Washington County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 11,003. Its county seat is Plymouth. The county was formed in 1799 from the western third of Tyrrell County. It was named for George Washington.
Tyrrell County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,245, making it the least populous county in North Carolina. Its county seat is Columbia. The county was created in 1729 as Tyrrell Precinct and gained county status in 1739.
Hyde County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,589, making it the second-least populous county in North Carolina. Its county seat is Swan Quarter. The county was created in 1705 as Wickham Precinct. It was renamed Hyde Precinct in 1712 and gained county status in 1739.
Dare County is the easternmost county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 36,915. Its county seat is Manteo.
Sabine Lake is a bay on the Gulf coasts of Texas and Louisiana, located approximately 90 miles (140 km) east of Houston and 160 miles (260 km) west of Baton Rouge, adjoining the city of Port Arthur. The lake is formed by the confluence of the Neches and Sabine Rivers and connects to the Gulf of Mexico through Sabine Pass. It forms part of the Texas–Louisiana border, falling within Jefferson and Orange Counties in Texas and Cameron Parish, Louisiana.
The Great Dismal Swamp is a large swamp in the Coastal Plain Region of southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina, between Norfolk, Virginia, and Elizabeth City, North Carolina. It is located in parts of the southern Virginia independent cities of Chesapeake and Suffolk and northern North Carolina counties of Gates, Pasquotank, and Camden. Some estimates place the original size of the swamp at over one million acres (4,000 km2). As of 2022 the size of the Great Dismal Swamp is around 750 square miles.
The Scuppernong River is a blackwater river that flows through Tyrrell County and Washington County, North Carolina, into the Albemarle Sound. The river shares its name with the Scuppernong grapes native to the area. The river has a history closely linked to colonization and agricultural utilization. Currently, the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge and Pettigrew State Park can be found on the banks of the river. The River is celebrated annually through the Scuppernong River Festival.
The Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge is a 152,000-acre (620 km2) National Wildlife Refuge located in eastern North Carolina along the Atlantic Coast. It was established on March 14, 1984, to preserve and protect a unique wetland habitat type—the pocosin—and its associated wildlife species.
Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge is a national wildlife refuge located on North Carolina's Pea Island, a coastal barrier island and part of a chain of islands known as the Outer Banks, adjacent to Cape Hatteras National Seashore. The sanctuary is located 10 miles (16 km) south of Nags Head, North Carolina on NC 12.
The Banks Lake National Wildlife Refuge is a 4,049 acre (16.4 km2) National Wildlife Refuge located in Lanier County, Georgia. Banks Lake is a natural pocosin or sink of ancient geologic origin. The refuge was established in 1985 for the protection and conservation of this unique environment as well as migratory and resident wildlife.
The Inner Banks is a neologism made up by developers and tourism promoters to describe the inland coastal region of eastern North Carolina. Without historical precedent, the term "Inner Banks" is an early 21st-century construct that is part of an attempt to rebrand the mostly agrarian coastal plain east of I-95 as a more attractive region for visitors and retirees.
Pocosin is a type of palustrine wetland with deep, acidic, sandy, peat soils. Groundwater saturates the soil except during brief seasonal dry spells and during prolonged droughts. Pocosin soils are nutrient-deficient (oligotrophic), especially in phosphorus.
Lake Marion is a large man-made lake in central South Carolina. It has a 315-mile (507 km) shoreline and covers nearly 110,000 acres of rolling farmlands, former marshes, and river valley landscape. With territory spanning five counties, the lake is referred to as South Carolina's inland sea.
The Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge is located in North Carolina's Inner Banks on the Albemarle-Pamlico Peninsula in Hyde, Tyrrell, and Washington Counties, North Carolina. Its headquarters is located in Columbia.
The Pungo River is a river in eastern North Carolina, United States. It originally began in the Great Dismal Swamp in Washington County, North Carolina; the upper part of the river has since been supplanted by the Pungo River Canal, dug in the 1950s to improve drainage of local farmland. The river flows southeast and forms part of the boundary between Beaufort County and Hyde County. The river then widens dramatically, turns west, and flows past Belhaven, North Carolina before joining the Pamlico River near Pamlico Sound.
Alligator River is a small river in eastern North Carolina, separating Dare County and Tyrrell County. It empties into Albemarle Sound. A 21-mile canal connects the Alligator River with Pungo River to its west. The Lindsey C. Warren Bridge of U.S. Route 64 crosses the river.
Angola Swamp is a pocosin in southern coastal North Carolina near Jacksonville, in Duplin and Pender counties. Much of the swamp is included in the 34,063-acre (13,785 ha) Angola Bay Game Land, administered by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. The southern section of the swamp was logged and has a road grid, while the northern portion is wild and roadless. The swamp is drained by the Northeast Cape Fear River.
Holly Shelter Swamp is a pocosin in southern coastal North Carolina near Jacksonville, in Pender County. Much of the swamp is included in the 63,494-acre (25,695 ha) Holly Shelter Game Land, administered by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. The Bear Garden tract of the northern swamp has been logged and has a road grid. The swamp is drained by the Northeast Cape Fear River.
The protected areas of North Carolina cover roughly 3.8 million acres, making up 11% of the total land in the state. 86.5% of this protected land is publicly owned and is managed by different federal and state level authorities and receive varying levels of protection. Some areas are managed as wilderness while others are operated with acceptable commercial exploitation. The remainder of the land is privately owned, but willingly entered into conservation easement management agreements, or are owned by various nonprofit conservation groups such as the National Audubon Society and The Nature Conservancy. North Carolina contains 1 National Park, and various other federally owned protected land including 2 National Seashores, 5 National Forests, 12 Wildlife Refuges, and the southern half of the Blue Ridge Parkway. North Carolina has an extensive state park system of 42 open units, 35 of which are state parks, 4 that are recreation areas, and 3 staffed state natural areas, along with other designated units managed by the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.
Pungo Lake is a freshwater lake in Washington County and Hyde County, North Carolina. The lake has an area of about 2,800 acres, and is one of the five largest freshwater lakes in the state. It is the smallest of the pocosin lakes.
