Goose Creek State Park

Goose Creek State Park is the nineteenth park in our 2025 North Carolina State park Challenge. I wasn’t sure what to expect at this park but it really surprised us and has become one of our top parks that we’ve been to thus far! It is located in Washington, NC- 34 miles southeast of Grenville. The first thing we did was walk along the almost half mile long Palmetto Boardwalk. The boardwalk is surrounded by a gorgeous wetland with a vast number of flora and fauna- we spend about an hour walking along the boardwalk while enjoying the environment and looking for frogs, turtles, etc. After that we stopped by the visitor center for our passport stamp and patch. This visitor center does have a dog parking spot out front- this is the third park we have come across with this and we love to see it! As someone who travels a lot with their dog it’s hard to stop in the visitor center or restroom sometimes, so this parking spot makes it so much easier.

After a quick cool down in the car, we drove down by the tent campsites to take Goose Creek Trail to Flatty Creek Trail. The Flatty Creek Trail is a short 0.3 mile loop with a gorgeous overlook of Flatty Creek. Just being at this overlook made me want to get out on the water and paddle through the creek of the park. Unfortunately, we were in (another) heat wave… so by noon it was 90 degrees but felt like 100, so we reluctantly made this a half day park. We would LOVE to camp here overnight- can you imagine sunrise/sunset at the Flatty Creek Trail overlook? There are tent campsites, Trailer/RV sites, and even cabin sites (dogs are unfortunately not allowed in the cabins (with the exception of service dogs)). We will definitely be adding this to a list to come back to, it would be a great place to paddle along the creeks and rivers!

Park Details:
ADDRESS: 2190 Camp Leach Road, Washington NC 27889
HOURS: November-February: 8am-6pm
March-May & September-October: 8am-8pm
June-August: 8am-9pm
VISITOR CENTER: Open Daily 9am-5pm
PASSPORT STAMP: Located at the Visitor Center
ENTRANCE FEE: No entrance fee
TRAILS: 8.5 miles of hiking trails, but don’t let the low number scare you away! The trails are gorgeous!
ACTIVITIES: Hiking, Paddling, Swimming, & Fishing
DOG RULES: Dogs are allowed on all trail but must be on a leash no longer than 6ft. Dogs are not allowed in park buildings or swim beaches, please pick up after your pet!

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