Active Life in Ocean Isle Beach, NC
Active Life • Parks • Hiking
5550 Watts Road,
Ocean Isle Beach ,
NC
28469
UNITED STATES
On behalf of the McMullan family, I welcome you to the Shallotte River Swamp Park. When I purchased this tract of land, I was immediately impressed with it`s natural beauty, from the upland wooded environment to the pristine world of the swamp waters. On my first visit, I encountered deer, turkey, quail, as well as a snake and a bunch of chiggers. I immediately fell in love with this natural environment and my goal was thus established to figure out a way to create a business plan that would make use of the property in a manner that caused the least disturbance to the natural environment as possible. From that came the vision for the Shallotte River Swamp Park, a nature oriented eco park featuring swamp boat tours, a zip line canopy course, a tree top aerial challenge course, a self guided educational nature trail, and a guided swamp buggy tour traversing the entire property offering a educational experience showcasing the plant and animal life of the park.
As I was going through all the "hoops" of pulling together the project, with a heavy dose of frustration, I recall commenting to my wife...."why on earth do I want to build a swamp park". Her answer provided the inspiration for me to persevere. In a few words, she said; "when we were growing up we grew up outside in the natural environment. We had free reign of our neighborhood, the woods, the creeks,ect. We experienced all that nature had to offer, and from that we gained an appreciation and respect for our environment. In todays world, kids lives are so controlled, with organized sports, crime concerns, not to mention the electronic gadgets, such that they are not able to experience nature as we did as kids. The Shallotte River Swamp Park will offer them a showcase where they can see/touch/feel the world we experienced, and as a result hopefully gain the respect of nature that nature deserves." WHEW, those were powerful words, and served as the kick in the butt I needed to forge ahead.
We hope you enjoy your swamp park experience and will come back again and again. As time progresses, we will add additional venues such as Gators Grille, [to be built on a elevated walkway over the swamp; a alligator containment area where local "problem" alligators will be relocated from golf courses and subdivisions to a new home where they can be viewed for educational purposes,...... and who knows what else we will dream up!
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