False Cape Natural Area Preserve is a Natural Area Preserve

Virginia Natural Area Preserve System

The Virginia Natural Area Preserve System is a system of protected areas in the state of Virginia. It was established in the late 1980s to protect sites that were designated as among the most significant natural areas in the state...

 located in Virginia Beach, Virginia

Virginia Beach, Virginia

Virginia Beach is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia, on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay...

, just north of the state border with North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

. One of the most pristine stretches of its habitat type remaining in the mid-Atlantic

Mid-Atlantic States

The Mid-Atlantic states, also called middle Atlantic states or simply the mid Atlantic, form a region of the United States generally located between New England and the South...

, it is a one-by-six mile strip of land located on the so-called "False Cape

False Cape

False Cape is located on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean in the extreme southeastern portion of Virginia. False Cape is located along the section of ocean adjacent to North Carolina and a small portion of Virginia known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic due to the many shipwrecks. It got its name...

" between the ocean and Back Bay

Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge

Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge in southeastern Virginia is located in the independent city of Virginia Beach. Established in 1938 in isolated portion of Princess Anne County, it is managed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service....

, largely underdeveloped and comprising a variety of habitats, wetland

Wetland

A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....

 and upland

Highland (geography)

The term highland or upland is used to denote any mountainous region or elevated mountainous plateau. Generally speaking, the term upland tends to be used for ranges of hills, typically up to 500-600m, and highland for ranges of low mountains.The Scottish Highlands refers to the mountainous...

 alike. Among the community types found in the preserve are maritime and swamp

Swamp

A swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...

 forest

Forest

A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...

, interdunal wetlands, and Back Bay marsh

Marsh

In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....

es. It also plays host to various plants and animals rare in Virginia, more than two dozen in all. Many birds also come to the area during the fall and spring migration

Bird migration

Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...

s.

The preserve was initially part of False Cape State Park

False Cape State Park

False Cape State Park is a state park in the independent city of Virginia Beach, Virginia. It is a mile-wide barrier spit between Back Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The park adjoins the state border with North Carolina and lies shortly north of Mackay Island National Wildlife Refuge...

, and comprises the formerly undeveloped portions of the park; these were rededicated as a Natural Area Preserve in 2002.