Great Places
Great Cypress Swamp
38°28'12.03"N 75°17'46.76"W
Route 54 west of Route 113
Selbyville, DE 19944
The Great Cypress Swamp is the northern-most "southern forest" in the United States, straddling the border separating Delaware and Maryland. About 10,000 acres of this 12,400-acre area, or roughly 80%, is privately owned by Delaware Wild Lands, an environmental nonprofit organization working to restore this vast forest. Trespassing on this land is illegal.
Today's forest of Atlantic white cedar and bald cypress trees is about 100 years old, making it a prime destination for paddling and wildlife watching. That said, the Great Cypress Swamp is no walk in the park. It is a swamp after all, and it's home to the poisonous Southern copperhead rattlesnake. A professionally guided tour is highly recommended.
The easiest way to see this, the largest patch of forest on the Delmarva Peninsula, is to take a driving tour on either Route 54 or Hudson Road, the latter of which is the last dirt road in Sussex County. Visit Cubalo Park in Millsboro and you'll find a model bald cypress tree 98 feet tall and 62 feet wide. A second, 92-foot example can easily be found behind the R.J. Riverside Restaurant on Delaware Avenue in Laurel.
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