Fort Fisher State Recreation Area is part of the N.C. State Parks System (www.ncparks.gov). It consists of the remains of Fort Fisher from the U.S. Civil War, approximately six miles of beach and the backwater bays at the southern end of Pleasure Island in New Hanover County. The park begins near the end of US 421 and extends to the former location of New Inlet at the northern end of Bald Head Island. There is an ocean swim area, with a pavilion and bath houses, but to kayak fishermen, the most important part is the Federal Point boat ramp and approximately four miles of ORV trails with access points to the creeks behind the Basin, Second Bay and Buzzard Bay.
The bays became protected in 1881 when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers constructed a rock wall to control water flow and prevent shoaling in the lower Cape Fear River. The wall, called The Rocks, runs from Federal Point at Fort Fisher around Zekes Island to a point of marsh at the entrance to Muddy Slough behind Bald Head Island. While some water spills over the rocks and through holes where it has deteriorated at high tide, it prevents direct flow and the tidal water exchange of the bays is primarily through Cedar and Still Creeks that open to the Cape Fear River behind Bald Head Island.
Fort Fisher State Recreation Area is one of the few places in southeastern North Carolina where ORV use is permitted on the beach. A trail with four areas of access into the creeks behind the Basin and Second Bay exists, and for kayakers with four-wheel drive vehicles, these access areas are launch sites that allow them to begin well away from the crowds. There is a fee of $12 daily or $50 annually for a beach-driving permit that must be purchased in person at the Visitors Center.
For a map of Fort Fisher, visit www.ncparks.gov/Visit/parks/fofi/directions.php
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