Cedar Point Recreation Area – Home – Parks & Forests – Camping – Hiking – Links – Adventures
Cedar Point Recreation Area
Cedar Point offers as variety of activities, from an easy and scenic hike along the Tidleand Trail (see below), to fishing or boating on the White Oak River, and picnicking and camping.
The recreation area is also close the beaches of Emerald Isle and northward toward Atlantic Beach or, in the other direction, the town of Swansboro and its historic waterfront.
The family campground at Cedar Point has nice grassy lawns, including an open play field, and is shaded by tall trees. The bathhouses were recently renovated, and have private hot showers, in addition to flush toilets.
The 40 sites on two loops all have electricity, plus picnic table, fire ring and lantern hook. There are no tent pads, but many sites have plenty of lawn space.
Because the grounds are open, some campsites, like the two facing each other below, may seem kind of close.
Cedar Point’s coastal forest park is a nice place for day trippers, too. Next to the the trailhead for the Tideland Trail are picnic grounds and a ramp for non-motorized boats and a small fishing pier.
Tideland National Recreation Trail
The Tideland Trail is an easy 1.3-mile loop through a salt marsh on a crushed gravel trail and boardwalks on the White Oak River, with a .6-mile loop option.
Signs, such as this one about cord grass, explain flora, fauna and the salt marsh habitat.
Boardwalks keep you out of the marsh and are good perches for spotting fiddler crabs in the mud below.
Boardwalks also give you a better view as they rise above the waterway.
Here’s a look at one part of the marsh.
Another look out over the marsh.
From this vantage point, you can see how the boardwalk circles the marsh.
Spurs from the trail take you down to the banks of the White Oak River, where you can barely see Swansboro across the water.
This egret flanked us as we looped the trail.
On the return (following the trail clockwise), just a few inches in elevation completely change the forest.
Return to National Forests.
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