"If even one grant prohibits an activity, that prohibition must be implemented on the site." That sentence sits in the FAQ on the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality's Topsail Nature Preserve page. It explains more about the Point this fall than any sign at the parking lot.
On September 11, the Town of Topsail Beach said it would no longer issue or renew permits for beach driving or horseback riding on the preserve strand. It also said dogs must stay leashed at all times at the South End. The town called it "a difficult decision" and acknowledged that "for decades, driving down to the inlet to fish, spend time with family, and enjoy the coast has been a treasured tradition." Those rules came from somewhere specific. Four government grants paid for the land, and the strictest terms among them now set the rules at the Point.
How the Point Was Paid For
The North Carolina Coastal Land Trust closed on the South End, long known locally as the Point, on April 29, 2025. Coastal Review reported the price as $7.5 million, and the fundraising behind it came to nearly $8 million. The money came from two kinds of sources:
- Private gifts. More than $1.6 million came from nearly 800 donors.
- Competitive grants. These came through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's Walmart Acres for America program, the NC Land and Water Fund, and two U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service programs: the North American Wetlands Conservation Act and the National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant.
The handoff to the state came next. On May 19, 2026, DEQ's Division of Coastal Management marked the transfer with a ceremony at Sound Access #1. Guests walked from there to the ocean side for a ribbon cutting. Earlier in the year, Coastal Review reported a February 25 public hearing on up to $50,000 in state access-grant funds to cover the transfer's closing costs, with public comment open through April 1.
The acreage figures vary depending on who is counting. The overall tract is usually described as about 150 acres. Coastal Review's account of the transfer says the state received nearly 100 of those acres. Its 2025 purchase story reports that one acre, including a parking area, was sold to the town as part of that transaction. DEQ's page confirms that the Town of Topsail Beach owns and operates the parking area and its facilities. So the town owns the lot where you park, and the state manages the sand you walk onto.
Why the Strictest Grant Decides
DEQ's FAQ spells out how this works. Each grant "comes with its own stipulations for the management of the property," and each grantor "has the right to recover their financial interest in the project if their stipulations are not followed." According to DEQ, three of the four grant agreements do not count beach driving as an allowable use on land bought with their funds.
The preserve page says outright that the purchase "could not have been made" without every one of those grants. Without the grant money the land would not have been bought, and keeping that money means following every grant's restrictions. The end of the inlet drive follows directly from that. The town's September notice frames it as conservation, and DEQ's FAQ supplies the contract terms behind it.
The habitat explains why those programs paid in the first place. The Coastal Land Trust lists loggerhead sea turtles, Wilson's plovers, willets, and more than 30 priority bird species, along with the rare seabeach amaranth plant. Coastal Review's January 2025 coverage added red knots, piping plovers, and green sea turtles to that list. DEQ notes that during the 2025 nesting season, state surveys found 89 percent of North Carolina's least tern nests on barrier islands.
What the Point Allows This October
The rules come from two places: the town's September notice and DEQ's list of prohibited activities. Here they are side by side.
| On the preserve strand | Status | Where it's stated |
|---|---|---|
| Walking in, including anglers on foot | Open | Town notice, Sept. 11 |
| Dogs on leash | Allowed | Town notice; DEQ list |
| Dogs off leash | Prohibited | Town notice; DEQ list |
| Beach driving, motor vehicles, ATVs | Prohibited; permits no longer issued or renewed | Town notice; DEQ list |
| Horseback riding | Prohibited; permits no longer issued or renewed | Town notice |
| Overnight camping, leaving items overnight | Prohibited | DEQ list |
| Glass containers, open fires, fireworks | Prohibited | DEQ list |
| Entering dunes, wetlands, posted nesting areas | Prohibited | DEQ list |
| Commercial activity | Prohibited | DEQ list |
Only emergency, municipal, and coastal management vehicles may now drive on the strand. Parking and restrooms are at the preserve entrance at the end of Shore Line Drive. DEQ says the town will add more restrooms and an ADA-compliant ramp "soon," but gives no date.
The preserve has only just reopened. On October 7, the town and DEQ announced that treatment for invasive common reed, Phragmites australis, was finished and that the beach and parking were open again.
The Seasonal Calendar Has Two Owners
The town and the state also run separate calendars at the South End. The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission ropes off waterbird nesting habitat on the preserve every year from March 1 through September 15. Sea turtles nest on Topsail Island from May to September, and approved volunteers walk the beach each morning to mark new nests.
The town's calendar is about parking. Topsail Beach charges for parking from March 1 through October 31. At the South End lot, Sound Access #1, payment is enforced from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., while the oceanfront lots are enforced from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The town says the revenue pays for regular beach maintenance and nourishment. Payment runs through the SurfCAST by Otto app, the QR codes on lot signs, or Otto Connect's phone line. The South End lot is also the only town lot that closes overnight. It shuts from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. every day, and the closure doesn't end with the paid season.
Taken together, the two calendars mean the stretch from mid-September through the end of October is the first window under the new rules with the nesting ropes down. Enforced parking at the South End lot ends with October 31. The same rules apply all year.
What Hasn't Been Decided Yet
Some of the Point's future is still unsettled. Before the transfer, the Coastal Land Trust said the state would seek dedication under the State Nature Preserves Act. It also said DCM did not plan to add the property to the NC Coastal Reserve system. The land trust expected DCM to write a management plan after the transfer, possibly working with the Wildlife Resources Commission on shorebird nesting areas. It also expected signage and roped-off areas. None of the sources reviewed for this post shows a trail plan or a public meeting on the plan. DEQ says site guidelines and management updates "will be added to this page as they become available."
Volunteers are part of the stewardship arrangement already in place. DEQ describes management as shared among DCM, the Town of Topsail Beach, other state agencies, and the Coastal Land Trust's Stewardship Volunteer Program. If you find a new sea turtle nest, report it to the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Hotline at 910-329-0222.
The Rest of the South End's October
The preserve shares the end of the island with the town's fall calendar.
- Missiles & More Museum, 720 Channel Boulevard. The Historical Society of Topsail Island lists the museum's seasonal closing as October 9.
- Autumn With Topsail, October 16 through 18 on the Historical Society grounds. The schedule includes live bands, vendors, a pancake breakfast, children's activities, and shuttles from the paid lots.
- Halloween walking tour, October 31. It's a free tour on paved routes, leaving the museum at 10 a.m., 11 a.m., and noon, and the museum opens specially from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. that day, according to the Greater Topsail Area Chamber.
- Public Safety Building, 701 Flake Avenue. The town broke ground September 24 on the $9.6 million, roughly 17,400-square-foot building.
How the rest of the island moves through the season is covered in our look at the six-week quiet between Topsail Island's two falls. For the shoreline picture farther north, see how Surf City and North Topsail's north end differ on nourishment.
At the Point, you now reach the inlet on foot, and the rules on the sand are written into four grant agreements that each funder can enforce.
If you want to know how the South End's preserve status relates to a specific street or lot in Topsail Beach, Nick Phillips Group follows these agreements as closely as the sales data. Let's Connect.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
