Lake Waccamaw State Park, State park in Columbus County, United States.

Lake Waccamaw State Park covers 2,398 acres along the shore of Lake Waccamaw, a Carolina bay in North Carolina's Coastal Plain near the town of Lake Waccamaw. The U.S. Geological Survey interprets the bay as a relict thermokarst lake formed thousands of years ago, when thawing permafrost and later wind and water shaped the shallow basin.

Lake Waccamaw is a Carolina bay, a shallow oval depression in the Coastal Plain. The U.S. Geological Survey interprets such bays as relict thermokarst lakes formed thousands of years ago when the climate was colder, drier and windier, suggesting permafrost once reached this far south. The state park, covering 2,398 acres along the shore, protects the lake and its setting.

The visitor center displays educational exhibits about local ecosystems and geological features that shape the park's environment. Programs held here help guests understand how the landscape formed and what lives in it.

The park covers 2,398 acres along the shore of Lake Waccamaw, a Carolina bay in North Carolina's Coastal Plain. The terrain around the lake is flat, with elevations near 13 metres, and the nearest town, Lake Waccamaw, lies about 7 km to the north. Trails and access points follow the shoreline.

The U.S. Geological Survey interprets Lake Waccamaw and other Carolina bays as relict thermokarst lakes, formed thousands of years ago when the climate was colder, drier and windier. That reading implies permafrost once reached as far south as the Carolina Bays during the last ice age or earlier ones.