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29-638: Falls Lake State Recreation Area is a North Carolina state park in Durham and Wake counties, North Carolina in the United States . Near Wake Forest, North Carolina , it covers 5,035 acres (20.38 km) along the shores of 12,410-acre (50.2 km) Falls Lake . Prior to 1978, flooding of the Neuse River caused extensive damage to public and private properties including roadways, railroads, industrial sites and farmlands. The Falls Lake Project

58-580: A depth of 100 meters. The continental shelf off the Atlantic Ocean ranges in width from less than 1 km off Florida to more than 420 km off Maine. The average width is about 135 km. The Coastal Plain of the United States includes all or portions of the states of Alabama , Arkansas , Delaware , Florida , Georgia , Kentucky , Maryland , Massachusetts , Mississippi , New Jersey , New York , North Carolina , Oklahoma , South Carolina , Rhode Island , Tennessee , Texas and Virginia . From

87-544: A trail corridor or for protecting significant features or resources along the trail. Most of these lands are leased to other land management agencies. All of the State Trails are joint projects with other government agencies and nonprofit organizations. The following is the NC Division of Parks & Recreation description of State Trails: The North Carolina Trails System Act was passed in 1973 to help provide for

116-755: Is an endemic plant community found in most of the Atlantic coastal plain, ranging from Virginia to northern Florida. These woodland savannas are reliant on sandy soils and are fire dependent, lest hardwoods start to dominate. Alongside longleaf pine , typically associated flora includes turkey oak and wiregrass . The Florida longleaf pine sandhill extends the longleaf pine forests into central Florida, with South Florida slash pine flatwoods , Florida sand pine scrub and Florida dry prairie stretching into southern Florida. Longleaf pine woodlands also stretch further west, to eastern Texas. These consist of East Gulf and West Gulf longleaf pine flatwoods , bisected by

145-507: Is focused on preserving and protecting areas of scientific, aesthetic, or ecological value. Facilities are limited to those needed for interpretation, protection, and minimum maintenance. Generally, recreational and public use facilities such as camping, swimming, picnicking, and the like are not provided in State Natural Areas. State Lakes are all large, naturally formed bodies of water in the state's Coastal Plain . Most of

174-463: Is now identified as a global biodiversity hotspot, with over 1500 endemic plant species, and ~70% habitat loss. This endemism is particularly high in the longleaf pine savannas and woodlands , along with the other herbaceous and fire dependent ecosystems of the ecoregion. Despite intermittent flooding, certain refugia have remained continuously terrestrial since at least the late Cretaceous (85-80mya), contributing to endemism. Generally speaking, despite

203-431: Is one of the settings in the spy thriller novel Crisis Four by Andy McNab . List of North Carolina state parks State Parks are the principle unit of the state park system. The NC Division of Parks & Recreation describes its parks as follows: Generally, State Parks are expected to possess both significant natural resource values and significant recreational values. State Parks are expected to accommodate

232-805: Is owned by the federal government, and part of a large acreage managed by the state of North Carolina as the Falls Lake State Recreation Area. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. Falls Lake hiking trails on the south side are part of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail which stretches from Kuwohi in the Great Smoky Mountains to Jockey's Ridge State Park on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Camping along

261-478: Is provided than in State Parks. Protection and enjoyment of the natural resources are still important, and the sites are expected to contain scenic and attractive natural features. Development is planned and constructed to keep a "reasonable amount" of each area undisturbed and free from improvements and structures. State Natural Areas protect areas more sensitive to human activities than State Parks. Most of

290-544: The Mexican border and southward an additional 1,000 miles (1,600 km) to the Yucatán Peninsula . The central and southern Atlantic Coast is characterized by barrier and drowned valley coasts. The coastal Atlantic plain features nearly continuous barriers interrupted by inlets , large embayments with drowned river valleys , and extensive wetlands and marshes . The Atlantic plain slopes gently seaward from

319-535: The Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic coastal plains. The Atlantic Plain is generally gently dipping undeformed Mesozoic and Cenozoic sediments, with the sedimentary wedge thickening toward the sea, reaching a maximum thickness of about 3 kilometers (10,000 ft) in the vicinity of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina . Despite being previously overlooked in research, the Atlantic Coastal Plain

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348-623: The Mississippi Alluvial Plain . To the north, the Atlantic Coastal Plain also broaches into the mesic hardwood forests of the Middle Atlantic coastal forests , followed by the northern Atlantic coastal pine barrens . The southernmost Atlantic Plain contains the only Neotropical ecoregion of the continental USA, being the Everglades and Florida mangroves . The following species are largely endemic to

377-603: The Atlantic Plain division comprises two provinces and six sections. The Coastal Plain province is differentiated from the Continental Shelf province simply based on the portion of the land mass above and below sea level. The lands adjacent to the Atlantic coastline are made up of sandy beaches, marshlands, bays, and barrier islands. It is the flattest of the U.S. physiographic divisions and stretches over 2,200 miles (3,500 km) in length from Cape Cod to

406-685: The Falls Lake portion of the trail is only available at Shinleaf Recreation Area in Wake County and Rolling View Recreation Area in Durham County. Trails are easy to moderate on some steep ridges. The Beaver Dam bike trails at Falls Lake are easy to intermediate and have trails for everyone. Trail heads are accessible from the park entrance at Beaverdam Recreation Area only. Falls Lake is accessible by kayaks and canoes from two boat launches at Highway 50 and Beaver Dam Lake. Falls Lake

435-406: The State Natural Areas are undeveloped and have limited to no facilities, and some of them are closed to the general public to protect rare, fragile ecosystems . A few have developed facilities for low intensity, passive recreation, as well as facilities for public interpretation and education of the natural area. The NC Division of Parks & Recreation states: The purpose of State Natural Areas

464-550: The State Parks System known as State Lakes. Most of these are administratively included as part of an adjoining State Park, but one of the lakes (White Lake) has no public ownership on its shoreline. State Trails are one of the principal components of the State Trail System. State Trails may be either long-distance, hiking trails or paddle trails . State Trails may have land components for providing

493-627: The benefit of present and future generations. The Natural and Scenic Rivers Act established criteria and methods for inclusion of components to the system. Components of the Natural and Scenic Rivers System are State Rivers, and are also units of the State Parks System. Some units have been formally removed from the NC State Park System and transferred to other agencies for management. When the State Historic Site system

522-460: The development of facilities, but may vary in the extent of development depending upon what can be provided without damage to the scenic or natural features. Facilities are planned and constructed to keep disturbance of natural resources to a minimum and to leave a "liberal portion" of each park undisturbed and free from improvements and structures, except for trails. Several of the State Parks are new and are still being planned and developed. A few of

551-468: The high diversity of soils, the soil is nutrient poor. This is primarily due to an abundance of well-drained soils, creating a primarily xeric character to the floral makeup of the Atlantic Plain. However, waterlogged soils are also notable, with wetlands and hammocks being important ecological features. The Eastern woodlands are the original, predominant ecosystem of the Atlantic coastal plain. The Atlantic coastal plain upland longleaf pine woodland

580-535: The inland highlands in a series of terraces. This gentle slope continues far into the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico , forming the continental shelf. The relief at the land-sea interface is so low that the boundary between them is often blurry and indistinct, especially along stretches of the Louisiana bayous and the Florida Everglades . The Atlantic Ocean has a broad, flat continental shelf that reaches

609-574: The lakes are Carolina Bays . The NC Division of Parks & Recreation describes its State Lakes as follows: Chapter 165 of the Laws of 1929 specified that "all lakes now belonging to the State having an area of 50 acres or more" should be "administered as provided for other recreational areas now owned by the State." This allowed the then-Department of Conservation and Development to assume management authority for seven Coastal Plain lakes that became units of

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638-475: The most part, of layers of sand and clay which are not yet hardened into sandstone and shale. The Coastal Plain features nearly continuous barrier islands interrupted by inlets, large embayments with drowned river valleys, and extensive wetlands and marshes. The Coastal Plain slopes gently seaward from the inland highlands in a series of terraces. The province's average elevation is less than 900 meters above sea level and extends some 50 to 100 kilometers inland from

667-536: The northeast, it begins on Cape Cod, Massachusetts and stretches to the southwest to South Padre Island, Texas . This is approximately 1,900 miles (3,100 km). This province consists of the following physiographic sections: the Embayed, Sea Island , Floridian , East Gulf Coastal Plain , Mississippi Alluvial Plain , and the West Gulf Coastal Plain . The rocks in the province consist, for

696-515: The ocean. The coastal plain is normally wet, including many rivers, marsh , and swampland . It is composed primarily of sedimentary rock and unlithified sediments and is primarily used for agriculture . The Atlantic Coastal Plain includes the Carolina Sandhills region as well as the Embayed and Sea Island physiographic provinces. The Atlantic Coastal Plain is sometimes subdivided into northern and southern regions, specifically

725-487: The older state parks were greatly expanded in size in the 2000s adding trails and bike paths open to the public. State Recreation Areas are more intensely developed units than State Parks, and they largely encompass lands less sensitive to human activities than State Parks. According to the NC Division of Parks & Recreation: State Recreation Areas are sites where the primary purpose is outdoor recreation, rather than preservation. More intensive development of facilities

754-522: The state's Natural and Scenic Rivers System, which is the state's equivalent to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System . Most of the state's National Wild and Scenic Rivers , are also State Rivers and vice versa . The NC Division of Parks & Recreation states that: The Natural and Scenic Rivers System was created by the 1971 General Assembly to preserve and protect certain free flowing rivers, their water quality and their adjacent lands for

783-485: The state's outdoor recreation needs and to promote public access to natural and scenic areas. The act prescribed methods for establishing a statewide system of scenic trails, recreation trails, and connecting or side trails. The Trails System includes "park trails", which are designated and managed as units of the State Parks System known as State Trails, and "designated trails", which are managed by other governmental agencies or corporations. State Rivers are components of

812-571: Was developed by the US Army Corps of Engineers to control damaging floods. Construction of the dam began in 1978 and was completed in 1981. In addition to recreation opportunities, Falls Lake now provides flood and water-quality control, water supply, and fish and wildlife conservation . In 1992, the NC Division of Parks and Recreation took control of the James Mangum House as part of Beaverdam Recreation Area. Rock Cliff Farm

841-625: Was established in 1955, the system's first six components were historic properties transferred from the State Park System. One unit, Rendezvous Mountain , was transferred back to the park system, after 66 years in the state forest system. Atlantic coastal plain The Atlantic Plain is one of eight distinct physiographic divisions of the contiguous United States . Using the USGS physiographic classification system,

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