Lake Drummond & Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge 

Glad you enjoyed my video. Thanks so much for watching! Definitely go check this place out when you get a chance, I just barely scratched the surface in this video, there is a lot of cool stuff to see out there.

Dismal is indeed a unique and beautiful place. Thanks for checking out my video!

Yeah this is pretty far from my normal territory but I'd been wanting to check out Drummond for a long time so I stopped by one day while I was in the area. There is a good chance I will be spending some more time in the vicinity this winter, we'll see. Thanks so much for checking out my video, I appreciate it!

I was recently trying to explain to a friend how several of the counties in Hampton Roads area are actually cities, the whole county is a city, and when you're in Dismal Swamp you are technically inside the "city." LOL! The Great Dismal Swamp is a spectacular area. It must be nice having such a place close to where you live. I have only made a couple of short visits, as I am based in the western part of the state, but I hope to get back there again for another visit. Thank you so much for checking out my video and for taking the time to leave your nice comment. I really appreciate it!

Thank you so much for checking it out and leaving a comment.

I was surprised how peaceful it was out there, given this area is right outside a large developed area. Other than an occasional passing airplane, I could not hear anything man made. It was awesome. Thanks for checking out my video and for your comment, I really appreciate it. I hope your area does not feel too bad effects from Irma these next few days. Stay safe, my friend.

It is a really beautiful area. I'm not aware of the "Moonshine King." I bet there's an interesting story there. Thanks so much for checking out my video!

We do have some swamps out in the far eastern part of the state near the coast. I have a few swamp videos on my channel but I don't get out east very often. This particular forest once covered over a million acres, but today its just a fraction of its original size. Glad you enjoyed the video, my friend. Thanks so much for watching!

Thanks for watching, my friend. It is a very interesting place. It's a bit hard to get around in there as you can imagine, other than the few roads and short trails. The way to really see it is to kayak the canals and the lake. It's also located close to large urban areas so I imagine the water gets pretty busy on weekends.

Thanks for watching and for your comment. I think the canal and lake by boat would be the best way to visit the area. I'm hoping to see more of the area in the future.

It is a really unique and wonderful place. Hope you get to visit someday. Thanks so much for watching!

The "Great Dismal Swamp" certainly invokes some mystery and allure. Not much is actually known about the history of the swamp or how the lake was formed (no feeder creeks). Who knows how many secrets the swamp is hiding. I have done a little research trying to find out what the original Native American name for the area was but so far I have not found any good information. Thanks so much for watching my video, I really appreciate it!

That's a great story! Stokley must have been a character. Lots of bears back in there. Thanks so much for checking out my video.

@@SmellNRoses Nice video

That's interesting. The lake probably acted like a big reflector for the sound of even distant planes. Thanks for checking out my video!

I missed that movie so unfortunately I don't know the reference. Good thing they have the boardwalks out in the swamp, would be pretty tough going otherwise. Thanks for watching, man!

This lake is quite unique here in Virginia. It's one of only two naturally occurring lakes. And there is some debate as to whether the second lake is really natural or not, so its possible that this is the only true natural lake. I guess its shallow due to the terrain. It's not completely flat out there but there are very few hills and very little elevation change. The entire area averages around 20 feet above sea level. Those must have been some hardy people who lived there and built communities in the swamp in the past. They survived and thrived with simple technologies. For us to do the same today would be a major task for sure. Thanks so much for watching and for your comment. I appreciate it!

The Dismal Swamp is definitely a worthwhile destination for the numerous reasons that you mentioned. You should go have a look. There are other equally good or even better spots in the area though, depending on where you are coming from and what kind of adventuring you are looking to get into. Locals often disregard the resources in their own area, sometimes out of ignorance or lack of thorough knowledge about the area, and other times simply due to over-familiarity.

Thanks, man. Yeah I had you on my mind while I was out there because I knew you would want to see this video. It does look a little more like the deeper South than Virginia. The Dismal Swamp once covered over a million acres in southeast Virginia, and there are many other swamps, marshes, and seasonally flooded forests in the eastern part of the state, but once you get inland, above the fall line, you don't really find them anymore. Of course there are wetlands all over the state even in some in the mountains, but the real swamps are out in the coastal areas. Being in the Dismal Swamp certainly has an extremely remote feel to it, other than the occasional airplane, I could not hear a thing man made while out there, but if you look it up on the map, you'll see it's just on the outskirts of one of Virginia's most developed areas. This type of terrain is definitely not very common on my channel, but I do enjoy checking these places out when I happen to be out in the eastern part of the state. Glad you enjoyed the video, I hope to make a return to Dismal Swamp in the near future to check out another spot I didn't get to on this trip. Thanks for watching!

just amazing scenery, very interesting with the ditch system... would be terrifying to get lost in that, no dry land for miles

It would be easy to get lost in there too...because everything looks the same in all directions, and its mostly flat so no land features to navigate by. Its easy to see why the escaped slaves would hide out in there, its well documented to be part of the Underground Railroad system. Some of slaves actually opted to stay and live permanently in the swamp. They were known as Maroons. Very little is known about them. Its fascinating what secrets have yet to be discovered about this place.

Thanks so much for checking out my video!

Thanks for watching, Nathan!

I'm only 5'8 so I'm not sure walking across a 6' deep lake is such a good idea. HAHAHA! Actually its only 3 feet deep on average, with 6 feet being the maximum in some spots. I bet it still has a soft and mucky bottom even in the shallow areas. I saw a monster size snake drop off into the water too. Best to stay on shore or in a boat LOL! The water was extremely calm. It's a weird lake, no feeder creeks. Not much is known about how it formed. Its a beautiful yet mysterious place out there in that swamp. Thanks so much for checking out my video, I appreciate it!

Yeah it does feel strange for me too when there are no mountain views in my video. Once in a while I have to mess with y'all and do something completely different haha! I had been wanting to check out Lake Drummond for a long time since its a naturally occurring lake. We only have two in version, and there is even some debate about one of them. I know NC has a half dozen, not sure about your state, but they are certainly not common here in the southeast. Thanks so much for checking out my video and for your comment, I really appreciate it. Hey, what do I have to do to get my hands on a Carolina Chris sticker?

It is a very interesting area. The terrain and ecosystem is very neat and it has a lot of surprising human history as well. The lake has only an average depth of 3 feet, and I agree one would expect to find more weeds and vegetation growing in it. Other than a few trees at the perimeter the lake appears clear of vegetation. It's the blackest water I've ever seen though, maybe that is a factor? Thanks for watching, my friend. I appreciate it!

The black is from the acidity from cypress trees!!

I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thank you so much for watching and for your comment!

It was very peaceful. Other than an occasional airplane, no man made sounds at all out there. Thanks for watching!

It is a really interesting area for sure. I've driven past it countless times and until now I decided to go ahead and check it out. I hope to make another visit out there soon to see a different section of the area. Thanks so much for watching and for your comment!

No bushwhacking on this particular trip but stay tuned, I'm looking at something interesting for a future visit out there. A huge monster water snake I ran into near the lake might have me reconsidering it though. I'm pretty you guys in NC have a half dozen natural lakes, all in the coastal zone as well.

Hi thanks for checking out my video. No the trails on the Virginia side do not really connect to anything on the east side or down in NC. You’ll need to drive around to that side to access those trails. The only access to Lake Drummond by land is from the VA side. There is canal/boat access from the east though and I do recommend some of the hiking trails at the state park in NC off Hwy 17.

Yeah "Officially" Mountain Lake is still considered a naturally occurring lake, but there is some debate as to whether it really is or not. I don't know why the fishing is not as good, not being a fisherman maybe I didn't explain it. I guess what I meant was that it has a limited number of species compared with other lakes, which are usually stocked of course. The fishing may be pretty good for the species that do live in the lake I don't know??? I don't know the geography of Phelps Lake in NC, but one weird thing about Drummond is that it does not have any feeder creeks. Its just there. LOL! Glad you enjoyed the video, my friend. I hope you make it out there some day if you ever return to the area. You would really like to see it for yourself. I don't know the story on the gate. Their website says the refuge is open daily, all year, but as we both found out the gate can be closed for seemingly no reason. I was fortunate enough to run into a Ranger, and although he basically told me "too bad, gate is closed" but I found it open 5 minutes after I gave him a hard time. Go figure! I hope to make another visit out to the area in the future, although Drummond is the highlight there is definitely more to see out there. Thanks so much for watching, man!

I heard there are some species of fish in the lake, but the high acid content of the water keeps many species away. Thanks for watching!

The biggest cottonmouth I've ever seen, I saw it at Lake Drummond. Keep your eyes open out there. Thanks for checking out my video!

The Cottonmouths and Black Bears would keep you company. LOL!!! I agree, its a pretty remote place out there. Thanks for checking out my video, I appreciate it!

@@SmellNRoses 👍

Yes! You are correct. We refer to it by it's common name, the Red Maple. Thanks so much for checking out my video. I appreciate it!

This video was clearly created by an impostor. The real Smell N Roses would have mentioned that he was in Suffolk City (entire county is incorporated as an independent city, long story). Additionally, he would have mentioned that the swamp is also contained in Chesapeake City on the Virginia side and three counties on the North Carolina side. Smell N Roses definitely would have informed you that the average elevation of the area is about 20 feet above sea level. Lacking that information in the video, we can see that this one was uploaded by a doubleganger, an amateur one at that LOL! Thanks for checking out the video, my friend. Great comment!!!

You slippin' :)

I was just glad to see the gate was open, even if it was after giving the Ranger some grief LOL!