2016 Wetland Treasures

Bluff Mountain Fen

  • Location: Bluff Mountain Preserve in Ashe County, NC
  • Wetland Type: Southern Appalachian Fen
  • Owner: The Natural Conservancy
  • Unique Feature: Only known wetland type in the region
  • Factsheet
  • Directions 

Photo provide by The Nature Conservancy

Croatan National Forest

  • Location: Craven, Carteret, and Jones counties, NC
  • Wetland Types: Pocosins, Carolina bays, salt marsh and more
  • Owner: U.S. Forest Service
  • Unique Feature: Approximately 75% of the Croatan may be considered wetlands with pocosins comprising the majority of the wetland acreage.
  • Factsheet
  • Directions


Photo by David Blevins

Merchants Millpond

  • Location: Gates County, NC
  • Wetland Type: Cypress Gum Swamp (Blackwater)
  • Owner: North Carolina State Parks
  • Unique Feature: Created 190 years ago, coastal pond and southern swamp forest mingle, creating one of North Carolina’s rarest ecological communities.
  • Factsheet 
  • Directions

Photo courtesy of Chuck Richardson

Santee Coastal Preserve

  • Location: Charleston County, SC
  • Wetland Type:
  • Owner: South Carolina Division of Park and Recreation
  • Unique Feature: Once a rice plantation, this reserve provides essential habitat for many species of wildlife, including migratory and wintering waterfowl, shorebirds and wading birds, and Loggerhead sea turtles.
  • Factsheet 
  • Directions 

Photo by Charles Slate

Woods Bay 

  • Location: Florence, Clarendon, and Sumter counties, SC
  • Wetland Type: Carolina Bay
  • Owner: SC Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism
  • Unique Feature: The park is the home to one of the last remaining, relatively undisturbed, large Carolina bays on the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain.
  • Factsheet 
  • Directions 

Photo courtesy of Regina Huff

Antioch Bay

  • Location: Hoke County, NC
  • Wetland Types: Southern Appalachian bog, swamp forest-bog complex, semi-permanent impoundment
  • Owner: The Natural Conservancy
  • Threats: Agricultural Runoff containing agrochemicals and nutrients could affect the integrity of the plant community. 
  • More Information: Antioch Bay Factsheet 
  • Plan a Visit: This  preserve  is  not  open  to  the  public  due  to  the sensitive nature of the ecological community present. 


Francis Beilder Forest

  • Location: Dorchester County, Couth Carolina
  • Wetland Types: Cypress-tupelo swamp, bottomland hardwood forest
  • Property Owner: National Audubon Society
  • Threats: Development pressures from the Charleston metro area.
  • More Information: Beidler Forest Factsheet 
  • Plan a Visit: Directions

Green Swamp

  • Location: Brunswick County in North Carolina
  • Wetland Types: Pine savanna, high/low pocosin, bay forest, Atlantic white cedar forest 
  • Owners: The Nature Conservancy
  • Threats: Spread of invasive species, altered hydrology, and altered water quality. Poaching of carnivorous plants.
  • More Information: Green Swamp Factsheet 
  • Plan a Visit: Directions


Mason Farm

  • Location: Orange County, NC
  • Wetland Type: Piedmont swamp forest, alluvial forest, bottomland forest
  • Owner: North Carolina Botanical Garden - UNC Chapel Hill
  • Unique Feature: This site includes two valuable wetland areas—Big Oak Woods and Morgan Creek Floodplain Forest—are highly significant both for wildlife habitat and for water quality.
  • More Information: Factsheet 
  • Plan a Visit: Directions


Phelps Lake Shoreline

  • Location: Washington County, North Carolina
  • Wetland Type: Natural lake shoreline swamp
  • Owner: North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation
  • Unique Feature: This site is part of Pettigrew State Park and comprises more  than  550  acres  of  state-designated  Unique Wetlands along the north shore of Lake Phelps. The site contains bald cypress trees that measure 10 feet in diameter. 
  • More Information: Factsheet 
  • Plan a Visit: https://www.ncparks.gov/state-parks/pettigrew-state-park


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