• Home
  • How We Work
  • Where We Work
  • News Room
  • About Us
  • My Nature Page

The Nature Conservancy in Africa - Conservation in Africa

The Nature Conservancy in Asia Pacific - Conservation in Asia-Pacific

The Nature Conservancy in the Caribbean - Conservation in the Caribbean

The Nature Conservancy in Central America - Conservation in Central America

The Nature Conservancy in North America - Conservation in North America

The Nature Conservancy in the United States - Conservation in the United States

The Nature Conservancy in South America - Conservation in South America

Merchants Millpond State Park

Merchants Millpond Map

LOCATION:
Coastal Plain
Gates County

SIZE IN ACRES:
3,250

INVOLVEMENT IN ACRES:
1,131


Bladderwort
Bladderwort (© TNC)
Great Horned Owls
Great horned owls, one week old (© Merrill Lynch)

TOPOGRAPHICAL MAP:
Merchants Millpond

Topographical maps are available by contacting:
NC Geographical Survey.
1612 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-1612.
(919) 715-9718
www.geology.enr.state.nc.us/

ACTIVITIES & AMENITIES:
Hiking / Birding / Fishing / Small Boats / Camping / Picnicking / Restrooms / Parking

OWNERSHIP & ACCESS:
Merchants Millpond State Park
Route 1, Box 141-A
Gatesville, NC 27938
(252) 357-1191
The North Carolina Chapter offers canoeing/camping weekends to the park through its field trip program.

SITE INFORMATION:
The settlers who dammed Merchants Millpond before the Civil War could not have predicted that one day their efforts would result in a significant natural area. Since beavers were extirpated in North Carolina by 1900 and have only recently made a comeback, there are few old beaver ponds in the state. Merchants Millpond fills this niche, as over time it has developed into a mature wetland habitat supporting abundant wildlife and an old-growth forest.

The park is home to owls, woodpeckers, and waterfowl, and breeding neotropical migrants such as northern parula, prothonotary, and yellow-throated warblers. Turtles, frogs, and snakes can be seen basking on logs and stumps.  In all, over 160 species of birds have been observed at the park. Some of the park’s more elusive inhabitants include river otter, gray fox, black bear, and bobcat.

Lassiter Swamp, located in the upper end of the millpond, contains a large grove of
800-year-old cypress and the state's largest tupelo tree. The pond is bordered by a swamp forest, an old-growth beech slope, and mature mixed oak and pine stands on the uplands. Over 165 plant species have been recorded at the pond and surrounding swamp, including the rare featherfoil or water violet (one of the odder-looking plants in the world), yellow water crowfoot, pale mannagrass, conferva pondweed, and least trillium.  Green mats of waterlilies and collections of knobby cypress kness break the smooth surface of black water.   

This watery wilderness is best explored by canoe or kayak.  You can either rent a canoe at the park or bring your own. A primitive campsite on an island in the pond offers spaces for canoe-camping and there is also a campground on the uplands around the pond. Hiking trails are located near the entrance to the park.

CONSERVATION HIGHLIGHTS:
In 1973 A. B. Coleman of Moyock donated 919 acres, including the historic millpond, to the state. The Nature Conservancy then helped protect an additional 1,131 acres.

DIRECTIONS:
The park is located six miles northeast of Gatesville. The park entrance is located on NC 158 between the towns of Easons Crossroads and Sunbury, 4.8 miles west of the junction with US 32. To get to the millpond and canoe launch area from the main park entrance, drive west on US 158 for .3 miles, turn left on Millpond Road (SR 1403) and drive 1.4 miles to the parking lot on the left.