Travel NC With Kids: North Carolina Beach

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

Sundew Plant 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.

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

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.

Beautiful Flowers Near NC Coast © Katrena

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.

Marina at Carolina Beach State Park in NC © Katrena

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.

Kayaking at Carolina Beach State Park © Katrena

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.

Boats at Marina at Carolina Beach State Park © Katrena

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.

Unplugged and Plugged into Nature at Carolina Beach State Park © Katrena

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Thanks so much for visiting Travel NC With Kids!

My family took a vacation to the Outer Banks in July 2016. We enjoyed many sites and visited a nice variety of attractions; however, one of the favorites for my group was going to the beach. This was the first time my family had been to a beach in North Carolina.

When traveling with kids, I like to make vacations educational because the best classrooms are rarely surrounded by four walls. We talked about being on the Atlantic coast on the eastern edge of North Carolina and named other states that border our state. And how wonderful it is to live in a state that offers topography from the beach to the mountains.

We talked about the barrier islands, how the various Sounds are different than the ocean, and what animals might be found in each and in both. From the vantage point of Currituck Lighthouse, we saw a big contrast in population on the ocean side versus the sound side and the north versus the south.

We enjoyed sunsets and talked about what parts of the country might enjoy sunrises over the ocean water and which areas might enjoy sunsets over the ocean water. We also remembered a bit about how the moon can affect tides and how lightening and electricity can travel through water.

We looked for animals and shells on the sand and talked about protecting ocean animals, the land, and the fragile ecosystem on the North Carolina beach. And perhaps what might have happened to The Lost Colony many years ago.

We waded in the water and talked about riptides and remembered learning about how to safely get back to shore by swimming parallel to shore to move to a safer wave if one were pulled out by a riptide. How it is easier to walk on wet sand than on dry sand. And how shells at the beach are so unique and beautiful.

We noticed how various people and a few dogs were enjoying the beach and noticed people often take beautiful natural areas for granted when they live near them. We went to the beach late in the evenings, which was great for our skin and also meant fewer people on the beach.

We also talked about the access ramp to get to the edge of the beach and how they now make special wheelchairs that will roll on the sand and how a family we know ensured that the dad was able to make it out to the beach several times before moving to a heavenly home. And how we hope some day beaches will have access ramps all the way out to the water for those who are not able to get the special wheelchairs.

Yet we were also quiet as we listened to the methodical ebb and flow, ebb and flow of a majestic body of water that seems timeless, a beautiful natural wonder that can calm and soothe through its shimmering metronome. What a gift to be able to dig one's toes into the sand, feel the cool water, and listen to the ocean's serenade.

Additional articles by Katrena:

Thanks for visiting Travel NC With Kids. I hope you find my articles to be helpful and informative. Have you visited a beach in North Carolina? Feel free to share your beach story in the comment section below. If you like to listen to the beach, you might want to pull up a video on YouTube and enjoy the sounds from home.

Travel NC With Kids

Sunday, June 21, 2020

Carolina Beach State Park Near Wilmington and the North Carolina Coast

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

North Carolina Outer Banks - Ahhhh....the Atlantic Ocean Beach!