Great Dismal Swamp

I brought my bike along for a weekend getaway to North Carolina's Outer Banks, but didn't pull it from the trunk to ride until midday Sunday. Absurd traffic south of Washington D.C. foiled my plan for an evening ride on Friday. At just under ten miles, my ride through the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge was the shortest of the year. Moreover, it was probably the straightest and flattest ride of my life.

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A four-and-a-half mile two-track road parallels one of the drainage ditches, Washington Ditch, that criss-cross the swamp. It starts at the western edge of the refuge and ends on the north shore of Lake Drummond the center. With a name like Great Dismal Swamp, I expected a landscape similar to the Everglades, but I saw a thick, murky forest that didn't comport with my notion of a swamp. It didn't in part because at the height of summer, the swamp's water level is much lower than in Spring.

Riding out, I passed two hikers heading the same direction and four bikers returning from the lake. The distance was perfect for biking, but I think it is too far for hiking. For one thing, as unusual as the swamp is, after a while that effect wanes, especially on a straight, flat road. It took me around an hour to reach the lake and return. It would take four or five times as long to hike it, and through the humidity and heat it would not be a pleasant hike. While planning the trip, I had aimed to ride some additional trails. After my hour long ride I feel saw just enough, though it would be interesting to visit in the spring, when it takes on a more typical swamp appearance.

For all the sameness of the trail, Lake Drummond offers a welcome deviation. The far shore of the sky blue lake almost reached the horizon. A nice breeze blew off the lake. I stood at the end of the boardwalk wishing for a canoe so I could go farther. It was just as well I couldn't as I had a long drive back to Philadelphia that I needed to finish by day's end. On the return, I pushed myself to ride faster that normal, and reached my car with enough time to hike a nearby boardwalk trail through the swamp.


Statistics
Length: 9.0 miles
Ride Time: 52 minutes
Total Time: 1 hours 7 minutes
Avg. Speed: 10.5 MPH
Max. Speed: 15.7 MPH


The picture is representative of what I saw for nine miles. Sometimes there was more shade and at one point a log lay across the road, but those are about the only variations worth mentioning.












End of the road.















Swamp?