Swimming at North Carolina Parks – Home – Parks & Forests – Camping – Hiking – Links – Adventures
Let’s Go Swimming in a North Carolina Park
Too hot to hike? Day use areas in state and national parks, forests, and other outdoor recreation sites across North Carolina offer swimming during the summer (typically through Labor Day) at beaches, lakes, rivers and a swimming pool.
Most have bathhouses or are part of campgrounds with showers and other facilities. Some have lifeguards on duty in season. A few, particularly in the national forests, charge a nominal fee.
Click on the links at the section headings below for more information about each park that offers swimming, and contact a location of interest to confirm details.
25 Places to Swim in North Carolina Parks
North Carolina State Parks
Cliffs of the Neuse State Park, at Seven Springs in Wayne County, offers swimming in a man-made lake (pictured above), with full bathhouses. (See our Cliffs of the Neuse page.)
Fort Fisher State Recreation Area, near Kure Beach, has six miles of sandy beach. (See our Fort Fisher page.)
Fort Macon State Park, at Atlantic Beach, has a swim beach area. (See our Fort Macon page.)
Goose Creek State Park, near Washington, allows swimming in the Pamlico River. (See our Goose Creek page.)
Hammocks Beach State Park, near Swansboro, designates a portion of the beach at Bear Island as a swimming area.
Hanging Rock State Park, in Danbury in Stokes County, has a beach on the park’s 12-acre lake. (See our Hanging Rock pages.)
Jones Lake State Park, at Elizabethown, has a swimming beach and bathhouse on its namesake Carolina Bay lake.
Jordan Lake State Recreation Area, near Raleigh-Durham, has designated swimming areas at Ebenezer Church Recreation Area, the Seaforth Day Use Area, Crosswinds Campground, Polar Point Campground and Vista Point Campground.
Kerr Lake State Recreation Area, near Henderson, has a designated beach at Satterwhite Point Recreation Area and many other popular swimming locations along the shore, including at Henderson Point, Hibernia and Kimball Point recreation areas.
Lake Norman State Park, north of Charlotte, provides a 125-yard-long swimming beach and a bathhouse.
Morrow Mountain State Park, at Albemarle near Troy has a large swimming pool.
Singletary Lake State Park, in Kelly southeast of Elizabethtown, which offers cabin camping for organized groups, has a 500-foot pier and swimming area.
National Forest Day Use Areas
Croatan National Forest
Neuse River Recreation Area, near New Bern, offers the Flanners Beach swimming area on the Neuse River with a cold-shower bathhouse. (See our Neuse River Recreation Area page.)
Nantahala National Forest
Cheoah Point Recreation Area, near Robbinsville in Graham County, has a swimming beach on Santeetlah Lake.
Cliffside Lake, near Highlands, has a swimming beach and bathhouse with showers.
Jackrabbit Mountain Recreation Area, near Hayesville, has a swimming beach on Chatuge Lake. Fee charged.
Carolina Hemlocks Recreation Area, near Burnsville, allows swimming and tubing on the South Toe River, and tubes are available to rent. Fee charged.
Sliding Rock Recreation Area, near Brevard, is a 50-foot natural waterslide that ends in a 8-foot-deep pool. Lifeguards on duty in season. Fee charged.
Lake Powhatan Recreation Area, near Asheville, has a swimming beach with lifeguards in summer. Fee charged.
Uwharrie National Forest
Badin Lake Recreation Area, at Badin in Stanly County, has multiple swim areas on Badin Lake, including a a swimming beach at Kings Mountain Point.
National Parks in North Carolina
Cape Hatteras National Seashore, from Nags Head to Ocracoke Island, has five beach day use areas with lifeguards as well as bathhouses among about a dozen designated beach access areas with parking, plus nearly 20 off-road vehicle (ORV) ramps. Some day use areas have lifeguards. (See our Cape Hatteras pages.)
Cape Lookout National Seashore, at Harkers Island near Beaufort, allows ocean swimming at your own risk anywhere on the island as long as it is not within 50 feet of the passenger ferry dock in the lighthouse area.
Showers and restrooms at a Cape Hatteras National Seashore beach access area on Ocracoke Island.
Corps of Engineers Reservoirs
Kerr Scott Reservoir, near Wilkesboro, has swim beaches at the Bandits Roost, Fort Hamby Park, and Warrior Creek campgrounds.
Department of Defense Parks
Smith Lake, at Fort Bragg, is open to civilians and has a beach and a waterslide. Fee charged.
National Wild and Scenic Rivers
Wilson Creek, near Nebo in McDowell County, is popular for swimming and sunbathing on the creek’s massive boulders.
Take the time to explore North Carolina’s state and national outdoor recreation sites. Many others make it easy to get in or onto the water to escape the summer heat, like the kids below cooling off at Eno River State Park in Durham.
Visit Our Sister Site
Carolina Music Festivals, a calendar and guide to music festivals in North Carolina.
Clayton NC Web Design