In addition to the fully restored fort, the park offers visitors both soundside and surf fishing, nature trails, ranger guided tours, a protected swim area, a refreshment stand, and a bathhouse.

The park is open year-round, but during the non-summer months the protected swimming area, refreshment stand, and bathhouse are not available.

Blackbeard and other infamous pirates were known to have passed through Beaufort Inlet at will, while successive wars with Spain, France and Great Britain during the Colonial Period provided a constant threat of coastal raids by enemy warships.

Blackbeard's ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge "QAR" is thought to have been discovered in shallow water right off the park in the Atlantic Ocean and is being recovered.

North Carolina leaders recognized the need for coastal defenses to prevent such attacks and began efforts to construct forts.

Fort Dobbs was constructed to specifically provide defense on the edge of the western frontier during the French and Indian War.

[4] The Embargo Act of 1807 was a general embargo enacted by the United States Congress against Great Britain and France for actions during the Napoleonic Wars under Great Britain's Orders in Council (1807), and the second attempt at building a fort to protect the town and port at Beaufort, North Carolina began as a part of the United States Government's program to build a national defense chain of coastal fortifications.

At the rear of this fort at the two prongs of the horseshoe were located, the walls were eighteen inches thick at the top and were loopholed for riflemen to fire their rifles through.

However, North Carolina Governor William Hawkins ordered four local militia companies to occupy the fort and the surrounding harbor area in anticipation of an English attack.

In July 1813 the British assaulted Ocracoke Inlet at which time North Carolina Militia was re-instated to protect Beaufort and the interests of the state.

During a survey in February, 1826, the high tide mark lay over 200 feet to the rear of the spot where Fort Hampton stood.

In the 1840s, a system of erosion control was initially engineered by Robert E. Lee, who later became general of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia.

North Carolina Confederate forces occupied the fort for a year, preparing it for battle and arming it with 54 heavy cannons.

Parke's men captured Morehead City and Beaufort without resistance, then landed on Bogue Banks during March and April to fight to gain Fort Macon.

There was such extensive damage that Col. White was forced to surrender the following morning, April 26, with the fort's Confederate garrison being paroled as prisoners of war.

The Union held Fort Macon for the remainder of the war, while Beaufort Harbor served as an important coaling and repair station for its navy.

At the outbreak of World War II, the US Army leased the park from the state and actively manned the old fort with Coast Artillery troops to protect a number of important nearby facilities.

The powder-filled balls exploded, killing two men and injuring others- thus firing the "last shot of the Civil War".