North Carolina State Parks

Map:

The following map shows the state parks and other state-protected areas that I've visited.  Blue icons are for state park units: the hiking icons represents state parks, the swimming icons represents state recreation areas, and the wildlife icons represent state natural areas.  Green icons are state forests and orange are state game lands.

State Parks:

Carolina Beach State Park:

Carolina Beach State Park, named for the town, not the beach, protects an area along Cape Fear River that is home to a number of carnivorous plants.

Carvers Creek State Park:

Carvers Creek State Park protects the Long Valley Farm and Sandhills section along Carvers Creek, a tributary of Cape Fear River near Fayetteville.

Chimney Rock State Park:

Chimney Rock State Park has been an attraction in the Lake Lure area for more than a century.

Cliffs of the Neuse State Park:

Cliffs of the Neuse State Park protects a section of the Neuse River with steep cliffs outside of Goldsboro.

Crowders Mountain State Park:

Crowders Mountain State Park protects a portion of the King Mountain range near Charlotte.

Dismal Swamp State Park:

Dismal Swamp State Park protects a portion of the swamp in North Carolina across the canal.

Elk Knob State Park:

Elk Knob State Park protects a 5000-foot peak in northwest North Carolina near the Tennessee state line.

Eno River State Park:

Eno River State Park has five access areas along the rocky Eno River in Durham and Orange Counties.

Fort Macon State Park:

Fort Macon State Park protects a restored Civil War era fort and 1.5 miles of beach on the eastern tip of Bogue Banks.

Goose Creek State Park:

Goose Creek State Park protects a tributary of Pamlico River near the transition between river and sound.

Gorges State Park:

Gorges State Park the Jocassee Gorges on the South Carolina state line, home to a tremendous number of waterfalls.

Grandfather Mountain State Park:

Grandfather Mountain State Park protects Grandfather Mountain, one of the highest points in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Hammocks Beach State Park:

Hammocks Beach State Park features Bear Island, a 3-mile long undeveloped barrier island.

Hanging Rock State Park:

Hanging Rock State Park protects a section of the Sauratown Mountains north of Winston-Salem.

Haw River State Park:

Haw River State Park protects the headwaters of Haw River north of Greensboro.

Jockey's Ridge State Park:

Jockey's Ridge State Park protects the largest sand dune on the east coast along the Outer Banks in Nags Head.

Jones Lake State Park:

Jones Lake State Park protects the Carolina Bay lakes Jones Lake and Salters Lake, mysterious oval lakes found in the coastal plain region.

Lake James State Park:

Lake James State Park provides recreation opportunities on Lake James at the exit of Linville Gorge.

Lake Norman State Park:

Lake Norman State Park is a park on the shoreline of Lake Norman with hiking, camping and mountain bike trails.

Lake Waccamaw State Park:

Lake Waccamaw State Park is a park on the shores of Lake Waccamaw, an unusual Carolina bay lake.

Lumber River State Park:

Lumber River State Park is a collection of access areas along the Lumber River in southeast North Carolina.

Mayo River State Park:

Mayo River State Park protects the Mayo River that flows from the Virginia state line through the northern Triad to the confluence with Dan River.

Medoc Mountain State Park:

Medoc Mountain State Park protects an unusual mountain in the coastal plain along Little Fishing Creek.

Merchants Millpond State Park:

Merchants Millpond State Park protects a beautiful cypress swamp with hiking and paddle trails around the millpond.

Morrow Mountain State Park:

Morrow Mountain State Park protects a portion of the Uwharrie Mountains in Stanly County.

Mount Mitchell State Park:

Mount Michtell State Park protects the highest point in the eastern US and was the very first North Carolina State Park.

New River State Park:

New River State Park is a collection of access areas along New River, one of the oldest rivers in the world.

Pettigrew State Park:

Pettigrew State Park protects a portion of Lake Phelps, the second largest natural lake in North Carolina.

Pilot Mountain State Park:

Pilot Mountain State Park protects the distinctive monadnock in the Sauratown Mountains.

Raven Rock State Park:

Raven Rock State Park has a 100-foot cliff along Cape Fear River near Lilington in Harnet County.

Rendezvous Mountain State Park:

Rendezvous Mountain State Park provides hiking and forestry education opportunities in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Wilkes County.

Singletary Lake State Park:

Singletary Lake State Park has two group camps and protects one of the deepest Carolina bay lakes.

South Mountains State Park:

South Mountains State Park is the largest state park in North Carolina, protecting a portion of a spur range to the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Stone Mountain State Park:

Stone Mountain State Park protects an granite dome along the edge of Blue Ridge Escarpment.

William B. Umstead State Park:

William B. Umstead State Park is an urban park in the Research Triangle area with miles of hiking trails and multi-use trails for biking and horseback riding.

State Recreation Areas:

Falls Lake State Recreation Area:

Falls Lake State Recreation Area area consists of seven access areas along Falls Lake north of Raleigh and Durham.

Fort Fisher State Recreation Area:

Fort Fisher State Recreation Area provides beach access at the southern tip of Pleasure Island.

Jordan Lake State Recreation Area:

Jordan Lake State Recreation Area is a collection of nine access areas along Jordan Lake.

Kerr Lake State Recreation Area:

Kerr Lake State Recreation Area consists of seven access areas along the North Carolina side of the lake.

State Natural Areas:

Bay Tree Lake State Natural Area:

Bay Tree Lake State Natural Area, a satellite of Singletary Lake State Park, protects part of the shoreline of this Carolina Bay lake.

Bear Paw State Natural Area:

Bear Paw State Natural Area, a satellite of Grandfather Mountain State Park, protects Hanging Rock Ridge above Seven Devils.

Hemlock Bluffs State Natural Area:

Hemlock Bluffs State Natural Area, leased to the town of Cary as Hemlock Bluffs Nature Preserve, protects an unusual population of eastern hemlocks along steep north-facing bluffs on Swift Creek.

Lower Haw River State Natural Area:

Lower Haw River State Natural Area, managed as a satellite of Jordan Lake State Recreation Area, protects several miles of the Haw River upstream of the lake.

Mitchell Mill State Natural Area:

Mitchell Mill State Natural Area, managed as a satellite of Falls Lake State Recreation Area, this natural area protects granite outcrops and and a historic mill dam in eastern Wake County.

Mount Jefferson State Natural Area:

Mount Jefferson State Natural Area, managed as a satellite of New River State Park, the natural area protects Mount Jefferson.

Occoneechee Mountain State Natural Area:

Occoneechee Mountain State Natural Area, managed as a satellite of Eno River State Park, the natural area protects the highest point in Orange County.

Weymouth Woods-Sandhills Nature Preserve:

Weymouth Woods-Sandhills Nature Preserve protects three tracts of longleaf pine forest in Moore County.

Yellow Mountain State Natural Area:

Yellow Mountain State Natural Area protects a grassy bald in the Roan Highlands.

External Links:

NC State Parks website: https://www.ncparks.gov/

Friends of NC State Parks website: http://ncfsp.org/