Fort Fisher Air Force Recreation Area is open to active-duty, retired or disabled military veterans, reservists or civilian military workers with a Department of Defense I.D. card. It has two small camping areas. The park has more than a dozen RV campsites with full hookups and cable TV, as well as a tent-only campground near the Cape Fear River. Each camping area includes a bathhouse and laundry facilities. Other overnight options include lodge rooms, rental mobile homes and three- and four-bedroom cottages. Additional amenities include the Beach House Bar & Grill, two beach access points, canoe/kayak rentals, a boat launch, swimming pool, and tennis, basketball and volleyball courts. The Air Force Recreation Area often is confused with the state-owned Fort Fisher Recreation Area, which is open to the public but does not provide campsites.
Winner's RV Park, a small RV-only campground in the heart of Carolina Beach, is less than 3 miles north of Kure Beach. The park has 21 spaces with full hookups, cable television, available Wi-Fi, and a storage lot for boats and RVs. Winner's has daily, weekly and monthly rates, and is within walking distance of the beach and the Carolina Beach boardwalk.
Carolina Beach State Park, which lies along the Cape Fear River and Intracoastal Waterway, 4.5 miles northeast of Kure Beach, has a shaded, secluded campground with 83 campsites for tents, trailers and RVs. Each site includes a picnic table and grill, but no electric or water hookups. Campground amenities include running water, restrooms, hot showers and an RV dump station. Other park attractions and activities include a visitor's center, picnic area, 6 miles of hiking trails, a marina with two boat ramps and 54 boat slips, and fishing in the Cape Fear River, Masonboro Sound and the nearby Atlantic for species such as flounder, sheepshead and striped bass.
Carolina Beach Family Campground, about 5.5 miles northeast of Kure Beach, sits a short walk from the Intracoastal Waterway, just before the bridge to Pleasure Island. The campground has approximately 115 sites for tents, trailers or RVs, about 20 of which are reserved for tents. The large, wooded RV/trailer sites include electric and water hookups. Tent sites do not include hookups, but running water is nearby. Other amenities include an RV dump station, restrooms and hot showers, a camp store, laundry facilities, an outdoor pool and a playground.
