Battle Creek Cypress Swamp


Battle Creek Cypress Swamp is a forested wetland near Prince Frederick in Calvert County, Maryland, United States. It is one of the northernmost sites of naturally occurring bald cypress trees in North America, and the only large stand of the trees on the western shore of Maryland. In 1965, the National Park Service designated the BCCS a National Natural Landmark.

The BCCS Sanctuary

purchased the wetland, which became the Battle Creek Cypress Swamp Sanctuary, in 1957. It was the Conservancy's first preserve in Maryland and encompasses . A portion of it is now open as a public park with a nature center and quarter-mile boardwalk through the swamp. Since 1977, the preserve has been leased to Calvert County and operated as a county park.

Natural history

es, such as the bald cypress, and their relatives once covered much of the northern temperate zone. It is thought that these trees disappeared from the BCCS area during the most recent Pleistocene glaciation, but reappeared around 5,000 to 10,000 years ago as the climate warmed.
In addition to the cypress, the sanctuary protects many songbirds, frogs and several wildflower species. Skunk cabbages emerge early each spring.