From the state recreation area website:

Located in New Hanover County 18 miles south of Wilmington, Fort Fisher State Recreation Area is the only park in the system that allows four-wheel-drive beach access, making it popular for surf fishing. Warm weather months bring loggerhead sea turtles to nest along the park's sandy shores. A trail traverses the salt marsh and ends at an observation deck with views of Zeke's Island and the Cape Fear River. The marsh, brimming with wildlife, provides plenty of watching opportunities for birders and photographers year-round.

Pictures

Fort Fisher State Recreation Area Visitor Information
Eric operating; photo by Victoria McFadden
The view from Eric's operating position
The surf
Inside the Visitor Center: 1 | 2

Description

On Monday, May 5, 2025, one member of the Southeast Ohio Radio Adventure Team performed a successful activation of Fort Fisher State Recreation Area in North Carolina as part of the Parks on the Air (POTA; link) program.

Following a visit to the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher with is wife Vickie, Eric McFadden, WD8RIF, performed an activation of the nearby Fort Fisher State Recreation Area.

Eric and Vickie enjoyed their tour of the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher and had lunch, and then drove the very short distance to the Loggerhead Road parking area within Fort Fisher State Recreation Area, arriving about 1700 UTC. While they looked over the gorgeous but unshaded beach, Vickie suggested that Eric might set up his station in the wee bit of shade cast by the unoccupied lifeguard tower. Seeing that this was a very good idea, Eric deployed his 28½' end-fed random wire as a vertical on his 31' Jackite telescoping fiberglass mast which he bungied to his folding camp-chair, and placed two 17' counterpoise wires directly on the ground, arranged so they wouldn't be a trip-hazard to other beach-goers. Placing his Elecraft KX2 on the camp-chair's fold-up table, and covering the transceiver with a towel to minimize the salt and sand it would be exposed to&, Eric was on the air at 1726 UTC.

Eric operating; photo by Victoria McFadden.

Eric found he had good cell-signal and would be able to spot himself on POTA Spots (link) and to use POTA Spots to identify possible park-to-park (P2P) QSO opportunities.

Seeing solar numbers of SFI=159, SN=86, A-Index=25, and K-Index=4, Eric was concerned propagation might be poor, but he knowing he wouldn't know until he tried, he pressed on.

Eric began his operation on 40m. Finding himself a clear frequency to run, Eric began calling "CQ POTA" and was auto-spotted on POTA Spots. While having to deal with surprisingly loud thunderstorm crashes on the band, his first QSO came at 1729 UTC with KS4S in North Carolina. Against his expectations given the solar numbers, QSOs came quickly, with Eric's seventh QSO coming at 1742 UTC with NE4TN in Tennessee. This run included QSOs with operators located in Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina (2), Tennessee, and Virginia (2).

The view from Eric's operating position.

Switching to 20m, Eric found himself a clear frequency to run, began calling "CQ POTA", and was auto-spotted on POTA Spots. His first QSO in this run came at 1750 UTC with AB1TQ in Vermont. QSOs came quickly, with Eric's thirteenth QSO in this run coming at 1807 UTC with W8HAP in Maine. This run included a P2P QSO with VE3KZE who was activating Greenwood Conservation Reserve (CA-1427) in Ontario and QSOs with operators located in Illinois (2), Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan (3), Missouri, Ontario, Vermont, and Wisconsin (2).

In all, Eric made twenty QSOs in just about forty-one minutes of on-air time. All of Eric's QSOs were CW and were made with five watts output.

Before leaving Fort Fisher State Recreation Area, Eric took some more photos and visited the Visitor Center.

The surf.


Sea turtles...


... a wheelchair for the beach.

Eric also submitted his log to the World Wide Flora and Fauna in Amateur Radio (WWFF; link) program for an operation at Strouds Run State Park, KFF-1994.

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