Hammocks Beach State Park

Hammocks Beach State Park is our Eleventh Park in our 2025 North Carolina State Park Challenge. This means we are officially 1/4 of the way through the 44 State Parks! When we went it was extremely windy and the water was super choppy making it impossible for us to make it to Bear Island. So without being able to go on the paddle trails or over to Bear Island to camp, our options were limited. This park does have a lot of potential, so we are hoping for a redo day sometime in the future.

We started our day out on the trails to stretch our legs after a long drive from Raleigh. There are 4 interconnecting trails (each under a mile) right off the end of the parking lot. They were flat and very easy with a couple of stops with a water view. Then we stopped by the Visitor Center to grab our passport stamp and patch. We rented a canoe so we could enjoy the paddle trails and get over to Bear Island to camp for the night. There is a ferry over to Bear Island that leaves every hour or half hour (depending on day and time of year), but dogs are not allowed. So here’s where to the problems began… We booked a 2 day, 1 night canoe rental because we needed something big enough to put all our camping supplies in. We took the canoe across to the little marsh area right in front of the dock- the wind and waves were so bad I couldn’t turn the front on the boat upstream in the direction we were trying to go in, instead we went more or less straight in to the marsh. Axel and I sat it the canoe for a little bit watching others in the water to see how they were doing. I saw two people in a canoe that were trying to make it back up to the dock and were GOING NOWHERE. So with that in mind, I knew just myself paddling with the addition of the 70lb dog we probably wouldn’t be able to get back to the dock, especially if we went any further downstream. So we had to hitch a ride with the Park Ranger Boat back to the dock- Axel thoroughly enjoyed this little boat ride. :) We returned the canoe, because the water wasn’t really going to get any better today and canceled our campsite for the night. We hung around for another hour or so watching the dolphins and eating a late lunch before heading home. We also saw the Park Ranger go back out twice during this time to help other people out.

Things of note for the next time:
-Have those emergency numbers ready! We always had service but it’s a good idea to look up those Visitor Center and Emergency numbers before you head out on any trail.
-If you are heading out on the water it’s a good idea to check the wind speeds for the day. A canoe sits up off the water a lot further than a Kayak or Paddle Board so it will be pushed by the wind much easier.
-Have a backup plan: there are some private water taxis/boat charters that will take you to Bear Island. We went before the summer season was really open, so we didn’t really have this option, but if we did we could have still made our campsite reservation.

Park Details:
ADDRESS: 1572 Hammock Beach Road, Swansboro, NC 28584
HOURS: September-May: 8am-6pm
June-August: 8am-7pm
VISITOR CENTER: September-May: Open Daily 8am-5pm, June-August: Open Daily 8am-6pm
PASSPORT STAMP: At the Visitor Center
ENTRANCE FEE: No Entrance Fee
TRAILS: Four interconnecting trails with each being less than a mile. 4 miles of beach to walk at Bear Island
ACTIVITIES: Hiking, Paddling, Swimming, & Fishing
DOG RULES: Dogs are not allowed in park buildings, in the swim area, or on the ferry. Dogs are allowed on Bear Island (but you’ll have to find an alternate route there d/t the ferry not allowing dogs)

Check out our videos about this Park on instagram @axel.theadventurepup