Recent pollen tests show that Cypress Flats was an ancient bald cypress swamp with 300-foot-tall trees so thick and profuse that no sunlight could filter through their foliage. The trees were thousands of years old.

Even today these primeval relics are a source of food and shelter for birds and wildlife in Bluff Swamp as well as in Cypress Flats, now a vast, open lake of giant, hollow trees and fallen logs.

Everything in nature can be used and reused. In the open waters of the Flats, bald eagles nest in the hollows of broken, empty treetops, while squirrels, raccoons and opossums live in the cavities of trees in the bottomland-hardwood forest. Preserving these habitats preserves the basin's biodiversity.

Marvel with us at these majestic, awe-inspiring trees, including an 800-year-old bald cypress with towering knees that you can literally reach out and touch. The first leg of an observation walkway extends to this tree. See and feel the beauty of these ancient trees and listen to the myriad sounds of the swamp while standing among the giants.

Preserved and protected, they are a powerful reminder of the splendor and majesty of a place once thought gone forever.