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The Sandy Point State Forest occupies 2,074 acres in King William County. Its name is derived from the prominence of land, including marsh and swamp land, which juts out into the Mattaponi River and forms a sharp bend in the river. This bend forces the river through a narrow 300-foot channel, scoured to more than 40 feet deep. (For most of the rest of the river’s course, the channel varies between 700 and 1,500 feet wide with a mere 15-foot channel depth.)