Crainsville Swamp

Kent Mason, Photographer / Conservationist

Crainsville Swamp, at an elevation of 2,547 feet, is located in a natural bowl which is a "frost pocket", an area of cooler/colder moist air, similar to what one would expect in Maine. It is a boreal peat bog formed 15,000 years ago during the last ice age. When the climate warmed and the ice receded, the boreal plants remained. Being one of the few boreal peat bogs remaining in the southern USA, it was selected early on as a National Natural Landmark. The Nature Conservancy owns and manages this 2,000 acre biologcally sigificant natural area which contains endanged and rare mammals, birds and plants. This gallery provides a visual tour of Crainsville Swamp.