Hey Mark,
In addition to the fine information DaveGraves is providing, North Carolina has at least two "canoe trails" which have elevated campsites (essentially platforms on pilings providing room enough to pitch a small tent and have a bit of room to move around, cook, and eat).
The two which come to mind are Merchants Millpond State Park in the northeastern corner of NC, not far southwest of Norfolk, VA (and quite close to the Dismal Swamp which is astride the NC-VA line), and Gardner's Creek, a tributary of the great Roanoke River entering it from the south side, east of Williamston, NC. The webpages at ncpaddletrails.com are an excellent resource.
The preponderance of the Dismal Swamp is in VA, and I know of at least one commonly used access point: The Dismal Swamp Canal runs essentially north-south parallel to US 17 between Deep Creek, VA and South Mills, NC and it forms the eastern border of the Dismal. A feeder canal (the Feeder Ditch) runs east-west from the Dismal Swamp canal near Wallaceton, VA, passes through a small lock (to raise canoes, kayaks, and small aluminum skiffs universally known in the South as "jonboats") a few feet up to the elevation of Lake Drummond, the wide but shallow lake at the Swamp's center. To the best of my knowledge, camping is not allowed within the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, which occupies most of the swamp's land and flooded area.
You might find that other National Wildlife Refuges offer canoe trails and canoe camping. I personally visited the NWR campground on Upper Red Rock Lake, Montana, a year ago yesterday. That would be a totally cool place to spend some time camping and paddling the lakes and the meandering river connecting and draining them.
I hope you'll have the opportunity to explore the wetlands of the Atlantic and Gulf Coast states. It's very cool country, especially in the cool/cold weather months when the views are improved due to the leaves being down and when the bugs (and snakes) are sluggish to not present.
Foy
