Ten Reasons to visit Pettigrew State Park

Caleb Laney

Published in

NC PATH

3 min readJul 6, 2022

written by Caleb Laney

Amazing fishing, beautiful trails, picnic in the shade of cypress groves along the shores of the 16,000-acre lake.

Photo courtesy of Coastal Review. All rights go to their respective owners.

1. Enjoy Lake Phelps!

Go swimming in the beautiful waters of the 16,000-acre Lake Phelps.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia. All rights go to their respective owners.

2. Go fishing!

If you prefer not to get in the water, go fishing instead! This park is a great destination for fishing. Fish that you may catch here include the Yellow Perch, Pumpkinseed and plenty of Largemouth Bass!

Photo courtesy of NC Wildlife. All rights go to their respective owners.

3. Have a picnic!

There are picnic tables at the park for those who want to have a picnic at this park. There is also a reservable picnic shelter that holds up to 30 people!

4. Educational Events happen all the time!

There are plenty of fun and informative events happening at Pettigrew State Park. If you are interested in finding out what’s scheduled, please visit the events and programs website by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of Triangle Naturalist. All rights go to their respective owners.

5. Take a hike!

There are two trails to take advantage of at Pettigrew State Park. The Bee Tree Trail stretches 1.3 miles in length and the Moccasin Trail spans 2.8 miles in length!

Photo courtesy of DW Hike. All rights go to their respective owners.

6. Go camping!

Pettigrew State Park has a 13-site family campground and group camping that has close access to the lake. You can also bring you trailer or RV to go camping if you prefer to do that!

Photo courtesy of Outer Banks. All rights go to their respective owners.

7. Come see the fauna!

Some of the amazing species you may encounter during your time at Pettigrew State Park include the Tundra Swan, Bobcat, Snow Goose, and Zebra Swallowtail.

Photo courtesy of Audubon. All rights go to their respective owners.

8. Come see the unique trees!

Pettigrew State Park is home to many huge Cypress and Sycamore trees. Some of the trees actually have openings big enough for whole families to stand in!

Photo courtesy of Kenda Turner. All rights go to their respective owners.

9. Come see the dugout canoes!

Over time many dugout canoes have been found in the waters of Lake Phelps. One is over 4,000 years old! The display of ancient American Indian dugout canoes is amazing to see at this park!

Photo courtesy of Pamlico. All rights go to their respective owners.

10. The lake’s origin is unknown.

While Lake Phelps is the state of North Carolina’s natural lake, many are unsure how it got there. As stated on the website, “theories include peat burn, underground spring, wind and wave action, meteor showers and glacier activity.”