Fort Macon State Park

This area of undisturbed natural beauty is the perfect place to explore salt marshes and estuaries vital to the coastal ecosystem. Students can also visit the fort to learn about its historical significance to North Carolina.

Preview your trip on the web: Fort Macon State Park

Learn more

• Nathaniel Macon Biography of Nathaniel Macon (1758–1837), North Carolina political leader from Warren County.
• North Carolina as a Civil War battlefield: May 1861-April 1862 Summary of military operations in North Carolina in the first year of the Civil War, including Burnside's Expedition against the coast.
• Experience North Carolina's state parks with EELEs An EELE is an Environmental Education Learning Experience -- a site-specific program offered by the North Carolina state parks system. EELEs include pre-visit activities, on-site activities and post-visit activities, but they do not necessarily have to be used in conjunction with a group visit. Educators can attend EELE workshops to gain rich educational experiences that provide knowledge, insight, and immediate practical materials for use in the classroom.
• Fort Macon State Park Fort Macon State Park on Bogue Banks is a typical setting for maritime shrub and forest development.

Related pages

• National Estuarine Research Reserve Systems - The Rachel Carson Component: Located in one of North Carolina's fastest growing areas, the Rachel Carson site is a center of marine research and education. The reserve is a diverse and productive estuarine system for birds, mammals, and fish.
• Horizons Unlimited: This wonderful education center and museum provides hands-on programs for students in the areas of history and the physical and biological sciences.
• Stevens Nature Center at Hemlock Bluffs: Provides information about the natural history of the Hemlocks Bluff Nature Preserve and the plants and animals that live there.

Related topics

• Learn more about Carteret County, Civil War, North Carolina, World War II, biology, environmental science, estuaries, fortifications, forts, geology, history, marshes, natural history, nature reserves, and science.

Legal

Fort Macon is one of the finest examples of the many coastal forts constructed along the Eastern Seaboard of the United States after the War of 1812. It has seen action in the Civil War and was used as a German U-Boat coastal defense during World War II.

Educational materials about Fort Macon State Park have been developed for grades 6-8 and are correlated to North Carolina’s competency-based curriculum in science, social studies, mathematics and English/language arts. The Fort Macon program introduces students to the geologic process of barrier island movement and to the plants and animals that thrive in this shifting environment. Accompanying the program is a teacher’s booklet and workshop, free of charge to educators.

Each state park and recreation area has an EELE (environmental education learning experience) curriculum guide that includes on-site activities, pre- and post-visit activities, student information pages, worksheets, fact sheets, vocabulary, and references. You can receive a free copy of an EELE by attending its corresponding workshop at a park, or you can borrow these guides through interlibrary loan at any public library in North Carolina. The EELE for Fort Macon State Park is “Barrier Beginnings” for grades 5, 6, 7, and 8.

The North Carolina State Parks website offers a search feature for finding plants and animals that can be found at each state park. Using the drop-down menus, you can choose a park and either an amphibian, bird, reptile, mammal, fungus, insect, or vascular plant. You can search within each group by family, scientific name, or common name. There are photographs from the state parks and fun facts for some of the species.

See also The Southern Coastal Heritage Program 2001’s Virtual Field Trip.

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