Dismal Swamp State Park & Merchants Millpond State Park

Dismal Swamp State Park – 3/13/23 – 2.5 Miles
Merchants Millpond State Park - 3/15/23 – 1.5 Miles

I’ve visited more than half of North Carolina’s state parks, mostly in the mountainous western regions. Now I’m checking out the others, learning about the Piedmont and the coast. You know I love a must-see list.

I’ve made side trips to some parks en route to other destinations. However, exploring the far eastern gems meant deliberate planning over several days, so I combined a family event in Virginia with a trip to the northeastern NC counties. Mid-March is a sleepy time of year to visit this part of the state, but with an Airbnb home base in Edenton I enjoyed several days of discovery in two parks – natural beauty, history, and people.

Dismal Swamp State Park

North Carolina's Dismal Swamp State Park is a small part (14,000 acres) of the 113,000-acre Great Dismal Swamp that stretches across southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina. The Great Dismal Swamp is the largest intact portion of a great swamp that once exceeded 1 million acres.

The swamp’s natural history is described in many sources. Its human history as a refuge for escaped enslaved persons, known as maroons, was not taught when I was growing up in the 1960’s in a rural Virginia town barely 100 miles away. As an adult, I feel drawn to this history.

The Dismal Swamp Canal Welcome Center is on US Highway 17 North in South Mills, NC. [It is not affiliated with the park itself.] Visitors park there and walk across a swing bridge spanning the Dismal Swamp Canal. The bridge gives access to the state park’s Visitor Center and park trails, opening on a schedule for boats and paddlers.

The canal was created for inland trade between Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay and North Carolina’s Albemarle Sound. The Welcome Center website’s video calls it “the oldest manmade continuously operating waterway in the country,” which I feel is a poor euphemism for the fact that enslaved persons dug the canal in horrendous conditions over 12 years. Searching a bit deeper on the website produces a more detailed history. The idea that today the canal is used for paddling and pleasure boating doesn't sit right with me.

Looking north as I crossed the bridge

Under a brooding, overcast sky I walked the half-mile Swamp Boardwalk Trail. The temperature was too cold to notice any wildlife about – at least I didn’t see any, although I might have been seen. Having read about the maroons hiding/living in the swamps, I tried to imagine surviving here in any season, each with its discomforts (to say the least).

Read more: Dismal Freedom: A History of the Maroons of the Great Dismal Swamp by J. Brent Morris

Cypress knees

Places to sit and watch for birds and other critters

Most of the other trails in the park are a grid configuration of old logging roads, which I didn’t have the time or inclination to walk on today. The Supple-Jack Trail was right up my alley, a meander through the swamp and a return to the start on Canal Road. [Note: Supplejack is a native climbing vine.]

Canal Road

Moonshine operations back in the day

After my hike, I chatted with Melvin, who was operating the swing bridge today. Melvin retired recently and quickly became bored, so started working part-time at the park. When I told him I’m visiting all the NC state parks, his eyes sparkled. He said, “You know, I should do something like that. All the years I worked, I never traveled for fun.” I encouraged him to start with a short trip to one place and see how much he loves it. I enjoyed the conversation with this gregarious fellow and I hope he finds his way to get out there!

Merchants Millpond State Park 

The morning that I visited Merchants Millpond State Park in Gatesville, NC, was windy and quite cold (34 degrees) but lit up by cheery blue skies. I was the lone car at the Visitor Center, where I got the general rundown of the area’s history from Kathy, also a part-time park employee like Melvin. [More about Kathy’s back story below.]

Millponds are manmade damming of creeks to create power for mill operations back in the day. The millpond at the center of the park, originally called Norfleets Millpond, was built in 1811 – yes, over 200 years ago! According to the park’s brochure, “Gristmills, a sawmill, a farm supply store and other enterprises made the area the center of trade in Gates County. Thus, the pond became known as Merchants Millpond.”

The park is small, a bit more than 3,500 acres encircling the millpond and part of Lassiter Swamp. It features a few trails and all kinds of camping, from car camping to backcountry to paddle-in campsites. Again my time was limited because of the long drive home ahead of me. I wanted to get close to the water, so I walked around the Cypress Point Trail loop and then a short distance on Bennetts Creek Trail.

Magical stillness in the early morning light

Spillway at the road crossing

No critters in sight here, either. I'll have to return in warmer weather to check out the American alligators, turtles, frogs and snakes (oh my!)

Kathy’s back story: When she was thinking of college, she sought a guidance counselor’s advice for careers in the outdoors because she liked hiking and nature. The female counselor discouraged her, saying that it was a lonely career for a woman, she might be posted in remote locations, the outdoors was dangerous with animals, etc. So Kathy didn’t follow that dream. She recently moved to the Gates County area and saw that MMSP was hiring, and she’s very happy working in a field that she’s always loved. 

News flash: Outdoors and public lands careers feature women at every level (including our current U.S. Secretary of the Interior). I hope that guidance counselors everywhere are encouraging girls to follow that “outside voice!”

“Natural beauty, history, and people – treasures in
North Carolina State Parks.”
 ~Sharon McCarthy

Hanging Rock State Park: Indian Creek Trail & Riverbluffs Trail

Hanging Rock State Park: Indian Creek Trail & Riverbluffs Trail – 2/24/23 – 9.3 Miles

My Centennial Trail thru-hike is a tad more than 3 months away. Most of my training outings are on familiar trails that I don’t blog about. Jim offered to hike with me today, so we explored some new-to-me trails in Hanging Rock State Park.

A blue-sky day in February, pleasant hiking weather in the NC mountains, starting out with long pants and sleeves and ending in shorts. I carried my usual daypack with some extra weight. Soon I’ll start carrying my new Gossamer Gear backpack.

Starting at the Dan River boat access parking at the “bottom” of the mountain, we headed up Indian Creek Trail (I wonder if they will rename that one day?)

Canoe/kayak launch at Dan River

Boy Scouts? Parks and Rec? Random people?

Like the trail’s name implies, we encountered a lot of creek crossings. I suspect they are usually unremarkable rock hops, but there’s been a significant amount of rain lately. Let’s count ‘em up: 4 wet crossings plus 5 dry rock hop crossings adds up to 9 going up…plus 9 coming back down…that means 18 crossings that got our attention.

Jim was able to keep his boots from being completely submerged, but I had no chance of staying dry wearing my little Altra Timps. It was a nice day, though, and wet feet didn’t hinder me. Just happy to be outside!

The trail turned away from the creek and began climbing. A partially collapsed wooden building appeared near the crossing of Hanging Rock Road. Growing up in rural southern Virginia where my uncles raised tobacco, I recognized this old tobacco barn. Nostalgic even as hindsight gives a clearer picture of a complex time.

After the road crossing, my old friend the Mountains-To-Sea Trail joined Indian Creek Trail and the climb got steeper. Because I was trying to keep Jim’s pace, my calves were feeling the burn. The creek appeared again on the left and stayed with us.

Most visitors start from the Visitor Center parking and descend to Hidden Falls and Window Falls, then turn around and head back up. Approaching from the bottom, we reached Window Falls first. The “window” is a hole in the rock wall near the main drop, which we didn’t try to get close to today. The trail was now noticeably eroded, despite the infrastructure built to try to keep people on the path. 

Window Falls (sans window)

Approaching Hidden Falls, we spotted a large group of folks, including little kids climbing all over the rocks, so we kept moving to the picnic area for a lunch break. It’s all fun and games until the crowds move in; then it’s time to skedaddle.

Never underestimate the return part of an out-and-back hike. Retracing our steps going down Indian Creek Trail, I commented to Jim how the day was warm but I hadn’t seen any spring flowers. Then lo and behold, I saw a trout lily! Then I saw dozens, then thousands, all along the banks of the creek … wow! I am sure they were not there when we hiked up.

We crossed the paved road again and took another look at the old barn

Beyond the building, we noticed rusty barrels lying in the woods. Tromping around in the vegetation uncovered more “artifacts,” possibly an old homesite connected with the barn? But we were very close to the park boundary lines and could see occupied houses – maybe this was just an old dump. 

Back close to the Dan River parking area with time for a little more exploring, we turned onto the Riverbluffs Loop, a flat little 1.3-mile trail that passes along the banks of Dan River. The rock bluffs on the far side of the river were impressive.

A few dozen yards off to one side of the trail, I caught a glimpse of yellow and realized it was a spread of daffodils, which usually signifies an old homesite. We walked up the slope and found the remnants of a rock chimney. Who once owned this property with a fine view of the river and its rocky bluffs?

For more info and photos of the Riverbluffs Trail, a nice writeup is here. 

We completed our hike earlier than expected and wanted a bite to eat before the long drive home. Nothing better than the town of Welcome, NC inviting us to have a seat at Jimmy’s Barbecue. Their motto: “I can smell a pig from a mile away!”

“For how many years did I wander slowly

 through the forest. What wonder and glory
 I would have missed had I ever been in a hurry!”
 ~Mary Oliver

Green Knob Trail: Black Mountain Campground to Green Knob Lookout Tower

Green Knob Trail: Black Mountain Campground to Green Knob Lookout Tower

1/30/23 – 6 miles

When my mother passed away at age 72, a wise friend told me there would be a time each year that she would be on my mind and it might not be when I would expect it. Truth: while Mother’s Day and her birthday bring a tinge of remembrance, it’s the anniversary of her passing that carries significance for me. It has become a tradition to take the last few days of January to retreat alone and reflect, look back and look forward.

This year I stayed in a cabin on the South Toe River in North Carolina, equipped with coffee, my journals, and my yoga mat. On my way to the cabin I took a walk in the mountains.

Green Knob Lookout Tower, 5 miles north of Mount Mitchell on the Blue Ridge Parkway in NC, was built in 1931 as a live-in tower. It was occupied until the late 1970’s, rehabbed in 1996, and restored in 2013.

On a clear day back in 2010 I hiked to Green Knob as part of Carolina Mountain Club’s Lookout Tower Challenge. The route I took then was a one-mile round trip accessed from the Blue Ridge Parkway. I didn’t see anyone that day and I walked on the tower’s catwalk (not accessible since the 2013 restoration).

Today I tackled the big climb to the tower from the South Toe Trailhead, where many trailheads converge at a large parking area at the entrance to Black Mountain Campground. The Mountain Mitchell Trail and the Mountains-To-Sea Trail pass through here. No restroom facilities, though.

Start out on Green Knob/River Loop/Mountains-to-Sea Trails running together. [Note: this section of the MST didn’t exist when Danny and I hiked it, we took the road for a couple of miles.]

Trail signage and blazes were better than I expected. Within the first half-mile the two trails turn off and the rest of the way was just the long haul following the white diamond blazes up Green Knob Trail. I referred to my GAIA app for distance but didn’t need it for navigation.

Not far from the trailhead I noticed a man off-trail in the woods to the left, carrying a blue tarp. He didn’t acknowledge seeing me, although he couldn’t have missed my orange shirt. Stay tuned.

Whew! As the trail follows Lost Cove Ridge, the grade is moderately steep, flat for 50 yards, then very steep – repeat, repeat, repeat. I love the winter forest, tangles of high bare branches making room to exist together and allowing views of neighboring slopes. Dead of winter, no flowers, gray sky, stillness, no breeze at all. That description sounds unappealing to some, but I find beauty in the winter woods, glimpses of birds, the pick-up-stix placement of fallen trees and upended root balls.

Who was here?

Twisted tree trunk

Duck!

I let my breathing dictate my pace, sometimes counting steps and then resting while I checked my position on GAIA. As I slowly plodded upward, I worried about how I would get back down those slopes without falling – a little bit of mud and a lot of wet leaves. My legs grew tired, emphasizing a lack of training.

Did I mention that I’m planning to hike the Centennial Trail in South Dakota in June? Training!

A little sprinkle almost gave me a reason to turn around – I don’t want to get drenched out here all alone – but it fizzled to nothing and I kept going, fighting the inclination to quit because it’s hard.  Isn’t that a life lesson that we are continually learning?

The ridge narrowed for the last push, tall trees gone, now scraggly mountain laurel, vegetation changed to galax leaves in profusion. 

There were more rocks, small boulders, a couple of places where I had to choose footholds carefully. The higher the trail rose, the slower I went. For those of you who calculate such things, this 3-mile hike gains about 1,000 feet in the first 2 miles, then 1,000 feet more in the final mile.

The Black Mountains

Close to the base of the lookout tower, a trail came in on the left. This is the unmarked trail from the Blue Ridge Parkway that I hiked up over a dozen years ago. Or was it just yesterday? 

Green Knob Lookout Tower (elevation 5,090 feet)

From the steps of the lookout tower, the Black Mountain Crest is shrouded in clouds
 as blue sky breaks out above

I ate my lunch sitting at the base of the tower with the intermittent sun on my back. The temperature today ranged from 45 to 55, paired with overcast skies, perfect hiking weather.

The hike back – is this the same route? Now that I was not looking at my footing and laboring for breath, I soaked in my surroundings and enjoyed the quiet stillness, the color of decaying wet leaves and lichen.

View from Lost Cove Overlook 

And…do I remember navigating this blowdown on the way up?

The return hike took 1.5 hours, side-hilling carefully on the precarious downhills with numerous “oopsies” when I’d slip a short ways. Feeling the decreasing range of motion of this aging body, I descended boulders carefully, sitting down and lowering myself rather than hyper-extending my knees. Of course some movements are more limited as I age, but that doesn’t limit my brain. I remind myself, “Just be more careful and you’ll get there.”

Near the trailhead again I saw the same man in the woods, and on the trail was a big pile of twigs tied into bundles. Around the bend, another fellow walked up and said hi, very friendly, hastily explaining that they were harvesting birch whips, which they have a permit to do every year to sell in bundles to florists. 

My personality of crossing things off lists, tallying miles, making “progress” and relishing a sense of accomplishment is a paradox to my feelings at the end of the hike: breathing the cold air, working my body, I felt both depleted and renewed, an indescribable feeling of connection and just being.

Retreat time.

“And into the forest I go,
 to lose my mind and find my soul.”
 ~John Muir