GRANDFATHER MOUNTAIN STATE PARK 2009 BEAR PAW STATE NATURAL AREA 2008 YELLOW MOUNTAIN STATE NATURAL AREA 2008 DEEP RIVER STATE TRAIL 2007 PINEOLA BOG STATE NATURAL AREA 2006 SUGAR MOUNTAIN BOG STATE NATURAL AREA SANDY RUN SAVANNAS STATE NATURAL AREA CARVERS CREEK STATE PARK 2005 CHIMNEY ROCK STATE PARK MAYO RIVER STATE PARK 2003 HAW RIVER STATE PARK LOWER HAW RIVER STATE NATURAL AREA ELK KNOB STATE PARK 2002 BEECH CREEK BOG STATE NATURAL AREA BULLHEAD MOUNTAIN STATE NATURAL AREA 2000 LEA ISLAND STATE NATURAL AREA MOUNTAINS-TO-SEA STATE TRAIL GORGES STATE PARK 1999 OCCONEECHEE MOUNTAIN STATE NATURAL AREA 1997 RUN HILL STATE NATURAL AREA 1995 LUMBER RIVER STATE PARK 1989 FRENCH BROAD RIVER STATE TRAIL 1987 LAKE JAMES STATE PARK YADKIN RIVER STATE TRAIL FORT FISHER STATE RECREATION AREA 1986 HORSEPASTURE STATE RIVER 1985 FALLS LAKE STATE RECREATION AREA 1982 JORDAN LAKE STATE RECREATION AREA 1981 BALDHEAD ISLAND STATE NATURAL AREA 1979 BAYTREE LAKE STATE PARK SOUTH MOUNTAINS STATE PARK 1978 BUSHY LAKE STATE NATURAL AREA 1977 HEMLOCK BLUFFS STATE NATURAL AREA 1976 LAKE WACCAMAW STATE PARK MASONBORO ISLAND STATE NATURAL AREA MITCHELL MILL STATE NATURAL AREA JOCKEY’S RIDGE STATE PARK 1975 NEW RIVER STATE PARK LINVILLE STATE RIVER DISMAL SWAMP STATE PARK 1974 GOOSE CREEK STATE PARK CHOWAN SWAMP STATE NATURAL AREA 1973 CROWDERS MOUNTAIN STATE PARK ENO RIVER STATE PARK MERCHANTS MILLPOND STATE PARK MEDOC MOUNTAIN STATE PARK THEODORE ROOSEVELT STATE NATURAL AREA 1971 RAVEN ROCK STATE PARK 1970 CAROLINA BEACH STATE PARK 1969 2015 ANNUAL REPORT STONE MOUNTAIN STATE PARK PILOT MOUNTAIN STATE PARK 1968 WEYMOUTH WOODS STATE NATURAL AREA 1963 LAKE NORMAN STATE PARK 1962 HAMMOCKS BEACH STATE PARK 1961 NORTH CAROLINA MOUNT JEFFERSON STATE NATURAL AREA 1956 KERR LAKE STATE RECREATION AREA 1952 CLIFFS OF THE NEUSE STATE PARK 1945 STATE PARKS WILLIAM B. UMSTEAD STATE PARK 1941 PETTIGREW STATE PARK 1939 AND JONES LAKE STATE PARK SINGLETARY LAKE STATE PARK RECREATION HANGING ROCK STATE PARK 1935 MORROW MOUNTAIN STATE PARK SALTERS LAKE 1929 WHITE LAKE FORT MACON STATE PARK 1924 MOUNT MITCHELL STATE PARK 1916 Celebration approaches. Lake James State Park in Burke and McDowell counties has been Our great state will named the North Carolina 2014 State Park of the Year by the N.C. celebrate the state parks Division of Parks and Recreation. system’s 100th anniversary in 2016. The General The park was chosen for its “exemplary contribution to the North Assembly authorized Carolina state parks mission of stewardship, public service and Mount Mitchell as the education,” and specifically recognized for initiatives in managing first state park March 3, natural resources, recruiting volunteers and expanding recreation 1915 and land to start the opportunities. park was acquired the During the year, Lake James State Park opened a 15-mile network following year. Conservation, recreation and education have been Bridge over Paddy’s Creek has of mountain biking trails, began offering kayak and canoe rentals become a signature landmark. Dear Friends: and continue to be what North Carolina state parks are all about. and staged multiple special events including an ultra-marathon Upon becoming director in We plan on celebrating and commemorating our first 100 years and the popular Catawba Riverfest. mid-2014, I embarked on a through a series of events across the state and will also use it as a The park’s rangers reached more than 4,000 visitors with special six-month whirlwind tour of springboard to a renewed commitment to state parks in the next interpretive programs, and guided volunteers for more than 1,100 all our state parks and The cover photo of Lake James, century. To assist us in the effort, the division is working with hours, a 400 percent increase over the previous year. The the 2014 State Park of the Year, recreation areas. What I found MSA, a Raleigh-based marketing firm, to develop a plan to help maintenance staff continued trail construction and launched a was taken by N. McGrath. was spectacular natural us increase public support and appreciation of the park system, to project to build canoe-in campsites. The division’s natural resource resources, clean, well-kept create and build public-private and corporate partnerships and to staff and park rangers initiated prescribed burn and kudzu facilities and an energetic and strengthen and grow friends and volunteer groups for individual management programs, and staged a 24-hour “bioblitz” to dedicated staff of parks and the system as a whole. inventory hundreds of plant and animal species in the park. superintendents, rangers, Picnic area at Lake James. Elsewhere in this annual report, you will learn more about our maintenance mechanics, office The state parks system began choosing a State Park of the Year in 2010 with nominations from each record-setting attendance, the addition of the Vade Mecum Find us online at: assistants, seasonal workers and of four districts. Each of the state parks and recreation areas submits an annual report that is www.ncparks.gov property at Hanging Rock State Park, our on-going efforts to volunteers. objectively scored on progress in recreation, natural resource protection, sustainability, public safety www.facebook.com/NorthCarolinaStateParks complete the Mountains-to-Sea State Trail, the expansion of www.twitter.com/NCparks and environmental education. Final judging is by senior and peer administrators. I saw and experienced the same visitor experiences through environmental education programs, things that drew a record- retail opportunities, increased recreational options and so many setting 15.6 million visitors to other significant achievements. Please take the time to read about our state parks in 2014. I have the many efforts that led Lake James to be named as state park of also learned why I have the the year. You can also find descriptions, facts and figures describing best job in state government. I our continued efforts to be responsible stewards of the natural and To learn more and to join the am so very proud and humbled Friends of State Parks, please visit: economic resources entrusted to us. www.ncfsp.org to be working so closely with I encourage you to pour over this document and learn more about printed on recycled paper such a dedicated group of individuals who strive each and the places and the people that make our state parks system so Design: Denise Smith, Creative Services, N.C.DENR every day to make sure our special. More importantly, I encourage you to come visit your state state parks remain naturally parks and connect with North Carolina’s natural and cultural wonderful. heritage. I am sure you will be amazed by what you can find in your own backyard. In addition, I have witnessed the growing enthusiasm and Sincerely, energy being generated as the Mike Murphy North Carolina Centennial NORTH CAROLINA DIVISION OF PARKS AND RECREATION 2015 A NNUAL R EPORT 2 3 The state parks system has A completed master plan will state parks system, other state been hearing from partners, lead toward official agencies, federal agencies, stakeholders and the public as designation of remaining local governments and part of a master planning portions by setting priorities volunteers organized by process underway to guide for completing trail sub- Friends of the Mountains-to- completion of the Mountains- sections. It will also unify Sea Trail have built sections of to-Sea State Trail. regional planning efforts, the trail, representing a identify potential new partnership that includes The 1,000-mile trail corridor partners and funding hundreds of citizens and every will ultimately link Clingman’s strategies, and establish level of government. Dome in the Great Smoky guidelines for signs and Mountains to Jockey’s Ridge The North Carolina Paddle Festival included some As part of First Day Hikes, Park Superintendent Kelley King publicity. The state parks kayak tours of Hammocks Beach State Park . leads hikers along a new trial at Haw River State Park. State Park on the coast. system hired Planning Nearly two thirds of the North Carolina’s state parks and state recreation A number of factors likely contributed to the Communities, LLC to prepare cross-state route has been areas experienced record attendance in 2014, record visitation, including First Day Hikes on a detailed master plan by late completed as a continuous, with 15.6 million visitors, a 10 percent increase Jan. 1 and a long list of other special events at the 2015 at a contract price of off-road trail experience, from the 14.2 million visitors the previous year. parks throughout the year. More than two dozen $120,000 supported through offering opportunities for events were scheduled for National Trails Day in the N.C. Parks and Recreation Among 39 state parks and state recreation areas, hiking, biking and horseback June, and every park held special interpretive Trust Fund. 27 reported increases in attendance in 2014. programs during Take a Child Outside Week in riding through some of North William B. Umstead State Park in Wake County September. Newly created events began to gain Carolina’s most scenic A unit of the state parks reported the highest attendance at 1.29 million traction, including a paddle festival at landscapes. Where the trail system, the Mountains-to-Sea visits, and was among six state park units logging Hammocks Beach State Park and a long-distance has not yet been completed, State Trail is envisioned as the more than 1 million visitors. The others were hiking challenge at Hanging Rock State Park. detours along secondary roads backbone of a network of Fort Macon and Jockey’s Ridge state parks and Additionally, no parks were closed for extended allow ambitious hikers to regional hiking, paddling and Falls Lake, Jordan Lake and Kerr Lake state periods due to weather emergencies or complete the trek.