Beach & Waterfront Access: Interactive Mapping
Works best with Internet Explorer (IE)

Types of Access Sites:

North Carolina's beach and waterfront access sites are categorized into four groups: Regional, Neighborhood, Local, and Waterfront.  The latest state-wide update of these data began in 2005. The initial data were collected in 1996.

Regional access sites are generally the largest and often feature restrooms, showers, picnic tables, and ample parking (25+).

Neighborhood sites generally have fewer parking spaces than regional sites and often do not have facilities such as showers or restrooms. However, there are exceptions.

Localsites are often simply dune crossovers with little or no associated parking and no facilities. However, bicycle racks may be provided. These are primarily used by pedestrians who reside within a few hundred yards of the site.

Waterfront sites are generally located on estuarine waters in urbanized areas. They vary greatly in the amount of parking and facilities provided.

All of the access sites in DCM's GIS database, both the location and attribute information, were collected by North Carolina Sea Grant and DCM using mapping grade GPS receivers. This access site database includes only those sites for which DCM provided funding. There may be other locally funded public access sites that use the DCM sign but are not shown in our data.

Mapping Tool Instructions:

The interactive access site locator works best with Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE). This site will allow you to interact with and search for specific site types within the Division of Coastal Management's geographic information systems (GIS) database of coastal public beach and waterfront access. When you go to the access site page, you will first see a map of the 20 coastal counties.

• You can select a county from the dropdown list or zoom in to a specific location using the "Zoom In" tool.
  
• Once you've zoomed in to a particular area, you can "Zoom," "Pan," "Identify" or "Search" for specific access sites.
  
  
• The "Identify" feature will allow you to click on a particular access site to see more detailed information; to include site photo and link to Mapquest® for driving directions to that specific location. Pictures are not currently available for all sites, so you may only see a representative picture of a similar site.

DISCLAIMER: These data are considered non-surveyed. Therefore, maps obtained from this web site are to be used for general information purposes only. These data were collected with mapping grade GPS, however, the NC Division of Coastal Management does not guarantee accuracy of location or associated site information.

Questions / Comments:

Questions? Comments? Please e-mail DCM to report any errors or inconsistencies in these data or to provide other comments. If you have questions about a specific site please use the "Identify" feature and record the "Site ID" number, located at the bottom of the information table.

Beach Access Links:

• Shorefront Access Policy
• 2006-2007 Funding Information
• Funding Memo
• Notice of Available Funds
• Guidelines for Local Matching Contributions
• 2005 Grant Recipients
• Clean Marinas