*** I was on the traditional land of the Roanoke, Lumbee, WiYaPeMiAk, Choanoke, Yeopim, Secotan, Tuscarora Peoples***
After Ocracoke, I hopped on another ferry (and was mind blow the whole time again!) to Hatteras Island, which allowed me to cross off Dare County from my Counties list! Spent some time on the gorgeous beaches there and then went to Jockey's Ridge State Park!
Jockey's Ridge is definitely one of my favorite state parks that I've been too so far! There's a reason its the most visited state park in NC! Jockey's Ridge has the tallest active sand dune system in the Eastern US and it felt like there were endless amounts of dunes to walk, play, and climb on! I got there just in time to see the sunset, and I had to drag myself away from the park as it was closing!
Next, I checked out Great Dismal Swamp State Park and Merchant Millpond State Parks.
Despite its name, Great Dismal Swamp state park is not dismal at all! (Although I'm sure it's not an ideal place to be during summer when misquotes are active!) I walked on their boardwalk trail and biked on the 6 mile paved trail adjacent to the park!
Next, I went to Merchant Millpond State Park and got to test out my kayak! :)
It was surreal kayaking in the wetlands of the park! I was in awe of the way my little boating device gave me access to see parks of the park that would have been otherwise unavailable to me. Kayaking beside trees in the middle of the water is way cool! And although there were signs everywhere to watch out for alligators, thankfully, I didn't see any!
I decided to camp at the park and enjoyed hiking into my trail from the parking lot and crossing of my goal to lead a backpacking trip this year! My campsite was right on the water, which gave me a nice view of the pond and any possible alligators :o.
Picture doesn't do justice to how beautiful the sunset was at Jockey's Ridge!
Canal at (not so) Dismal Swamp State Park
'Yaking at Merchant Millpond
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