As we enter the upcoming busy season, we have great news about the park’s visitor center. As of May 1, 2023 the new center will be open to the public! The new exhibits are installed by Studio Display/Design Dimension and have given the visitor center a fresh and updated look. We are very excited to make this transition into the new building and the new exhibits are something everyone should check out!
Our ribbon cutting ceremony will take place on Thursday, May 25, 2023 at 1:00 PM. The secretary of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources will be speaking alongside our Interim Director of State Parks, the Chair of our friend’s group and the daughter of Carolista Baum. We sincerely hope everyone can join us in this celebration and get a look at the new center.
Other important things happening around the park include the installation of our Living Shoreline structure, construction of the Mountains to Sea terminus marker and preliminary work on the new boardwalk. The living shoreline is being upgraded using granite rock to reduce wave action along the shoreline. The Coastal Federation has been the lead in this project, and it is progressing nicely. The project should be complete by mid-late May so if you hear noise and see heavy equipment along the shoreline this is the cause. Be careful where you walk out there! Local school children will be helping re-establish the vegetation by planting native plants over the next few years.
Since this is the Year of the Trail in NC State Parks, we are excited to have a terminus marker being constructed for the Mountains to Sea Trail and a ribbon cutting ceremony is planned for this fall. It will be located at the end of the new boardwalk. Visitors can take their photo at the end of the Mountains to Sea Trail and have a wonderful keepsake to take home with them!
Design plans have been under way to replace the existing boardwalk and add an extension to enable visitors to make it all the way to the base of the dunes. The new boardwalk will be wider, more accessible and have a gazebo at the end. Construction will likely begin in the fall for the replacement of the existing boardwalk, and we anticipate the addition to be completed by next summer.
Finally, by the end of the month all our summer interns will be on board and ready to help make our first summer in the new visitor center a success. We anticipate park programming to be at the level of years past so please come check out all the wonderful activities we have planned! I hope to see many of you at the upcoming ribbon cutting and have a wonderful spring.
Sincerely,
Joy Greenwood
Superintendent, Jockey’s Ridge State Park
The Soundside Nature Trail head is located off the soundside access parking lot. This self-guided nature trail is approximately 0.75 mile long and will take up to an hour to hike at a leisurely pace. This section of the park contains several different coastal habitats, including a wetland area, grassy dunes, and maritime forest. Interpretive panels along the trail will provide you with information on the many plants and animals that call this area home. The second is the Tracks in the Sand Trail. It is a 1.2-mile self-guided trail. Walked at a leisurely pace, the hike takes up to 1.5 hours. The trail begins at the visitor center parking lot and meanders through the many habitats in the park traveling across the dune to the soundside and back.
