Things to do / Travel Guide
Explore cypress-lined, sandy beaches on the Neuse River. Hike through bottomland hardwoods and thick peat, to a beautiful Newport River estuary.
Named after the Algonquin Indian name for the "Council Town",[ the Croatan National Forest's 160,000 acres are filled with coastal forests, saltwater estuaries, bogs and raised swamps, called pocosins. Surrounded on three sides by tidal rivers, the forest is perfect for fishing and canoeing as well as wildlife watching for deer, black bears, turkeys, wading birds, ospreys and alligators and insectivorous plants, such as Venus flytrap and crustaceans like crab sand shrimp. Active outdoorsmen will enjoy hiking the 22-mile Neusiok Trail and swimming at the Neuse River beach.
If seeking some relaxation, grab a canoe and head out to Great Lake which is filled with osprey and alligators or visit Catfish Lake which is surrounded by peaty pocosin. Visitors who prefer enclosed creeks for their canoeing will enjoy Brices, Hadnot, Hancock, Cahooque, Hunters, or Holston Creeks, where a variety of ecosystems can be explored. If you'd like to spend the night, there are six designated camping areas in the forest, three of which are primitive sites.
The Croatan National Forest lies along the Atlantic coast of North Carolina, roughly between Morehead City, Cedar Point and New Bern.