Black River Kayaking
According to a study published 5/9/19 in the journal Environmental Research Communications, scientists dated a bald cypress tree in this Black River swampland to be at least 2,624 years old, making it one of the oldest non-clonal, sexually-reproducing trees in the world. Public access to this unparalleled, pristine, primordial land is a quick 20-minute drive from the retreat.
"Nature is the Purest Portal to Inner-Peace" (Angie Weiland Crosby)
Jack Horan, in his article River of Time: The Stunning Old-Growth Forest in the Three Sisters Swamp*, put it best: "North Carolina's famous Black River holds living bald cypresses that were saplings before Rome was an empire. After finding trees over 2,000 years old, researchers say the river might even nourish bald cypresses that sprouted three millennia ago." The Black River and surrounding lands is home to many wildlife species, including rare fish (Santee chub, broadtail madtom), bobcat, river otter, black bear, and exciting birds like the prothonotary warbler, yellow-throated vireo, chimney swift, egret, heron, and barred owl.
* (Sea Grant North Carolina Coastwatch, Autumn 2019)