List of North Carolina state forests

This article is about forests managed by the North Carolina Forest Service. For forests managed by NC State University, see List of NC State University forests.


The State of North Carolina has a group of twelve protected areas known as State Forests which are managed by the North Carolina Forest Service, an agency of the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Six of the state forests are known as State Educational Forests and they are primarily used to educate the public about the forest environment, forestry, and forest management. One state forest, DuPont, was designated as a State Recreational Forest in recognition of its high recreational value and use. Most of the state forests provide recreational facilities for hiking and picnicking.

North Carolina state forests

Name Region Counties Size Public Access
Backbone Ridge State Forest Mountains Caldwell 476 acres (1.93 km2) No public access
Bladen Lakes State Forest Coastal Plain Bladen 32,700 acres (132 km2) Open year-round via permit
Clemmons Educational State Forest Piedmont Johnston, Wake 825 acres (3.34 km2)[1] Open year-round
DuPont State Recreational Forest Mountains Henderson, Transylvania 10,473 acres (42.38 km2)[1][2] Open year-round
Gill State Forest Mountains Avery 474 acres (1.92 km2)[3] Not open to the general public
Headwaters State Forest Mountains Transylvania 6,730 acres (27.2 km2)[4] Open year-round
Holmes Educational State Forest Mountains Henderson 235 acres (0.95 km2)[1] Open year-roud
Jordan Lake Educational State Forest Piedmont Chatham 900 acres (3.6 km2)[1] Open year-round
Mountain Island Educational State Forest Piedmont Lincoln, Gaston 2,000 acres (8.1 km2)[1] Only open for scheduled guided tours
Rendezvous Mountain State Forest[Note 1][5] Mountains Wilkes 1,500 acres (6.1 km2)[5] Open year-round as gameland[5]
Turnbull Creek Educational State Forest Coastal Plain Bladen 890 acres (3.6 km2)[1] Open year-round
Tuttle Educational State Forest Mountains Caldwell 288 acres (1.17 km2)[1] Open year-round

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Most of Rendezvous Mountain Educational State Forest was transferred to the state park system in 2022. The 1,500-acre (6.1 km2) Little Fork tract was retained by the Forest Service, and it is leased to the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission as a public game land.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "NC Forest Service Natural Assets" (PDF). North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services. January 23, 2014. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
  2. ^ "DuPont State Recreational Forest Fiscal Year 2014 Legislative Report" (PDF). North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services. October 1, 2014. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
  3. ^ "Gill State Forest Water Resources Restoration Master Plan". North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services. March 3, 2017. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
  4. ^ "Headwaters State Forest". North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
  5. ^ a b c Hubbard, Jule (July 10, 2022). "Matheson named Rendezvous superintendent". North Wilkesboro: Wilkes Journal-Patriot. Archived from the original on July 17, 2022. Retrieved September 3, 2022.