Battle Creek Cypress Swamp - Calvert County is Proud of their Swampland. That's right. The jokes about buying swampland in Florida are pretty much thing of the past with Wetlands having taken on a whole new status as protected areas due to ecological and environmental importance.
Calvert County is home to the Battle Creek Cypress Swamp - the northernmost stand of Bald Cypress in the U.S. . Cypress are typically sub-tropical, found mostly in the Carolinas and Southeast, and unusual this far north. A portion of these unique wetlands is now a public park with a nature center and a quarter mile boardwalk through the swamp.
National and international attention turned to the environment in the 1970s, and UNESCO and the Ramsar Convention designated the Everglades as one of only three wetland areas of global importance. Prior to the escalation of ecological and environmental awareness of the 70's, the Battle Creek Cypress Swamp took on conservancy and landmark designations.
The Nature Conservancy purchased this 100 acre wetland in 1957, the Conservancy's first preserve in Maryland. In 1965 the National Park Service designated the Battle Creek Cypress Swamp as a National Natural Landmark. This area encompasses a 100 foot canopy of cypress trees that can reach an age of over 1000 years. Cypress trees are prized for their wood which is extremely rot and termite resistant.
Directions
On Route 4/2 south of Prince Frederick, turn west on Sixes Road (county 506). From Sixes Road, turn left (south) on Grays Road for 1/10 mile to Cypress Swamp on the right.
Questions? Information? Call 410-535-5327.
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