Swanquarter Wilderness

Established in 1932, Swanquarter National Wildlife Refuge encompasses around 16,500 acres of islands and coastal marshland on the north side of Pamlico Sound. The Swanquarter Wilderness makes up more than half of the refuge: Judith Island, Swanquarter Island, Great Island, Marsh Island, and portions of the mainland along Juniper Bay. Judith, Swanquarter, and Great Islands are entirely estuarine, dominated by black needlerush and intermittently under water, usually due to wind tides. Marsh Island is almost entirely estuarine, with a small upland forest section on the extreme northern boundary. Along the mainland of Juniper Bay, the Wilderness is approximately half estuarine and half upland forest. In upland forests of loblolly pine, you may catch a glimpse of white-tailed deer, opossums, raccoons, and squirrels. Yellow-bellied turtles and water snakes inhabit the needlerush and saw grass that blankets most of the refuge, and a few of the northernmost American alligators live here in brackish water. Access to most of the Swanquarter Wilderness requires a boat. Most visitors come to fish from May through November for croaker, spot, speckled trout, flounder, puppydrum (young redfish), and bluefish. Crabbing is a popular sport in the warmer months, and portions of the refuge are open seasonally for waterfowl hunting.