Singletary Lake State Park: CCC Loop Trail (Blog Hike #794)

Trail: CCC Loop Trail

Hike Location: Singletary Lake State Park

Geographic Location: northeast of Elizabethtown, NC (34.58494, -78.44921)

Length: 1.2 miles

Difficulty: 1/10 (Easy)

Date Hiked: March 2020

Overview: A figure-eight route near the east shore of Singletary Lake.

Park Information: https://www.ncparks.gov/state-parks/singletary-lake-state-park

Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=787427

Photo Highlight:

Hike Video: 

Directions to the trailhead: From Elizabethtown, take US 701 north 5.3 miles to SR 53 and turn right on SR 53.  Drive SR 53 east 6.7 miles to the signed state park entrance on the left.  Turn left to enter the park and park in front of the Education Building, where this hike begins.

The hike: Known best for its pair of youth camps, Camp Ipecac and Camp Loblolly Bay, Singletary Lake State Park protects 649 acres on the east shore of its namesake lake.  Like nearby Lake Waccamaw, Singletary Lake is one of the region’s famous naturally-occurring Carolina bays.  The 572-acre lake is only 12 feet deep at its deepest point, but that depth makes it one of the deepest Carolina bays.  The lake is named after Richard Singletary, who received a grant of land in this area in 1729.

            Singletary Lake has a long history as parkland.  In the 1800’s, the North Carolina General Assembly declared that any lake of 500 acres or more in Bladen, Columbus, or Cumberland counties, which includes Singletary Lake, would remain the property of the State.  By the Great Depression era, the land surrounding the lake had become unproductive as farm land, and in 1936 the National Park Service bought some of that land for a recreational demonstration site.  The park opened in 1939 under a lease agreement, and the land’s title transferred to the State of North Carolina in 1954.

            Other than the youth camps, the park offers few amenities.  An Education Building contains some exhibits about the area’s unique natural features, and a large 500-foot pier allows visitors to get out on the lake without getting wet feet.  For hikers, the park offers only one short trail, but it is an interesting trail that explores the pier, the lakeshore, and the surrounding forest, thus giving you a sample of all this area has to offer.

Trailhead behind Education Building

            Start by walking the asphalt trail to the left (south) of the Education Building.  The information kiosk that serves as the trailhead for the CCC Loop Trail is located behind the Education Building.  The CCC Loop Trail actually follows a figure-eight route, and the two arms of the south lobe both depart from here.  To save the lake for last, I decided to start on the dirt trail to the right and return on the asphalt trail that continues straight.

Hiking on sandy dirt trail

            Marked by orange aluminum circles, the wide white sandy dirt trail heads north through a thin grove of loblolly pines.  The park road and camps seen through the trees to the right give this trail a frontcountry feel despite the park’s rural location.  At 0.3 miles, you reach a four-way intersection that is the pinch of the figure-eight.  If you wanted a very short hike, you could turn left here and go directly to the lake.  This description continues straight to begin heading clockwise around the northern lobe.

Outflow of Singletary Lake

            The trail uses a wooden bridge built over a small man-made dam to cross the creek that is the main outflow of Singletary Lake.  Next a dirt road exits at a soft angle left as the trail makes a sweeping right turn to head back toward the creek.  Large amounts of American holly grow in the understory here, and it gives the forest a green look even in the middle of winter.

            A few muddy areas need to be negotiated before you re-cross the creek’s dark foreboding water on another footbridge.  At 0.65 miles, you return to the pinch of the figure-eight to complete the north lobe.  Continue straight and keep the creek immediately to your right to head counterclockwise on the south lobe.

Hiking along outflow of Singletary Lake

            Water, first the creek and then Singletary Lake, remains in sight to the right for the rest of the hike.  Some interpretive signs posit various theories about the lake’s origin, which is still a mystery to geologists.  Just shy of 1 mile, you reach the wooden pier that extends 500 feet out into the lake.  The pier offers fantastic views of the large shallow open waters, and no other development can be seen on the lake’s shore.  After taking in the lake view, walk down the asphalt trail, which leads back to the Education Building and completes the hike.

Pier at Singletary Lake

Singletary Lake

Moores Creek National Battlefield (Blog Hike #793)

Trails: History and Tarheel Trails

Hike Location: Moores Creek National Battlefield

Geographic Location: northwest of Wilmington, NC (34.45786, -78.10868)

Length: 1 mile

Difficulty: 1/10 (Easy)

Date Hiked: March 2020

Overview: A loop hike through the site of the first Revolutionary War battle in the south.

Park Information: https://www.nps.gov/mocr/index.htm

Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=787429

Photo Highlight:

Hike Video: 

Directions to the trailhead: West of Wilmington, take I-40 to SR 210 (exit 408).  Exit and go west on SR 210.  Stay on SR 210 as it makes numerous turns, and drive SR 210 a total of 15.7 miles to the signed park entrance on the right.  Turn right to enter the park, and park in the parking lot in front of the Visitor Center.

The hike: When most people think of early battles in the American Revolution, the Boston area and the battles at Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill come to mind.  Yet one of the most important battles leading up to the Declaration of Independence occurred at Moores Creek Bridge in eastern North Carolina on February 27, 1776.  After being forced to abandon the British capital at New Bern, NC in 1775, Loyalist forces led by General Donald MacDonald planned to march out to the coast and join British naval troops in an effort to re-take the Carolina Colony.  By late February 1776, MacDonald had avoided Patriot militias and marched his army to within 20 miles of Wilmington with only one more natural barrier between them and the coast: Moores Creek.  The creek is too deep and wide to ford, so the only way to get an army across would be to use the Moores Creek bridge on the historic Negro Head Point Road.

            Realizing they would be unlikely to resist a combined assault from MacDonald and the British navy forces, Patriot militias led by Col. James Moore and Col. Alexander Lillington chose to make a stand at the Moores Creek bridge.  The Patriots built some earthworks on the east side of the bridge, and they removed some of the bridge’s planks and greased the bridge’s girders to make it harder to cross.  A cannon was also brought in to defend the bridge.

            At 1am on February 27, the loyalists began marching to Moores Creek bridge in hopes of surprising the Patriots with an ambush at dawn.  Unaware of the cannon and newly-built earthworks, the loyalists carefully sneaked their way across the partially dismantled bridge only to get ambushed by the Patriots.  The battle lasted only 3 minutes, and the loyalists took over 70 casualties while the Patriots took only 1.  Within weeks most loyalists in the area were captured.  Although the battle at Moores Creek bridge was short and small, the Patriot victory encouraged North Carolina to become the first American colony to instruct its Continental Congress delegation to vote for independence from Britain.

            Today the historic bridge over Moores Creek has been reconstructed, and the area is protected as Moores Creek National Battlefield.  The 87-acre park is located in a rural part of eastern North Carolina, and it offers only a Visitor Center, a picnic area, and two short hiking trails for amenities.  The park’s two trails offer very different experiences: the 0.7 mile History Trail explores and interprets the battle site, while the 0.3 mile Tarheel Trail interprets the area’s history of pine-related industries.  Combining these two trails forms the 1 mile loop hike described here.

Trailhead behind Visitor Center

            After browsing the exhibits and watching the video in the Visitor Center, head out the back door and follow signs for the History Trail.  Surfaced with asphalt and recycled rubber, the History Trail heads gently downhill with a grassy area dotted with pines on the left.  At many national battlefields open grassy areas ARE the battlefield, but here it is not.  A recent controlled burn had left the grassy area charred black on my visit.

Grassy area behind Visitor Center

            The History Trail traces around the north side of the grassy area with a park road and a picnic area on the right.  This part of the trail roughly follows the historic Negro Head Point Road, which was the route the loyalists were taking to Wilmington.  Going this direction, you are walking away from Wilmington toward the Moores Creek bridge, so the loyalists never made it this far.

Hiking across the boardwalk

            After passing the stone Stage Road Monument, at 0.25 miles you reach the start of the boardwalk.  Turn right to head across the boardwalk.  The boardwalk carries you over blackwater Moores Creek, which contains numerous islands and tupelo trees.  The reconstructed Moores Creek bridge can be seen a short distance downstream, and an interpretive sign describes the construction and reconstruction of the bridge.

Moores Creek bridge

            At the northwest end of the boardwalk, the trail makes a sweeping left turn to arrive at the reconstructed bridge.  Walking this direction, you are coming the same direction the loyalists did, but you get the luxury of crossing Moores Creek on a complete bridge rather than on a partially dismantled one.  The reconstructed Patriot earthworks stand just beyond and above the bridge.  Imagine inching your way across a partially dismantled bridge on a cold, dark, damp February night with a militia waiting behind the earthworks up ahead.

Approaching Moores Creek bridge

Reconstructed Patriot earthworks

             At the next intersection, angle right to pass through the reconstructed Patriot earthworks and climb gradually past a series of stone monuments.  After passing the Women’s Monument, you reach the start of the Tarheel Trail just before the History Trail returns to the parking area.  Turn right to begin the Tarheel Trail.

Hiking past stone monuments

Start of Tarheel Trail

            The Tarheel Trail is another asphalt/recycled rubber trail, but this one forms a small loop through a grove of tall pine trees.  Numerous interpretive signs describe the industries these pines once supported, which include ship mast building, pine tar, and turpentine.  The Tarheel Trail ends near the entrance to the parking lot, thus marking the end of the hike.