Carolina Beach Lake Park

Let's clean up Burnt Mill Creek! May 8th from 9-11am, kayaks provided!

Carolina Beach Lake is a large recreational lake located within a mile of the Atlantic Ocean. It is a great place for a picnic and is the site of Pleasure Island’s “Light Up The Lake” celebration during the holiday season. This 11-acre lake offers 4 gazebos, restrooms, sheltered picnic area and playground equipment.

In the heart of Carolina Beach you'll find Lake Park. This 11 acre lake is located just two short blocks from the ocean and 1 1/4 miles south of Snow's Cut Bridge and is bordered by S Lake Park Blvd, Atlantis Ave. 4th Street and Columbia Ave. A walking path circles the lake and is the perfect place to take a stroll or for the little ones to learn to ride their bikes. While enjoying the walking path keep an eye out for the several varieties of ducks and geese who call Carolina Beach Lake home.

On the north side of the lake is a playground, picnic shelter, gazebo, and public rest rooms. A small parking lot is adjacent to the playground, but can fill up quickly on busy weekends and during events.

Carolina Beach Lake is the venue for many popular Pleasure Island Events. During the summer season enjoy the weekly Farmers Market here on Saturday mornings and Free Outdoor Movies on Sunday evenings. The lake is also host to the extremely popular Pleasure Island Chowder Cook off in April. For an adventure challenge your family or friends to a race across the lake on a kayak, or take your time exploring the natural wonders and beauty in a family friendly pedal boat.

Each winter during the holiday season the lake comes alive with thousands of twinkling lights - a focal point of the Island of Lights celebration on Pleasure Island. Spectacular lighted displays are set all along the walking path

Get directions to this beach

COVID-19

Keep your distance from other people.

Practicing social distancing is still essential. Only go to the beach if you are able to keep 6 feet or 2 meters away from others. Follow the instructions provided by your local health authorities. If your community has asked that you remain indoors and away from others, do so. Spending a day in any crowded place is the worst thing we can do for our most vulnerable right now and will counter our efforts to curb the virus’s spread.

Water Quality

Passed water quality tests 60-95% of the time
Historical Status
This status is based on the latest sample, taken on September 23th, 2022. Cape Fear River Watch updates the status of this beach as soon as test results become available. These results were posted to Swim Guide on September 23th, 2022 at 11:58 AM.

For water quality icon legend, click:

Report Pollution

Monitoring Frequency

Source Information

Cape Fear River Watch monitors the bacteria levels of recreational areas in the waterways of the Cape Fear River Basin. Indicator organisms monitored are E.coli and enterococcus. These pathogens are present in the gut of warm-blooded animals and humans and can pose health risks for swimmers, boaters, and anglers.

From April to October, Cape Fear River Watch collects water samples and provides up-to-date data on the health of our local waterways, viewable by the public. We hope to assist our community in making safe and smart decisions when it comes to recreating in our rivers and creeks. Samples are collected on a bi-weekly basis on Thursday, with results posted on our website and www.theswimguide.org on Friday. Beaches marked with a green icon have passed health safety standards, while those marked with a red icon have failed. A recreational area is marked green for pass if we find less than 235 E.coli colonies or less than 104 enterococci colonies in a 100 mL sample of water. Sites are marked red for fail if we find >235 E.coli colonies/100mL or >104 enterococci colonies/100mL.

Water Quality Graph