David Freeze: Closing out NC’s northeast state parks

Published 12:00 am Saturday, September 21, 2024

By David Freeze

Editor’s note: David Freeze is visiting all 42 state parks in North Carolina. Contact him at david.freeze@ctc.net.

I continued my eastern swing on Sept. 9 and 10. I stopped at Kerr Lake State Recreation Area, another of those massive lakes that covers 50,000 man-made acres. The lake is named for N.C. congressman John H. Kerr who helped arrange funding and approval for the project.

The park size is 3,376 acres and was established in 1981. It has eight access areas around the shoreline. All have lake access, at least one boat launch ramp, camping, picnic areas, pavilions and an assortment of other amenities. I visited the Satterwhite Point area where the visitor center is located. Each access area has its own map. I drove to the far end of Satterwhite Point and saw the marina. It offers mooring, slips, service and supplies and a small store.

Sailing and paddling are also popular. Kerr Lake is rated as one of the best fishing lakes in the eastern United States, with a plentiful supply of striped bass, largemouth bass, white perch, crappie and catfish. Satterwhite Point also has a defined swimming area with changing rooms and restrooms. Kerr Lake also offers hundreds of wooded tent and trailer campsites with both primitive and electric hookups. Various pavilions and shelters are also available. Hiking trails are waterfront plus the camping area roads make for interesting walking.

The Occoneechee Indians once lived along the shore and islands of the Roanoke River and what is now Kerr Lake. Virginia colonists attacked them in 1676 during Bacon’s Rebellion, causing the Indians to move and settle along the Eno River.

From this huge lake, I made my way to Merchants Millpond State Park. I had begun to notice that lots of stuffed animals are shown in the eastern visitor centers, and almost everyone has a bear. The visitor center at Merchants was one of the best with a large display area inside with facts about the millpond and also a wonderful sitting area overlooking the 700-acre millpond and attached Lassiter Swamp. Inside are displays on the old gristmill that used to be on the pond and about wildlife that visitors can expect to see in the park.

Many of the large cypress trees in the pond are at least 500 years old. Other trees around the pond are tupelo gum, beech and many other hardwoods, often draped in Spanish moss. Lillies float on the pond and fishing is good with bass, crappie, bluegill and pickerel available. Alligator can be seen on occasion. Rental canoes are stacked near the pond and visitors can bring their own. Small boats with trolling motors can be used, too.

This is a small park of 3,520 acres and is nearest Gatesville. Besides some primitive camping, there are also 20 campsites available for trailer or tent camping and three separate areas on marked paddle trails for canoe camping. All five trails in the park are labeled easy and range from .33 miles to seven miles. There is a biker’s trail too.

In 1811, Norfleet’s millpond was built and soon thrived. 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. Shortly before World War II, operations came to a halt and the land was sold to developers. A.B. Coleman of Moyock purchased the property and donated 919 acres to what became Merchants Millpond State Park in 1973.

I found this pond very peaceful and amazing in appearance. I watched the pond for just a few minutes and saw turtles and what I think was an otter. The water constantly bubbled with fish on the move. I expected to be attacked by mosquitoes, but didn’t see one.

My next stop was at the Dismal Swamp State Park, another park that I really enjoyed. To aid in early transportation and to get lumber out of the swamp, the 22-mile long Dismal Swamp Canal was built by enslaved labor in the 1700s and 1800s. It connected Chesapeake Bay in Virginia to the Albemarle Sound in North Carolina. The Great Dismal Swamp Wildlife Refuge was established in 1974, and the Dismal Swamp State Park opened in 2008.

The public can learn about the swamp in the visitor center, and they can canoe and kayak the canal. They can also walk any of 11 trails in the park, with wildlife sightings likely. I talked to a park ranger just before morning opening and asked about the best trail. He suggested the Canal Road that heads north beside the canal but added that I could see bears. A sandy surfaced maintenance road of 2.2 miles was perfect for the cool morning. My only wildlife sighting was of a large doe that stood and looked at me until I opened my iPad for a photo. A replica liquor still sits alongside the trail as does a small flat-bottomed barge used for shipping along the canal.

Any person planning to hike any of the trails must check in with a park ranger if they plan to hike any of the trails. That check-in happens at a swing bridge that swings out of the way for any boats coming and going on the canal. I saw two boats parked overnight and they were gone on down the canal when I returned.

Thirty-four parks visited and just eight more to go.

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