Portsmouth Ditch Trail Head

This is a great place to get away from all of the city noises. Big long trails

Another great place as part of the Great Dismal Swamp NWR. Lot of migratory birds seen during the season. Ticks galore so make sure you take precautions. Trails can be very muddy after rain, specifically the ones close to the first parking lot. Btw there are two parking lots, first one and then 1/2 mile down the road a second one. Black bear trail is great.

did not know this area of portsmouth has bears....the blk bear trail is muddy and bug deep...blk bear trail #2 would hike that and turn around is better than #1...my mistake was continuing on to #1...BIG MISTAKE...was lucky tho..no 🐻... my fav was the grassy area...to walk on as it was flat and not as many bugs...that I'll walk again...reminder the blk bear trail is tick country...the trail in general is not well marked on the grassy trail area yet blk bear tail is very well marked...yesterday was a good day to walk it as the weather was perfect...wat an adventure!!!

Not overly scenic but gives you a decent feel of the Swamp without jumping into it all and trekking out west. Super buggy at points but comes with territory. Some decent wildlife (butterflies, birds, snakes).

So many mosquitoes and other flies biting and buzzing around!! I wouldn't recommend going there if youre not ok woth bugs, snakes and wildlife!! Theres coyotes and bears on top of the nice animals so its not really family friendly to me. We sprayed deep woods off bug spray allover us.. ALOT.. and it disnt help a bit. The mosquitoes are so terribly bad you can't enjoy the hike on this area. Yes i know its a swamp but it is insane how bad the bugs are there.. stay out!!

Go run. Ride your bike. Look at bears. Prepare to be bitten by bugs.