Hammocks Beach State Park is a largely water-accessed coastal park near Swansboro centered on Bear Island, a mostly undeveloped barrier island of beach, dunes, marsh, shrub thicket, and maritime forest that became a National Natural Landmark in 1980. Its waterways shaped both access and history, from Native American travel and Tuscarora War conflict to pirate refuge and Civil War fortification on Huggins Island, where Confederate earthworks still survive. The park also reflects a significant chapter in North Carolina history: Bear Island passed from Dr. William Sharpe to the North Carolina Teachers Association and then to the state, opening after the Civil Rights Act. Later additions expanded its protected habitats.