Freeman Park/Carolina Beach

[roverBLUE]

Looking to get some feedback from local goers and people that have visited. Want to visit tomorrow and possibly camp for one night. {Disclaimer} wife and 2 1/2 yr old in tow. From experience- is it crowded during this time? Will airing up and down be a necessity? Are there really porta johns out there? Would you bring your family there? If it were just me...I would go no questions asked. Wife is used to primitive camping its more the lil one I'm worried about. I've been postponing this experience w them until we had others to go with but I'm afraid this beach will only get busier as the summer is quickly approaching. Any suggestions and .02 would be greatly appreciated. I was thinking we could leave tomorrow am my daughter could play at the beach all day and if we were doing ok (no tantrums) we would try and camp for the night. thanks guys!

 

[LR Max]

Haven't been to Freeman Park but I have been to the outer banks. Generally I've been able to locate decent bathrooms in the most remote locations. Mainly because they don't want people pissing and shitting everywhere.

Air down? Yes. But not like, 2 psi. I aired down to 20 psi, driving a Yukon Denali. Did great! Only thing is don't drive fast. Sometimes a ledge of sand will form and driving off those isn't fun. Stay out of the water.

Bring one of those folding pop-up tent/shade thingies. Set it up then tie it off to your truck. Extra rope/bungees are crucial for this. So now you have insta-shade, it won't blow away and now you, your gal and your tot can be outside but shaded and not blowing away.

If crap REALLY hits the fan, take refuge in your vehicle so make sure before you hit the sand, have a full tank of gas.

I wouldn't be concerned about getting stuck. I was out on Portsmouth island (one of the more desolate places) and there was a park ranger truck seen once every hour. You are going to a far more populated spot so it shouldn't be a problem.

BUG SPRAY.

That is all I have to say.

 

[roverBLUE]

Thanks. I figured there would more than enough of those "big trucks" wanting to pull people out-just wanted to avoid it I wasn't thinking those sand gnats would be out yet...but I keep bug spray in the truck anyway. Well, breaking out the camping gear as we speak and removing the unnecessary. Hoping for a good experience.

 

[rover4x4]

I used to go down there every summer for a few days of camping and riding the beaches. I always had fun, depending on the weekend it can potentially be a cluster.

 

[roverBLUE]

Overall good experience. It was just on the verge of being crowded. Definitely not a quiet place with all the trucks driving back and forth cruising; got quiet around 2 am. Some a lil' rowdy-but I was braced for the worst. We camped oceanside which was cool for my daughter who played in the sand until it got dark. An idiot decided to cut through our camp site and drove within 2 or 3 ft from our tent around 130 am when we were in our tents-wasn't too happy about that. But I'm glad we went; something we can do in the off season. Bathroom and trash facilities. And patrol at least twice an hour. I saw them driving by at least until midnight.