalk which meant I was the best food source around. The constant whine of mosquitoes I expected, but the fierce chomps of biting flies caught me off guard. Either I’m delicious or they were starving because they were relentless.

My curiosity wouldn’t be thwarted so I continued on to the path along the canal. In between swatting insects I pondered the struggle of the slaves who dug out the waterway over 12 long years. A testament to their hard work, it remains the oldest operating canal in the country, though these days it mostly just carries recreational boat traffic.

A fast-moving thunderstorm abruptly ended my explorations. A bit of a mixed blessing, I ended up soaking wet but at least the rain chased the insects away. The term dismal was given by early settlers to any swampy area, but its easy to see how this place earned the moniker Great Dismal Swamp. Dismal, indeed!

I ended my day with a brief trip to Virginia Beach, which I didn’t have much time to enjoy it as another big storm chased me off the sand. Some days are just like that…