|
Whether birding or bear-
watching, fishing or four-wheeling, paddling
or hiking – for a wildlife adventure, few
locations in North Carolina can match
up to the naturally photo-friendly sights and sometimes scary sounds at Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge.
Located on the mainland portions of Dare and Hyde counties, the 152,195-acre refuge was established on March 14, 1984,
to preserve pocosin wetlands and wildlife. It
is approximately 28 miles long and 15 miles wide, surrounded on the west by the Alligator River and the Intracoastal Waterway, on the north by the Albemarle Sound, on the east by the Croatan and Pamlico sounds, and on the south by Long Shoal River and a stretch of corporate farmland.
According to The Nature Conservancy, pocosin is a Native-American word that means “swamp on a hill,” which is a pretty good description of a refuge of wetlands that are characterized by soils with high organic content and deep peat deposits that can hold large quantities of water, in large part covered by loblolly and pond pines and white cedar. The refuge is a paradise of high and low pocosin, bogs, fresh and brackish water marshes, hardwood swamps and nonriverine swamp forest that
contains almost all of the
wetland habitats that are
associated with peatlands.
Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge is regarded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as the gateway to
eastern North Carolina’s other refuges, including Pea Island. It is estimated that about 42,000 people visit the refuge each year. The refuge name comes from the Alligator River, which is so named because it is the northernmost locality that the American alligator calls home.
The ’gators can be seen along the more than 1,000 miles of estuarine shoreline and many more miles of slow-moving streams that make up the refuge. These are renowned paddling playgrounds, offering a uniquely winding canoe trail system along Alligator River, Milltail Creek and Sawyer Lake and connecting to dozens of other creeks and canals for a waterside view of all the area has to offer.
As one kayaker recently reported in an online journal, “We finally did get to see an alligator head directly in front of us. We approached with great caution, as not to scare it, because they submerge very quickly when approached. When its head was finally in view to all of us, we just kinda stopped, lifted our paddles from the water, and absorbed the silence, alone on the quiet creek on this beautiful day with this lone alligator. After
a few minutes, his head slowly submerged like a submarine and it was gone.”
Canoes, kayaks and small motor boats can be launched from the south end of Buffalo City Road for exploring 15 miles of color-coded water trails. The refuge staff also offers guided canoe tours during part of the year.
The Alligator River refuge is also one of the last strongholds of black bear on the East Coast, and visitors who cruise down the refuge roads often see the bears. At sunset on certain fall evenings, witnesses have reported seeing dozens of bears lumbering out of the woods to feast and store up fat for the coming winter.
In the Sandy Ridge area of the refuge, approximately 3,000 acres have been cleared and leased to farmers, where plots are kept dry enough for planting by ditches and canals that can drain off the marshland water. These fields produce soybean, sorghum and other grains that serve as a magnet for one of the largest concentrations of black bears
in the mid-Atlantic region.
More than 200 different bird species spend at least a portion of the year in the area of Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. Endangered feathered friends, like the bald eagle and the red-cockaded woodpecker, can be seen (and heard) overhead, as can many neotropical migrants, including black-throated green warblers, prairie warblers and red-eyed vireos that nest in the thick vegetation.
Like the woodpeckers, many cavity nesters, such as wood ducks and barred owls, find shelter and make homes in the old trees left
by loggers decades ago, while flocks of soft white swans and geese cover the lakes like rippling blankets.
In 1987, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service initiated a reintroduction of the endangered red wolf, releasing captive-bred red wolves into the Alligator River Refuge.
The species is native to the southeastern United States, but by the early 1970s, they had been eradicated from all but a small portion
of their original range. The Fish and Wildlife Service soon captured the few remaining red wolves and declared the species extinct in the wild due to hunting and loss of habitat. Today, there are an estimated 50 to 100 free-ranging red wolves thriving within the refuge.
While they get a great deal of press, red wolves are elusive, nocturnal animals, so it is not likely that a visitor will spot a red wolf. However, the refuge does host wolf-howling excursions, in which the wolves’ iconic call can be heard echoing throughout the dark forests (see sidebar).
For hikers, Creef Cut Trail is a half-mile long and universally accessible, ideal for school groups or families. At the Creef Cut trailhead, there is also a universally accessible fishing platform, from which young and old have been known to reel in a constant supply of crappie, bluegill and other freshwater fish, as the site is connected directly to South Lake by a nearby canal. Interpretive signs along the trail identify vegetation types and wildlife that may be seen in the area. A 200-foot boardwalk allows visitors to walk out onto the freshwater
marsh to the north of the trail, and there is an overlook on the south end as well.
Sandy Ridge Trail is also a half-mile long, but it takes hikers through an earthen path and 2,300 feet of boardwalk through a cypress swamp. The relaxing trail is appropriate for wheelchairs or baby strollers, however, it is not universally accessible due to several one or two-inch steps. Highlights of the Sandy Ridge Trail include sphagnum moss beds, Atlantic white cedar, sun dews, prothonotary warblers and possible alligator sightings.
Fishing is allowed at all canals, creeks and lakes in the refuge, in areas that are open to the public, in accordance with state regulations during state seasons. A fishing license is required. Hunting and fishing are in fact the most popular recreational activities at the refuge, with white-tail deer the main species hunted, as well as an assortment of smaller game, including squirrels, rabbits, quail and mourning doves.
Of course, the flora and fauna of Alligator River are what defines the refuge today. But at the heart of the refuge’s little known history
is Buffalo City, a former port of greatness long before the tourists descended onto the nearby beaches, and now but a distant memory.
At its peak a century ago, Buffalo City was Dare County’s largest town, boasting more than 3,000 residents, including a large number of Russian immigrants. The entire town was built in the early 1900s around the logging industry that thrived along Milltail Creek, near Alligator River. The city was named after the home (Buffalo, N.Y.) of the company that launched the enterprise.
The early loggers stayed near navigable waterways and would cut cedar and cypress near the shoreline, carrying it out to the water on their shoulders. Railroad tracks were laid, because they were easier to install over the lowland soil than roads. The loggers used steam-powered draglines to pull the logs to the railroad from a quarter-mile into the forest. As steam-powered dredges on floating barges dug canals deep into the forests, wood-fired boilers provided steam power for mechanical shingle cutters, sawmills, loading cranes and tugboats. Thousands of barges landed at Buffalo City’s docks on Milltail Creek, loading up logs that were brought to the water’s edge by railroad.
Bootleg whiskey production was among the most profitable side businesses of many Buffalo City residents. Barrels of Dare County’s best moonshine were produced here in the 1930s and then shipped to “speakeasies” from New York to Chicago. With the end of prohibition, however, also came the end of this particular industry.
By the 1940s most of the city’s good timber was gone, and by 1950 Buffalo City’s population had dwindled to less than 100. When the sawmill finally closed, it marked the end of the once-thriving community of loggers and liquor makers. Scattered pilings from old docks and a few decaying roofs on shore are all that is left of Buffalo City today.
Milltail Creek is contained within the refuge and is one of North Carolina’s most popular canoe trips. It’s a 13-mile run beginning in the swamp and flowing northwest, eventually broadening into a lake area of up to a quarter-mile wide. About mid-run, it turns west and empties into the wide Alligator River, and the river’s namesakes, the ’gators themselves, are often seen in Milltail Creek.
First Colony Farms once owned much of the area now included within the refuge, but their plans to convert the land to use for agriculture and peat mining ultimately proved to be too costly. From 1980 to 1984, The Nature Conservancy helped to create the refuge we know today by arranging a gift from Prudential Insurance of 118,000 acres and purchasing 25,000 acres of adjacent land. At that time, the Prudential donation was largest conservation gift in history.
When driving in the refuge, it is advised to use a four-wheel-drive vehicle, as rain can turn the dirt roads in the refuge into mud. There is an information kiosk, paved parking and a handicapped-accessible half-mile trail at the Milltail Road entrance to the refuge, located 4.4 miles west of the U.S. 64/264 intersection on U.S. 64.
Drivers can follow Buffalo City Road south from U.S. 64 to a boat ramp on Milltail Creek, located 4.2 miles east of Alligator River. There is a canoe/kayak trail that is part of the Albemarle Region Canoe Trail system. Other paddling trails can be found off N.C. 94, at the bridge just south of Gum Neck.
Open to the public year-round, Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge promises the wildest time on the Outer Banks. To contact refuge officials, call (252) 473-1131. |
