Lake Waccamaw State Park — Attraction in Lake Waccamaw

3-25-23

This is one of the better "lake" state parks in North Carolina, in my opinion.

We come to hike, and we always hike every trail before we leave. We started our hike on the Lakeshore Trail, from the visitor center all the way to the dam. This is about 4.2 miles one way. The trail is labeled easy but has some unevenness, roots, and muddy spots. Mostly sand to dirt with leaves and straw. Highlights include cutouts and beaches on the lake, campgrounds, pier, bridges, and the dam area. I enjoyed the swamp type scenery the best, but others probably like the pier and dam area.

From the dam, we returned moving toward the visitor center (east) and connected to the Sand Ridge Nature Trail to the Pine Woods Trail and Loblolly Trail, returning us to the visitor center lot. These trails are mostly pine areas with sand footing. Also easy. The entire hike with all aforementioned trails was about 9.5 miles, according to Strava.

Please do yourself a favor and wear sunscreen, bring a hat, and use insect repellent. While the trails walk through woods, they are semi-shaded at best. You will get hit with sun a lot. Bugs will be on you. Can't imagine hiking these trails in the summer months.

We saw a gator as we came into the park at the boat access ramp area (signed and easily seen on Bella Coola Road). We stopped and got some pictures. The visitor center was open, but no ranger was in it on...

If there are carnivorous's plants at this location they are not easy to locate, they are not just hard to locate - they are impossible to locate. None of the trails are named in a consistent way, the map doesn't match the trail signs, doesn't match the website, which doesn't match the bulletin board, that doesn't match publications, which makes for a lot of frustrating miles hiked for kids who really wanted to see Venus fly traps. I suggest going elsewhere if the goal is to see carnivorous plants of any kind. Most parks manage their populations in accessible locations. At this park you can see evidence that there may have used to be managed populations in several spots (bog garden type set ups, trenching, ditches, etc) but no signs of fly traps or pitcher plants. We hiked all over on mismarked trails, we knew what we were looking for, but found absolutely nothing. My kids left so disappointed. We should have quit trying long before we did. But if you aren't interested in carnivorous plants there are positives. Neat wildlife and some pretty flora. A nice visitors center with a beautiful freshly painted mural that's so nicely captures the flora and fauna of a Carolina Bay. A neat dock, with a view into the bay, truly cool to walk out into a bay, not something visitors get to see at most...

UPDATE: The amazing, newer bridge at the dam allows for some great fishing and easy access to the southern trail entrance. I've seen two bald eagles flying together, and yes, only recently did I see a small alligator in the lake close to the dam area. (Still, nothing to be concerned about.) An amazing place if you want to "get back to nature". Sadly, little has been done to improve the trail system in the last 10 years except a beautiful boardwalk that goes from nowhere to nowhere. Great place for small children to swim since you have to walk 150 yards out before getting to deeper water; however, water shoes are preferred since there are razor sharp muscle shells on the sandy bottom. This shallow lake becomes like a green, hot tub in late July, so if you like your swim to be refreshing, June is a great time to go. The bugs can be very bad at certain times, so if you are hiking, camping, or picnicking take plenty of repellent. The only amenity offered is the bathrooms which often run out of liquid hand soap. In over 10 years of swimming at the park, I have never seen an alligator in the lake itself, so leave your fears behind when you check out this...