2018 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

Lewis Ocean Bay

  • Location: Horry County, SC
  • Wetland Types: Carolina bay complex, bay forest, pine flatwoods, pond pine woodland, longleaf pine savannah
  • Owner: South Carolina Department of Natural Resources
  • Threats: Fire suppression due to urban development pose concerns for fire dependent species.
  • More Information: Lewis Ocean Bay Factsheet 
  • Video: Learn about the Threats to Lewis Ocean Bay
  • Plan a Visit: Directions


Hemlock Bluffs

  • Location: Wake County, North Carolina
  • Wetland Types: Floodplain pools, bottomland hardwood forest
  • Owners: State of North Carolina and Town of Cary
  • Threats: Habitat fragmentation from surrounding neighborhoods and roads. Polluted runoff from adjacent land use.
  • More Information: Hemlock Bluffs Factsheet 
  • Plan a Visit: Directions

Black River Swamp

  • Location: Bladen, Pender and Sampson Counties in North Carolina
  • Wetland Types: Riverine swamp forest, bottomland hardwood forest, pine flat, pocosin and seep 
  • Owners: The Nature Conservancy, NC Coastal Land Trust, NC Wildlife Resources Commission
  • Black River Swamp Factsheet (updated 9/20/2023)
  • Directions


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.
  • More Information: Factsheet 
  • Plan a Visit: Directions



Sparkleberry Swamp


Pink Beds Bog

  • Location: Pisgah National Forest, NC
  • Wetland Type: Southern Appalachian bog, swamp forest-bog complex, semi-permanent impoundment
  • Owner: U.S. Forest Service
  • Threats: This site is well protected, though future threats may stem from visitation or development in adjacent areas
  • More Information: Pink Beds Factsheet 
  • Plan a Visit: Directions