Dismal Swamp (600 sq mi/1,554 sq km), SE Va. and NE N.C., in Chesapeake and Suffolk independent cities, Va., and Gates, Pasquotank, Camden, and Currituck cos., N.C. With dense forests and tangled undergrowth, a favorite site for sportsmen and naturalists. Once covering nearly 2,200 sq mi/5,698 sq km, reduced by drainage to less than 600 sq mi/1,554 sq km. Surveyed in 1763 by George Washington. Dismal Swamp Canal, 22 mi/35 km long, now part of the Intracoastal Waterway, was completed in 1828; it connects Chesapeake Bay with Albemarle Sound. L. Drummond, Va., c.3 mi/4.8 km in diameter, is in the center of the swamp and is its highest elev. Great Dismal Swamp Natl. Wildlife Refuge (Va./N.C.) covers W part.
