Travel NC With Kids: Carolina Beach State Park Near Wilmington and the North Carolina Coast

Carolina Beach State Park © Katrena

Carolina Beach State Park is located ten miles south of Wilmington. The name is a bit of a misnomer. The park is not directly on the Atlantic Ocean, but it is adjacent to the Intercoastal Waterway.

Intracoastal Waterway in NC © Katrena

If you are looking for a state park in North Carolina that is on the beach, Fort Fisher is located on the beach and is very close to Carolina Beach State Park, but that park does not offer a campground.

Camping at Carolina Beach State Park Near Wilmington © Katrena

Our family visited and camped at Carolina Beach State Park in June 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The campground, marina, and restrooms were open, but the welcome center was locked.

Wooded Area Behind Welcome Center at Carolina Beach State Park © Katrena

There is no entry fee to enter the park or hike or have a picnic, but camping and marina fees do apply if you wish to use those amenities.

Marina at Carolina Beach State Park © Katrena

To check in, I gave my printed confirmation to the person working in the marina and gave her my car tag number. We were told we didn't have to check out unless we were staying in a cabin. This was my crew's first camping experience using a tent rather than a popup camper. The camp sites were spread out and shaded. The ones we saw looked to be in good condition and each had a picnic table.

Low Cost Camping at NC State Parks © Katrena

The vast majority of the camp sites are primitive, meaning they do not have electricity or water right at the site. Water stations are scattered throughout the campground that several primitive campsites share. Restroom facilities are shared by quite a few of the campsites.

Outdoor Family Activities at North Carolina State Parks © Katrena

The camping area does have a limited number of sites with water and electricity. We were staying one night and were fortunate enough to reserve one of these sites. We were quite thankful to have water and electricity, but the site was definitely geared toward RVs. We were told we needed to pitch our tent on the pad, but the gravel at the RV sites was quite large. Putting down stakes for the tent was challenging to say the least.

Camping Cabin at Carolina Beach State Park © Katrena

Four cabins are located at the campground. It looks like many of the cabins fill up as quickly as the RV sites, so you might want to look at making reservations many weeks in advance if you wish to reserve a cabin. The web site link from the North Carolina State Parks Carolina Beach page gives people the ability to view a map of the campground and to see a photo of each camp site. I didn't have any problems using the site or making a reservation.

Crabs at North Carolina Shore © Katrena

My crew arrived in the evening and left the next morning because we were visiting six state parks in two days, so we didn't have a lot of time to hike, but we did hike two trails.

Driftwood at Intercoastal Waterway Along Snow's Cut Trail © Katrena

The Snow's Cut Trail is accessible from the camping area and takes hikers along the edge of the Intracoastal Waterway. Sand and driftwood line the sides next to the water, and we saw some interesting wildlife, including a heron and some crabs to name a few.

Water Skiing Near Carolina Beach State Park © Katrena

The water was quite calm unless a boat came by. We saw several boats and one person was water skiing. The Snow's Cut Trail is not handicap accessible but is well maintained. There was a distinct pungent odor in this area when we visited.

View from Snow's Cut Trail at Carolina Beach State Park © Katrena

To hike along Snow's Cut Trail, hikers will need to turn right after reaching the edge of the Intracoastal Waterway. The trail gives a nice view of the water while hiking along a shaded ridge. If you turn left when you reach the Intracoastal Waterway, you'll find a TRACK trail that leads to picnic tables and a parking area.

Snow's Cut Trail at Carolina Beach State Park - Fun Things to Do with Kids Outside © Katrena

If you are visiting any of the North Carolina parks during the pandemic, you might want to print maps or have them accessible on a phone. When we visited, they were not offering printed trail maps at the trailheads due to safety concerns.

Birds Near NC Coast © Katrena

As we hiked along Snow's Cut Trail, we could see a highway bridge that crosses over the Intracoastal Waterway. We were a little disappointed to see that a stinky garbage dump was at the end of the trail, but the hike was nice otherwise.

Flytrap Trail at Carolina Beach State Park © Katrena

We hiked the Flytrap Trail the next morning. There is a trail across the road from the campground over to the Flytrap Trail, but it started raining, so we opted to drive over to a parking lot that is right at the trailhead.

Hiking Flytrap Trail on Boardwalk at Carolina Beach State Park © Katrena

The Flytrap Trail is pretty much flat ground and handicap accessible with a couple of boardwalks in the wetter portions. It meanders through pocosin wetlands and among longleaf pines and wiregrass.

Pine Trees and Pocosin Wetlands at Flytrap Trail at Carolina Beach State Park © Katrena

This trail offers hikers the opportunity to see quite a few carnivorous plants, including Venus flytraps, pitcher plants, bladderworts, butterworts, and sundews. The park normally offers guided carnivorous plant hikes, but all group activities were cancelled due to the pandemic.

Carnivorous Plants Trail at Carolina Beach State Park © Katrena

The trailhead has pictures of the carnivorous plants that you might see on the trail. I'd highly recommend taking pictures of the photos or having a guide available if you are hiking the trail alone and aren't sure how to recognize the plants.

Pitcher Plants at Carolina Beach State Park - Carnivorous Plants in NC © Katrena

We recognized three carnivorous plants on the trail. Some of the plants are quite small and low to the ground, but we could see them from the marked trail. The park asks hikers stay on trials to help protect the area, particularly since the Venus flytrap is a nationally protected plant. It is a felony to remove a flytrap from a state park.

The Venus flytrap is special because it is an endemic species that only grows naturally within about 70 miles of Wilmington. Many people travel for many miles just to see this plant. We saw several flytraps along the marked trail.

I recommend planning to go slow if you are looking for particular species of plants or animals. I think the area may get a good bit of rain, so you might want to plan for wet weather. I also highly recommend bug spray. Mosquitoes were plentiful.

The marina was one of our favorite places at the park. We saw quite a few boats coming in and going out. One man said he and his wife had sold everything they had and had moved into a boat and were making their way up the coast.

We also saw a small group kayaking. The kayaks were beside the marina. There were ample opportunities for photos of birds and other animals that gravitate to the waterways.

If you would like more information on Carolina Beach State Park, including directions, hours, history, ecology, a short video, maps, camping fees and reservations, and more, visit the North Carolina State Park web site.

You might enjoy reading some of my other articles, such as:

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Sunday, June 21, 2020

Carolina Beach State Park Near Wilmington and the North Carolina Coast

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