Fort Macon State Park is composed of 385 acres of beach, dunes and maritime forest located two miles east of Atlantic Beach, at the eastern tip of Bogue Banks (milepost 0) at the Beaufort Inlet. The focal point of the state park is historic Fort Macon, a brick five-sided fortress built between 1826 and 1834 and named for Nathaniel Macon, the state senator who procured the building funds. The vulnerable colonial port of entry at Beaufort Inlet had attracted a number of threats from piracy to Spanish raiders, but at the time of the fort’s construction, it was the Civil War that loomed ahead in its future.

Garrisoned in 1834, Fort Macon was seized from the Union forces by NC troops at the start of the Civil War, or the War of Northern Aggression, as some still refer to it. In 1862, Union forces recaptured and used the fort as a coaling station for Union navy ships and later as a federal prison. Fort Macon was regarrisoned in 1898 for the Spanish-American War and in 1942 for World War II.

Fort Macon State Park is the most visited park in NC with around 1.4 million annual visitors. Admission is free. At the fortress, visit the museum, bookstore, and restored commandant’s quarters (exhibits and audio programs) with free guided tours in the summer at 11am, 1pm and 3pm. Watch musket firings on weekends in summer or hike the 1/4-mile nature trail. Fish from rock jetties, or park at the bathhouse area for the public swimming beach, boardwalk, picnic area, and summer-only concessions. (Bathhouse open 10am-6pm, $1 children, $2 adults.)

The park opens daily at 8am and closes at sunset; fort hours are 9am-5:30pm daily. The museum and bookstore are open 9am-5pm daily. Beach, bathhouse and picnic area are fully accessible to handicapped persons. Fort Macon’s calendar features many special events and programs. Information, 252-726-3775.

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Story & photo courtesy of nccoast.com