Access to Bear Island is provided by ferry from Hammock's Beach State Park (see our Attractions and Getting Here, Getting Around chapters) or by private boat. Tickets are required for everyone riding the ferry, and the fee is $5 for adults and $3 for seniors and children ages 6 to 12. Cash or checks are accepted. Free ferry tickets are available to children age 5 and younger. The 3.5-mile island offers primitive camping at designated spots for $9 minimum per night. For groups, the fee is $1 per person, with a limit of nine campers at each of the three available group sites. The sites don't have water, sewer or electric hookups, although restrooms and showers are available. These facilities are not available from November through March. Campers must register with the park office on the mainland before going over to Bear Island. Campsites for boaters are also offered, but some sites are tricky to get to because of shallow water. Campers traveling by ferry are advised to travel light because it is more than a half-mile walk from the ferry landing to some sites. Those interested in camping on Bear Island should be aware that alcoholic beverages and open campfires are not allowed. Bring a grill or camp stove for cooking. Although pets are allowed on the island, they are not allowed in the swimming area or on the ferry so you can only get them there by personal boat. Owners also are required to clean up after their pets and keep them on leashes of six feet or less at all times.

Open April through December, Coastal Riverside Campground is located on a finger creek of the North River and features 53 RV sites with full hook-ups and 25 additional sites for tents. Campground amenities include laundry facilities, showers, a boat ramp and pier, and cable hookups. Reservations for RV camping are required, and nightly fees are $25 for two people (plus $2 for each additional person) for a full hookup site; $15 for a site without hookups.

Owners Catherine and Jerry Nelson cater to family camping with easy access to Core Sound and Drum Inlet. Open April 1 through November 30, the campground offers its guests such amenities as a swimming pool, flush toilets, hot-water showers, a dump station, boating, fishing and horseshoes. There are 35 sites with full hookups, 18 with only electrical and water, and 20 tent sites. Nightly rental for two adults is $25 for complete hookup and $17 without hookup. Extra guests are charged $2 per person. Leashed pets are permitted. Cedar Creek also offers an RV storage area and gives a 10 percent discount to Good Sam and AAA members.

Cape Lookout National Seashore (see our Attractions chapter), which has four barrier islands and spans 56 miles of remote coastline from Ocracoke Inlet to Beaufort Inlet, offers waterfront camping at its best — and plenty of privacy. You might see a ranger and a few anglers around the cabins or folks around the lighthouse keepers' quarters, but otherwise you are on your own. Imagine sitting around the fire at dusk, listening to the sound of waves and watching the sweeping light of the Cape Lookout Lighthouse, with water as far as you can see in either direction.

This camping area has no developed campsites and no bathhouses (the lighthouse has a toilet and there is a composting toilet near the beach). Because there are no facilities available — not even trash cans — campers must bring in everything they need, including water, and must take their garbage with them when they leave. While there are no fees charged to camp at Cape Lookout, park officials request that campers register either at park headquarters on Harkers Island, the keepers' quarters at the lighthouse or with a park ranger. Campers are not allowed to camp near the lighthouse or the restrooms.

There also are two cabin complexes maintained by private concessionaires and overseen by the National Park Service. They vary greatly in their amenities, although they have cooking facilities, flush toilets and hot showers (see our Hotels & Motels chapter).

So how do you get to this wonderland? By boat or ferry. Ferry service is provided by concessionaires permitted by the National Park Service (see our Getting Here, Getting Around chapter) and numerous privately operated ferry services permitted by the National Park Service. Four-wheel-drive vehicles are permitted in some areas (the ferry services charge an extra fee to transport vehicles to the island). As in all national parks, some restrictions apply, so talk to a ranger before scheduling your trip.

Croatan National Forest is made up of 159,866 acres spread between Morehead City and New Bern. Recreational areas are available for a day's outing or for overnight camping. The forest's planned campsites include Cedar Point, Neuse River (Flanners Beach) and Fishers Landing, where you will find drinking water, bathhouse facilities and picnic areas. Primitive camping is permitted all year, and campfires are usually permitted (check with the ranger office during the dry season). For more information on the Croatan National Forest, see our Crystal Coast Attractions chapter or the New Bern Camping chapter.