Moores Creek National Battlefield — Attraction in Burgaw

Visited 6/8/24

I love National Park sites, but didn’t really know what to expect from this one; I didn’t expect too much.

But it was really nice!

It’s so clean and beautiful. Very well kept. Bathrooms are pristine and have a water bottle filling station outside as well as trash and recycling receptacles.

The visitor center itself is nice. There’s a little vestibule that holds maps, guides and other tourists information for not only this site, but nearby sites and other NPS sites in North Carolina and South Carolina! In this vestibule they also have the STAMPS. We hen we visited they had three: a Junior Ranger stamp, the Moores Creek stamp, and the Gullah Geechee stamp.

Upon entering the visitor center, we were greeted by two really friendly Rangers, whose names I don’t remember. They briefly explained the significance of the site and what we could do on site.

There’s some really cool artifacts from the battle that took place here including a Scottish Highlander uniform and broadsword. They have a short video you could watch also; we did not, so I can’t speak to how that is. I think it was 10 minutes.

They do have a gift shop, but we didn’t check it out much as we were itching to hit the trails.

They have a ~1 mile long walking trail that takes you through the battleground and past the statues/memorials. I was expecting a plain ol open field like you’d see in a war movie, but this was a beautiful swamp area with magnificent live oak trees and Spanish moss, as well as beautiful fields. There’s a nice boardwalk that takes you through the swamp and a reconstructed bridge (since they dismantled the original bridge in the battle).

The walking path that covers the majority of the trail is made of some kind of materials that is slightly bouncy, so it’s super easy to walk on and gives you a little extra pep in your step. It’s very nice.

If you’re in the area (we stayed in OKI), it’s worth the drive over to check out this beautiful historic site.

Thanks to the Rangers who keep this...

I am a travel writer for National Park Planner and I visited Moores Creek in June 2014. Located in Currie, North Carolina, about twenty miles north of Wilmington, Moores Creek National Battlefield preserves the site of an early American Revolution battlefield. An American victory, the battle on February 27, 1776, lasted only a few minutes, but it put an end to British control in North Carolina for the remainder of the war. The British soon turned their focus to stopping the rebellion in the north and didn’t renew the effort in the south until 1778, at which time they took control of Georgia and South Carolina, but never made much progress in North Carolina.

The park consists of a Visitor Center where you can watch a 10-minute film on the battle and peruse exhibits and information panels in a small museum. Outside, you can tour the battlefield by walking the 1-mile History Trail. A short nature trail, the Tarheel Trail, takes visitors through a forest once dominated by longleaf pines, the source of tar and pitch used to seal ship hulls before iron boat technology came around. Walking is the only way to see the battlefield, but the trail is mostly paved and flat, so those in a wheelchair can make it around the trail. There is one short, sandy segment that having a little help wouldn’t hurt, but even solo, a person in a wheelchair can make it across this stretch of the trail.

Visit National Park Planner (npplan) for plenty of photos and complete information about Moores Creek National...

• We visited here on a Wednesday morning in late December 2023. • We were waiting in the parking lot for the visitor center to open and were the only people there the entire hour or so we were there. • The bathrooms were outside adjacent to the parking lot and visitor center in a structure on it’s own. Everyone independently in our group said to go to the bathroom to listen to the music. Each person heard different things. One had bag pipes, one said banjo and other said singing. Very thematic bathroom music. • The kids did the junior ranger all from inside the visitor center. We started by watching the short film in the back of the visitor center. There is also several bonus patches/pins you can earn here for doing the junior rangers. Make sure to ask. The Ranger we worked with was super nice and also the woman working the front desk/NPS store was super helpful and talkative and helping the kids answer the junior ranger questions. Please see pics for different patches. • There are 2 locations for the Parks Passport Cancellation Stamps. One set is inside the atrium of the visitor center and the other is at the trailhead right outside the visitor center/parking lot. • We would probably visit again if in the area just to do the trails. It was actively raining and hard at that otherwise we would done the trail right outside the...