Carolina Beach State Park, NC
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 13 сен 2024
- A hike on December 24, 2018 in the trail system of Carolina Beach State Park, NC. This wonderful state park is located 20 minutes from where I grew up in Wilmington, so I decided to revisit the park on the morning of Christmas Eve. In the past my parents and I primarily walked the Sugarloaf and Flytrap Trails, ignoring the rest of the trails in the park. My goal was to explore most of the trails and areas of interest I've skipped, creating a big loop using the Sugarloaf and Sand Live Oak Trails. In addition to many large white dunes and views of the Cape Fear River, this park includes a variety of ponds and forests providing an excellent representation of the Coastal Plain environment.
Starting at the marina, I followed the Sugarloaf Trail south paralleling the Cape Fear River. Although the weather started cold and windy, I could not have asked for better skies for this hike. There are numerous beaches with open views of the mammoth river as it empties into the Atlantic Ocean a few miles downstream. I did an out-and-back on the Swamp and Flytrap Trails, but did not include any video clips. Honestly the swamp scenery along the Flytrap Trail was underwhelming compared to other areas of the park, and the Swamp Trail is simply a connector passing through dry longleaf savanna.
Arguably the highlight of the hike is the out-and-back on the Oak Toe Trail, which follows a narrow strip of white sand between the river and brackish marsh. After returning to this trail junction the Sugarloaf Trail climbs Sugarloaf Dune, which rises more than 50 feet above the river. Next up was the Sand Live Oak Trail, which continued following the river before turning inland, passing through an expanse of dunes. I left the trail to bag the Pleasure Island high point, then returned to the trail to see an unnamed pond outside the boundary of the park. Beyond the pond the trail passed over the high point of Sand Live Oak Dune and rejoined the Sugarloaf Trail. From there I passed by the three named ponds in quick succession: Cypress Pond, Grass Pond, and Lily Pond. Surprisingly, these three limesink ponds have remarkably different vegetation that gives the ponds their names. The last leg of the Sugarloaf Trail before the marina crossed a boardwalk over a long stretch of cypress swamp, by far the most scenic swamp of the day.
Distance - 7.3 miles
Elevation gain - 245 feet
Time - 3 hours and 40 minutes
Hike location
goo.gl/maps/d2...
Carolina Beach State Park website
www.ncparks.go...
North Carolina State Parks Passport Program
www.ncparks.go...
wonderful! thanks for sharing!
Thanks!
I lived in Wilmington too.... but only for a few months back in 2001. I never made it to Carolina Beach State Park while there. Cool seeing a coastal hike. Hope 2020 is being good to you.
I probably made it look as good as possible with the bright blue water and white sand, in the summer it's crowded and sometimes miserable with the bugs and heat.
Beautiful hike!
Thanks!
Beautiful hike, I just put out a video on the flytrap and swamp trail because the most recent hurricane flooded Sugarloaf! Love your videos!
Thanks I'm glad you like them
Sugarloaf was not really part of Ft. Fisher, but it was the location where Gen. Braxton Bragg positioned his troops from Wilmington when Ft. Fisher was being attacked in January 1865. Union forces had failed to take the fort in December 1864, but that's a different story. Bragg didn't want to move his troops down to help those at Ft. Fisher afraid Union forces would move up and take Wilmington. This help lead to the capture of Ft. Fisher and closing of the last supply port for the CSA. Wilmington was taken the next month. Ft. Brag, NC is named after him.
In the 1960's, we lived at Carolina Beach. We'd sometimes go to Sugarloaf long before the park was built. It seemed much higher to a 7 year old than it does now. :-)
Thanks for the corrections
This video brings back some memories. The last time I've been there was when I was 12 or 13. All I can really remember is Sugar Loaf mountain and some of the Oak Toe trail leading up to it. The quality of your video is great and I like the fact that you inform your viewers about what you know about each location you go to. Carolina Beach state park to me is a special place because there really isn't a lot of places like it. The environment there is very unique and hard to find because there just really isn't a whole lot trails to hike in that part of the state as well as the whole coastal south east. But I can't complain, I'm just glad that CBSP exists.
Thanks for the compliments Jackson, you may also like my Lake Waccamaw video if you are interested in the Southeastern trails.