Croatan National Forest: Neusiok Trail, SR 306 to SR 101 (Blog Hike #791)

Trail: Neusiok Trail

Hike Location: Croatan National Forest

Geographic Location: east of Havelock, NC (34.90101, -76.81793)

Length: 5.2 miles

Difficulty: 4/10 (Moderate)

Date Hiked: March 2020

Overview: An out-and-back through wet piney woods featuring numerous long boardwalks.

Trail Information: https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/nfsnc/recreation/hiking/recarea/?recid=48492&actid=50

Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=941282

Photo Highlight:

Hike Video: 

Directions to the trailhead: From the intersection of US 70 and SR 101 in Havelock, take SR 101 east 5.1 miles to SR 306 and turn left on SR 306.  Drive SR 306 north 2.1 miles to the Neusiok Trail parking area on the right.  The parking area is unsigned, but you reach it just after passing Apple Drive.  Park in the small gravel parking area.

The hike: Consisting of 160,000 acres of coastal pine forest and wetlands, Croatan National Forest is the eastern-most national forest in North Carolina and the only coastal national forest in the eastern United States.  The national forest is surrounded on three sides by tidal rivers: Bogue Sound to the south, the White Oak River to the southwest, and the Neuse River to the northeast.  These tidal rivers combine with the nearby wet pine forests of slightly higher elevation to give visitors two distinct habitats to see.

            By far the best way to see the national forest is by hiking one of its many trails.  The forest’s signature trail is the 21 mile Neusiok Trail (pronounced like new-see-ock), which runs from north to south across the peninsula between the Neuse River and Bogue Sound.  While the entire Neusiok Trail is too long for a comfortable dayhike, this hike describes one of the trail’s most interesting sections, a section that features numerous long boardwalks.  Combining this hike with the short interpretive trail described in the next hike gives a good sample of the hiking Croatan National Forest has to offer.

Neusiok Trail's SR 306 trailhead

            From the SR 306 parking area, head south on the Neusiok Trail; a wooden information kiosk and mandatory self-registration book stand at the start of the trail.  Marked by aluminum rectangular markers nailed to trees, the trail heads southeast through a scruffy mixture of loblolly pines and oaks.  As you approach the Apple Drive housing development, you pass through an area that has sustained recent heavy storm damage.  Watch for the trail markers and navigate around the fallen trees and mudholes the best you can.

Hiking through dense forest

            After skirting the perimeter of the housing development, the trail heads into deeper woods with private property on the left.  Some jets from nearby Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station will likely zoom overhead, but otherwise the ambiance is quite wild and rustic.  In fact, I did not see another person on this entire hike.  At 0.4 miles, you cross the first boardwalk, which is a baby relative to the boardwalks to come.

            This part of Croatan National Forest is laced with old logging roads that look like trails, and near 0.6 miles a deceptive old dirt road exits right.  A single aluminum marker points left toward the real trail here, and if you choose to turn right like I did you will end up in a maze of old logging roads all of which eventually peter out.  In general, if you walk more than a couple hundred feet without seeing a trail marker, you need to turn around and re-find the trail.

Crossing a boardwalk

            Soon you cross the second constructed boardwalk and then pass through some wet areas on more primitive wooden structures.  At 1.2 miles, you cross Forest Road 143, another old logging road that now deadends at a private tract of land to your right.  At 1.6 miles, you reach the first long boardwalk, a boardwalk that bears the name Cottonmouth Spa.  This boardwalk’s name turned out to be prophetic: a cottonmouth snake slithered through the pine needles and vibrated its tail at me while I was crossing a later boardwalk.

            After dropping off the south end of Cottonmouth Spa, you pass the wooden post that is the Neusiok Trail’s mile marker 13.  At 1.9 miles, you cross sunny Forest Road 136 and reenter the forest on the other side.  Next you cross the boardwalk named Toad Wallow; this boardwalk is nearly 0.5 miles long!  Imagine the time and effort that went into building these boardwalks, and imagine how horrible this hike would be if you had to slog through the ankle-deep water they carry you across.

Crossing Toad Wallow

            Just after crossing Toad Wallow, the Neusiok Trail comes out on the north shoulder of SR 101 near 2.6 miles into the hike.  An overnight shelter stands less than 1 mile further south on the trail, and a parking lot on the south side of SR 101 allows you to park a second car here for a shuttle.  There are no more long boardwalks between here and the shelter, so I chose to turn around here and retrace my steps 2.6 miles to complete my journey on the Neusiok Trail.