Lake Waccamaw State Park is located in Columbus County. The Visitor Center was a great place to…read morespend a rainy day! It is filled with history and ecology. It is on the smaller side but filled with interesting information and dedicates a lot of space to the history and artifacts of the Waccamaw Siouan Indian Tribe. The Lake is the largest of the Carolina Bays. The bays are multiple oval-shaped lakes that were likely formed over the last ice age. The Waccamaw Siouan Indian Tribe viewed the lake's formation as the result of a meteor that left a deep crater. The Visitor Center explores that theory, as well as others. Lake Waccamaw was a logging town, and cypress trees were used for shingles. The weather-resistant shingles were chosen for George Washington's home in Mt. Vernon. Fifty years after the Lake Waccamaw Dam was built, the state established a state park. It started at 273 acres, but over time, more land was acquired, and the park is now 2,300 acres. The park is considered a hyper-unique ecosystem because the limestone bluff keeps the water clear, and the alkaline conditions support fish and mollusk species found only here, and nowhere else in the world, such as the Waccamaw spike mussel and the Waccamaw darter fish. They have a fossilized skull of a Balaenula whale that swam through the coastal plain millions of years ago. The Lake Waccamaw State Park is home to black bears, bobcats, carnivorous plants, and American alligators. Though the rain kept me inside this time, the park also features several trails and a scenic boardwalk that I look forward to exploring on a sunny day.

Pulling into the visitor center for this park yielded a non-functioning water fountain. When I went…read moreinside, I didn't find much in the way of exhibitions, and when I asked about Venus Flytraps, the person there didn't know where to find them, which seems odd to me as I can't imagine I'm the first person to ask. The end of the road yielded a parking lot with no shade and a worn boardwalk to the lakefront. The lakefront is nice. The trails were a bit overgrown, and I quickly abandoned my search for rare carnivorous plants. For some users, the park will be quite nice, but I found plenty of room for improvement. Like all NC state parks, it is free.

Relaxing and quite a bit of a walk if you are looking for a nice time to get some steps in. I saw a…read moredolphin in the water, a crane and some other birds. The shell tree area is cute and we hung a few ourselves.

It seems to be a pretty busy place I guess it's one of the very few places where you can bring…read moredogs. I realize that along the beach is definitely not dog friendly. I brought my dog on the beach down the road and got a lot of dirty looks and apparently beaches aren't dog friendly for some reason. So a lot of people had a lot of dogs here walking around. They had two Porta potties that are not well-maintained. You can walk along the walkway, they have a few regular porch swings and a few kids swings. There wasn't any grass for dogs to go to the bathroom which would've been nice.

Visited the new entrance today on Wednesday morning around 9 AM. Not many people were there, so…read morethere was still quite a few parking spots. there was one porta potty. It was a nice short hike. There was a sign at the parking lot of where the trail started, but not totally clear. You just head along the wooden rope fence on a grass dirt area until you'll get to a gate (about .1 miles), where you'll have an option of going either left or right. I decided to make a right and eventually came to another intersection where I I made a left and it was a loop trail, around .75 total miles starting from the gate. There are trail marker wooden sticks, but no trail names. No map either on site. There are garbage cans throughout the trail, dog poop bags at the start, and a couple of benches on the loop trail. It was an overcast day, so hard to tell if it was shady. If I had to guess, it would be semi shady because of all the trees. It was fairly flat, but lots of tree roots. Still manageable with my jogging stroller.

This is a square space of Carolinian forest which is not far from the beach, but offers a different…read morevibe and plenty of tree cover. Some bridges cross over small waterways and give the opportunity to gaze over some pretty still water. Relative to the more coastal areas, the obvious advantage here is shade, and the disadvantage would be the potential for a lot of bugs in the warmer weather. There are several trails which circuit navigate the place, and it joins a historic site. It does have its own parking lot and there is no charge to get in.

Cliffs of the Neuse State Park is located in Seven Springs, NC. The park is named for the 90-foot…read morecliffs that overlook the Neuse River. I first stopped at the Visitor Center. I like visiting these as they are like a little museum in each state park. This visitor center was very interactive and had bright colors with the storyboards. I like that they covered the local ecology, the history of the river and also how we can help make better choices to keep the water safe. In the lobby, there are some taxidermies; you will see a black bear, an owl, a fox and a bobcat that lived in the area. When the fault formed, the water created the cliffs. The cliffs are unique in the layers formed. The white and yellow layers of sand and gravel are remnants of ancient beaches. The Atlantic Ocean once covered the area. Then the dark gray and black layers were made of clay likely deposited by ancient marshes. Between these layers are marine life, seashells, shale, and gravel. These got left behind as the sea levels rose and fell. These formations are 90 feet high and 200 feet underground. Native Americans gathered here, the Tuscarora and Saponi tribes. The river acted as a transportation route and a source of food. They used canoes to go from the coast to the inland forest. The high ground served as a lookout point, allowing them to see anyone approaching. They hunted deer and turkey. The museum has stone tools and other artifacts that were found in the area. During the Civil War, in the Battle of Whitehall (now Seven Springs), the Union soldiers used the higher ground to fight the Confederates. The Confederates were building an ironclad ship (the CSS Neuse). They thought being upriver would keep them safe from the Union ships. They had hoped to retake New Bern with it. The ship survived the battle with only minor damage and was moved to Kinston to have an engine and heavy iron armor added. (The ship can be seen at the CSS Interpretive Museum in Kinston, NC) I liked the phones available for a glimpse into the past from people who were part of the park, and the viewer glasses. The building is air-conditioned, and restrooms are available. There is a small gift shop too. The staff were friendly as they were expecting campers. There is an Overlook for a beautiful view. It is just steps away from the parking lot. The view was stunning. The signs make it easy to find from the visitor center. There are some trails to follow as well if you want to explore more.

Love this park!! In the summer you're able to swim and kayak. Trails aren't that hard and scenery…read moreis nice.

Again I can say this park is for all humans and beautiful animals. But as of yesterday like I…read morepredicted there was animal attack I don't know the full story yet, but they have a training dog school ppl with big dogs and the trainers are not logical trainers. Dogs need there space not to be in the middle of an active field with small dogs, ppl, children. That's a bad connection. The trainers bring dogs that have no control of their senses to a family park in an open space. Park department should not allow this. My dad trained German shepherd , Doberman and he trained them indoor until they were well trained and obedience. If they continue to get complains the park department may listen. I don't know why they are not investigating yet. I would hate to have find another park for my pup because of safety.

Beautiful clean concrete sidewalks Kids park with swings…read moreWater fountain near park Amphitheater

Along my journey in the Carolina Bays region of the state I naturally wound up here at Singletary…read moreLake. Of the three state parks including a bay lake, it's the quietest and most desolate in winter. Seems like it would be a very fun place to be as a kid in the summer. There are several canoes, a huge pier and a swimming hole. Nearby is an "Education Building" where I assume they do all kinds of teaching of stuff like what the scouts might do. There are some sketchy looking old cabins, though I imagine it's a lot less so with people around. It all rings to me like a scene out of Friday the 13th. But despite being the only person in the dead-silent park that day I dared to walk all the way out to the end of the pier [watching my back the whole time]. The park office is just a door into the side of a warehouse type metal sided building. They were generous enough to place their passport stamp in a box on the wall. There wasn't a single person on staff to be found. Would recommend this place in winter for a quiet retreat (some of the cabins are actually available to rent still) or in the summer for the kids.

Nice little (and I stress little!) park in Surf City, NC. There are swings, a slide, and a "camel…read moreback climber" (like a loopy monkey bar/climbing contraption) for the kiddies. There is also a basketball court and small picnic pavilion. The highlight of this spot, however, is clearly the boardwalk that juts out into the bay area. True, the walk is short (920 feet per the website), but it provides quite beautiful views of the bayside, as well as all its inhabitant creatures. From the sides of the boardwalk, you can view tons of fiddler crabs milling about, while from the terminus, it's not rare to see a wide variety of small fish, sand crabs, blue crabs, and mussels. Definitely not a bad spot to check out for some decent views, nature viewing, and "playgrounding".

Great disc golf course as well as playground and walking paths. Definitely worth the drive if you…read moreare into disc golf and also if you just live in the area and you want to see something different. Lots of parking.

This is a lovely lark that has a lot of fields and an 18 hole disc golf course. I am a disc golf…read morefanatic so this is heaven to me. The park is huge and have two separate restroom facilities that are really clean. There is a large playground and a few pavilions. The only thing that is missing is water. There is not any kind of lake or pond and that would make it even better.