Sweetbay Bogs Preserve, Protected bog in Stone County, Mississippi, USA

Sweetbay Bogs Preserve is a 194-acre (78-hectare) protected area in western Stone County, Mississippi, near Red Creek in the Pascagoula River watershed. It protects a hillside seepage bog named for the many sweetbay (Magnolia virginiana) trees growing there.

The Mississippi Chapter of The Nature Conservancy established Sweetbay Bogs Preserve in 1989, protecting 194 acres near Red Creek in western Stone County. The site holds a hillside seepage bog within the Pascagoula River watershed, where sweetbay trees give the place its name.

The name comes from the many sweetbay magnolias (Magnolia virginiana) growing on the site, which the Conservancy cited when naming it. The bogs are pocosins, the term for bogs within the longleaf pine ecosystem that once covered most of the Gulf Coastal Plain.

The preserve lies near Red Creek in western Stone County, within the Pascagoula River watershed; the bog is a hillside seepage community, so the ground stays saturated where water seeps out of the slope. Land use around the property is restricted to keep water flow patterns and water storage capacity intact. The Nature Conservancy burns the site periodically, so some areas may show recent fire.

The site hosts eight documented rare plant species, including carnivorous plants and specialized species like grass of parnassus and bog spicebush. This unusual collection of uncommon species makes it a notable location for botanists and nature enthusiasts.