Croatan National Forest

The only true coastal national forest in the eastern United States, Croatan National Forest stretches across 160,000 acres of North Carolina's coastal plain between Morehead City and New Bern, encompassing a remarkable diversity of wetland and coastal habitats found in no other national forest. The forest protects extensive pocosin wetlands -- dense, acidic shrub bogs unique to the southeastern coastal plain -- along with estuarine marshes, longleaf pine savannas, and hardwood swamps that together support an extraordinary array of rare and endangered species. Wild Venus flytraps, sundews, and pitcher plants thrive in the forest's nutrient-poor savannas, while red-cockaded woodpeckers nest in mature longleaf pines and American alligators inhabit the blackwater creeks and lakes. Saltwater and freshwater fishing opportunities coexist here as nowhere else in the national forest system, with the Neuse River estuary and adjacent Bogue Sound offering redfish, flounder, and blue crabs alongside freshwater bass and catfish in inland lakes. The Neusiok Trail traverses 21 miles through the heart of the forest, passing through diverse ecosystems from pine flatwoods to cypress swamps to salt marshes overlooking the Neuse River. Prescribed fire plays a critical role in maintaining the forest's fire-dependent longleaf pine savannas, and visitors may encounter controlled burns that help perpetuate this globally rare ecosystem.