Freeman Park — Attraction in Carolina Beach

When searching for a dog friendly place in the summer out here, it's hard to find (most ban dogs for certain hours -all day- totally understandable for the other beachgoers)...This was THE perfect place for a day at the beach with the pup (and the 4x4!). Ecstatic wouldn't even come close to our feelings of going to Freeman Beach. We drove hours to get there and it did not disappoint (but wait to read the reason for 4 stars).

We got there about an hour or so after opening and we thought it would be a very long line to get in. Nope. Not bad. A few trucks in front of us, a few trucks behind. It did get busy though all morning and even til early afternoon... Though the trucks kept coming and they had room to park!

The view is to die for. Parking (let alone driving on the sand on the way in) is divine. The vibe is family and all-day dog friendly with lots of kind people. The price of entry is something we'd pay again.

Porta pottys were plenty (the ones on the left with labels on them were useable and clean- the others I'm not sure...and didn't dare go on because those seemed sketchy). Pretty clean (in the morning) with TP. Quitting time they were your typical expectation. Bring sanitizer, I didn't notice any.

While we read that ONLY 4x4s are allowed, I saw a Jeep Cherokee, a small Toyota (think it was a Rav), and a couple other cars (a small Subaru wagon) that I knew were not 4x4s so we didn't understand that (they were parked towards the front of the beach driveway entrance) so it could be they are allowed but only so far? It gets deep, and it's bumpy, and they check your truck for confirmation before they let you in.

Listening to the kids giggle as their parents drove over the bumpy beach road was so cute. Seeing fishing poles, people stick their poles in the beach, sharing our pup with our neighbors who adored him ...I felt like we were at the drive-in theater. That's the vibe, just on the beach!💕

It was an outstanding experience! People were cooking, tents were up, music playing in everyone's spots. (Just like you see when you're out camping at campgrounds.) Some boats passed by... beautiful colors of water.

Tides can get strong, but if you know you know. Be safe!

Not having to schlep all your beach gear, being able to sit in the back of your truck, park right at the beach spot you pick to set up. Nothing like it. 😁🏖️

When you park, know that there is a short drop off -each area is more steep than others- the folks next to us said the beach used to be bigger but washed away. Good idea to get a look first or have a spotter. No issues there that day with anyone rolling off the beach, thank God lol but just an FYI.

Be sure to read the facts/rules before going, bring your 🐕 poop bags and your sunblock, and you'll have a terrific time.

So why 4 stars? - it could've been 5 if the lady at the end didn't scold us so bad with her attitude about stopping on the drive out for 3 mins so that the passenger could pee at the porta potty before the hours ride home (while another truck had parked there way too close to the entrance, for what I don't know, on our way in- with no words spoken to them). So...if you have never been there before, don't see any No Parking signs, someone else did it near the entrance without issue and it's plenty wide for trucks to pass both ways...is it really necessary to speak in that tone, manner, and with nasty long paused looks to boot...? Or could you just speak firmly and respectfully? (We're not kids- We are all adults here). Funny -she did try to give our dog a small milk bone after she "got it all out", but he refused (and he's food motivated); I wasn't at all shocked, pretty sure she scared him- or he just wasn't impressed with her behavior. (One of the photos shows the parked truck that had issues on the way in- and was there for a while- unbeknownest to me at the time this photo would come in handy👀... FYI: you're apparently not supposed to stop here AT ALL. EVER.↘️. 🫡Thank you nice lady, for the...

Dont bother to follow any of the rules, everyone breaks them and no one ever gets in trouble. We had a terrible time at Freeman park in Carolina Beach. For starters, the campsite number was missing so we ended up setting up camp in the wrong spot and had to move once the other campers showed up. Second, there was not supposed to be any fires on the beach during this time of year and I think we were the only campers who did not have a fire and now I wish we had brought materials to build one since everyone else had one. Third, there were supposed to be no dogs allowed on the beach without a leash and everyone out there who had a dog was letting it off the leash (wish I would've known so I could've brought my dog). Fourth, you are not supposed to be on the dunes at all because it is against the law but I witnessed people standing and walking all over the dunes. The family next to us was actually going into the dunes to use the bathroom (they pooped and peed in the dunes). Fifth, there are supposed to be quiet hours from 11pm to 7am but people were driving up and down the beach blasting music, drinking and driving, and being outright obnoxious while we're trying to sleep. Sixth, you are not supposed to drink alcohol or have any glass but we witnessed several people drinking alcohol out of glass bottles and found several in the sand around our tent (we could have been cut walking barefoot). Seventh, there are black widow spiders covering the inside of the portapotties and they were just absolutely disgusting.

We spent $200 for a weekend here and I demand a full refund, this peice is absolutely rediculous and I hope this place makes some changes or just shuts down. It is an absolute trash place to go and makes carolina beach look terrible.

There is no one there to enforce any of the rules/laws. I tried telling some of the other campers that they were doing stuff illegally and against the rule but none of them spoke any English so it was pointless.

I WANT...

I have now been to the North End a handful of times and it generally is a great time, but you need to plan to come. I came with a good group of people, beer, and some food for a day of fun. We came super early at 10AM this past Saturday and spent the whole day here. If we had not showed up at 10AM then we would have been in trouble. Today was the first day in the parks history that they closed it because of capacity. Half the beach was closed because a storm the night before washed it away.

The price for one day is $40 dollars, but if it is a holiday then it is $60 dollars. You can get a year pass which is really the only way to do it if you plan on coming twice in a year.

There are portable potty's, but I dislike how dirty they usually are so I didn't even bother to find out. Use the ocean for number 1 and pray that you don't need to number 2.

The water on the north most part of the park is fairly gentle and calm to the beach side so it is perfect for setting up rafts or tubes. You can have drinks as long as there are no bottles present, or just dump them in a plastic cup. I am not sure when that part of the beach will be open again since the storm washed it away.

The park is pretty clean and I saw a lot of people throwing stuff away in the blue bins like they are supposed to. The beach is dog friendly and you will see various cute doggies loose and about.

There seems to be a lot of security as I saw trucks and quads with that slow po po crawl by pretty often. At least you will be safe. Also worth mentioning is that you can fish here. I saw tons of people throwing in a line or two and even some guys catching crabs not too...