Moving the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

It doesn't take long to realize that the Outer Banks's barrier island system-- a narrow stretch of sand-- contains vast variety in topography. Geologists refer to the Outer Banks and similar land forms as "barrier islands" because they block the high-energy ocean waves and storm surges, protecting the coastal mainland. Winds, weather, and waves create the personality of the slender strips of sand. Inlets from the sounds to the sea are ever shifting, opening new channels to the ocean one century or decade, and closing off primary passageways the next.

Sand forms a partnership with the sea to create a wonderland that sweeps from Carova down through the Cape Hatteras National Seashore onto Ocracoke Island. At Jockey's Ridge State Park in Nags Head, huge migrating dunes heralded as the largest sand hills on the East Coast create one of the most popular attractions on the Outer Banks (see our Attractions chapter). It is an amazing sight to see the sand moving ribbonlike as the wind whips across the dunes. Human forms dot the landscape, insignificant against the towering backdrop as they climb the dunes to fly kites, hang glide, or simply view the sound and ocean.

At sunset, the visual drama intensifies. The forms coming and going become stark silhouettes. Come nightfall, the dunes are silent, but wildlife exists. Foxes roam the area, as do deer and opossum, and vegetation thrives in the sand. Wild grapes and bayberry, along with black cherry and Virginia Creeper, live along the park trail.

Sand is a challenge and a blessing. It thwarts seaside gardeners who replace their sandy land with mainland soil to grow vegetables. Outer Bankers have a long-standing love/hate relationship with the gritty stuff: We play in it, pour it out of our shoes daily, and constantly suck it into vacuums, but we know that this movable earth has played a vital role in the formation of our natural habitat.

The next time you stroll along the shore, notice vegetation such as sea oats and spartina climbing the sloping dunes. Windblown sand collects behind these pioneer plants, which often grow in otherwise barren soil. With the right combination of currents and breezes, a dune can grow large enough to protect areas that lie behind them, forming tall barriers against the salty sea spray, hence allowing the birth of maritime forests. Our habitat has generated several such phenomena that interest the naturalist and lay person alike.

Nags Head Woods

Lo and behold! A maritime forest that seemingly defies nature flourishes on the Outer Banks. Normally, vegetation that is constantly battered by salt and wind is stunted and minimal. In the Nags Head Woods preserve, 1,400 acres of maritime forest contain a diversity of flora and fauna that's very unusual in a harsh barrier island climate. This forest has been able to thrive due to a ridge of ancient sand dunes, some 90 feet high, that has shielded the land from the effects of the sea. The woods also owe their diversity to the freshwater supplied by the high dunes that absorb and slowly release rainwater into the underlying aquifer, swamps, and dozens of year-round and seasonal ponds.

Botanists have identified more than 300 plant species in the forest with a mixture of northern and southern varieties. This combination is rare, existing in only four places in the world. In fact, Nags Head Woods is classified as globally rare. The oldest tree in the woods is thought to be a 500-year-old live oak, but woody plants have been growing in this area for thousands of years. Plant lovers appreciate the woods throughout the year. The forest is lush with ferns, pines, oaks, red bay, blueberry, grasses, bamboo, sassafras, gums, and hundreds more species. Several species rare to North Carolina thrive in the forest, including the wooly beach heather, water violet, southern twayblade, and mosquito fern.

Arguably, the most diverse population of reptiles and amphibians on the Outer Banks has found a permanent home in Nags Head Woods. These include five species of salamanders, 14 species of frogs and toads, more than 20 species of snakes, and multiple species of lizards and turtles. This unusual forest provides nesting spots for more than 50 species of birds and is home to a wide variety of mammals, including raccoons, river otters, gray fox, white-tailed deer, and opossum.

Insiders like to visit the forest in the fall and spring. Cooler weather and fewer mosquitoes make the trek more appealing, and there are plenty of visiting birds and waterfowl. The great blue heron and green heron are common to the woods. Several species of songbirds may serenade you as you walk: Carolina chickadees, great crested flycatchers, many thrushes, and numerous warblers.

Over 5 miles of trails are available to hikers. Center Trail is a quarter-mile long and features scenic pond overlooks. The Sweetgrass Swamp Trail takes hikers through rolling hills of forests, dunes, and ponds. The Blueberry Ridge Trail connects to the Sweetgum Swamp Trail for a total length of 3.5 miles. To head toward the sound, take the Roanoke Trail past the farm site and cemetery of the Tillett clan--allow about an hour for the 1.5-mile round-trip. And the Discovery Trail provides a quick quarter-mile view of the ponds, swamps, and dune ridges found on the longer trails.

Dogs on leashes, four-wheel-drive vehicles, and bikes are allowed on the road that runs through Nags Head Woods, but they are not allowed in other parts of the preserve. Visitation hours are 10:00 A.M.to 3:00 P.M. Monday through Friday during the off-season and Monday through Saturday during the summer. Members of the Nature Conservancy may tour the preserve during any daylight hours. These limitations help preserve the natural habitats of this rare ecosystem. There is no fee to enter, but a donation is requested.

The Nags Head Woods Preserve (252-441-2525) is overseen by The Nature Conservancy, an international nonprofit conservation organization. If you wish to contribute to The Nature Conservancy, you can send a donation to 701 West Ocean Acres Drive, Kill Devil Hills, NC 27948 or call (252) 441-2525 for membership information.

Buxton Woods

Buxton Woods on Hatteras Island is the largest maritime forest in North Carolina. The 3,000-acre forest measures 3 miles wide and 50 feet high at the tallest ridge. This landmass has the capacity to act as a storage area for freshwater. Only 900 acres are owned by the National Park Service. The state of North Carolina bought an additional 800 acres to protect as the North Carolina Coastal Reserve. The county also designates Buxton Woods as a special environmental district.

Buxton Woods is a much simpler ecosystem than Nags Head Woods because it sticks out 30 miles farther into the ocean and doesn't have the protection that the Nags Head forest has; however, compared with surrounding land at the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Buxton Woods holds incredible diversity. A bird'seye view shows an overall ridge and lowlands throughout the area.

The woods lie at the meeting place for several northern and southern species and have a viable population of dwarf palmetto and laurel cherry. A mix of wetlands and forests combines both northern deciduous maritime forests and southern evergreen maritime forests. Nowhere else on Hatteras Island is the mammal population so diverse as in Buxton Woods. The woods are home to white-tailed deer, gray squirrels, eastern cottontail rabbits, raccoons, and opossum. In the woods is Jennette's Sedge, one of the largest, most highly developed and diverse freshwater marsh systems found on a barrier island in North Carolina. See our Attractions chapter for more information on Buxton Woods.

Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge

On the mainland to the west of Roanoke Island is the Alligator National Wildlife Refuge, covering parts of Dare, Hyde, and Tyrrell Counties. The refuge encompasses 150,000 acres of wetlands, wooded fields, and pocosin habitat. Pocosin is the Native American word for "swamp on a hill." These swamps are characterized by high organic content soils with deep peat deposits that hold vast quantities of water. In dry weather, pocosins are highly susceptible to wildfire.

The refuge is home to black bears, white-tailed deer, gray fox, bobcats, raccoons, mink, beaver, squirrels, opossum, river otter, nutria, alligators, and its most-talked-about residents-- red wolves.

Red wolves are a critically endangered species because of hybridization and public fear of large carnivores in most habitats. In the early 1970s the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared the species extinct in the wild because they had been eradicated in nearly every segment of their southeastern United States range. Fish and Wildlife captured the remaining red wolves and bred them until a location was found to bring them back into the wild. The location they found was Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, chosen because it is within the red wolf's historical range, the human population is of moderate size and density, prey species are abundant, the area is surrounded by water on three sides (which, it was hoped, would restrict some movement by the wolves). The area had very few coyotes, which would lessen the chance that the wolves would hybridize.

In 1986 a five-year experiment to rebuild a self-sustaining red wolf population in the wild began. During this experiment, red wolves proved that they could adapt to life in the wild, find food, and avoid people. Today, close to 100 red wolves roam free in the five-county area of northeastern North Carolina. There are also free-ranging wolves on three islands off the coasts of South Carolina and Florida. The refuge staff offers a unique program called a "Wolf Howling" during which you can go into the refuge at night with a ranger and listen to the wolves howl. See our Kidstuff chapter or call (252) 473-1131 for information.

Mackay Island National Wildlife Refuge

On Knotts Island in both North Carolina and Virginia, Mackay Island contains 8,646 acres of important wildlife habitat and wintering grounds for waterfowl. Mackay Island offers both walking and driving trails that provide wildlife observation opportunities. Hunting and fishing are allowed at Mackay Island Refuge. To get there, take the free, short ferry ride from the Currituck mainland to Knotts Island and follow the signs. You'll see signs for the ferry as you drive on U.S. Highway 158.

Currituck National Wildlife Refuge

Just north of Corolla on the Currituck Outer Banks, this refuge was established in 1984. It consists of 3,213 acres managed by the Mackay Island staff. The refuge lacks public facilities, but is open to the public during daylight hours. Visitors mostly look for wildlife and take photographs. The wild horses that used to roam in Corolla now roam here, along with deer, wild boar, and a variety of wildlife.

Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary at Pine Island

Audubon is a 5,000-acre wildlife sanctuary at Pine Island and a protected habitat for deer, birds, rabbits, and a huge variety of plant life. There is an unmarked 2-mile trail you can walk, but the sanctuary is not really a park for people. The land is primarily soundside marshland with pine trees and waterfowl. The sanctuary runs 3 miles long north to south and is approximately 200 yards wide from east to west.

Cape Hatteras National Seashore

The Outer Banks should get a medal for firsts. Not only do we claim First Flight and the first English pioneers to colonize in the New World, but Cape Hatteras was the first seashore in the United States to become a national seashore (in 1953). The park covers 85 percent of Hatteras Island, which stretches south of the Bonner Bridge for 33 miles to Hatteras Inlet.

The beaches are clean and uncrowded. Subtle beauty abounds in the park. The swaying sea grasses, shifting sands, and tenacious vegetation appear monochromatic at first glance. A closer study reveals pleasant surprises. Lush purple flowers and delicate white-petaled flowers with scarlet centers grow entwined in the roadside brambles. In the marshes, sea lavender, morning glories, and marsh aster add color. In the early morning or late afternoon, you can usually see dozens of brown marsh rabbits nibbling grasses. All along the seashore, ghost crabs burrow in the sand and scurry about by day and night--a pure delight for children. One of the more spectacular sights is the occasional glow of phosphorous visible in the waves breaking on shore during a dark night. Sometimes the crabs glow eerily.

The park offers visitors a respite from the busyness of a resort community. It's a peaceful ride down North Carolina Highway 12 and always a welcome one except when the ocean washes away the dune and claims the road. There are several attractions within the park borders that appeal to the nature lover, including the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, with more than 5,000 acres of wildlife habitat. The refuge is both a year-round and seasonal home for nearly 400 species, including the snow goose, Canada goose, and whistling swan. During the fall you can watch large flocks of snow geese ascend from their watery resting places. This section of the park may be one of the most poetic spots on the Outer Banks. The waterfowl are just far enough away to appear untouched by the human element. You can get up-close views through binoculars and a camera's lens. Photographers also enjoy this stretch for the interesting tree lines and sunsets on the salt marsh. Plan to stop and bird-watch at the platform just off the road.

The North Pond Trail, on Pea Island, is another bird-watcher's destination. The Ocracoke pony pens and Hammock Hills Nature Trail across from the Ocracoke Campground are two more hot spots in the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. See our Hatteras Island section in the Attractions chapter for more information on these sites; our Waves and Weather chapter for lifeguard information within park boundaries; and our Getting Here, Getting Around chapter for more about off-road driving.

In Buxton, at a jutting tip of Cape Hatteras, is an area of beach accessible only by four-wheel-drive vehicles. Locals call this "The Point," and it serves as a well-used haven for surfcasters. The sea is powerful at this spot, marked by strong currents, deep holes, shoals, and opposing waves crashing into each other. Wildlife writers and anglers alike call it heaven. The bottom topography--created by strong shoaling and The Point's proximity to the Gulf Stream and its spinoff eddies--justifies calling this wet and sandy area a real Outer Banks natural wonder. (See our Fishing chapter for more about The Point.)

Whale watching is an exciting activity for park visitors, though sightings are not restricted to the park boundaries. There are more species of whales passing by the coast of North Carolina than anywhere in eastern North America. Mostly groups of small-to medium-toothed whales make passage both far offshore and in sight of the beach. Deeper offshore is the migration path for killer and blue whales.

The three largest species are the sperm whale, humpback, and fin whale. Sperm whales make their way past our coast in the springtime. In the winter you can see both humpback and fin whales. Humpbacks are particularly visible from shore. They can be seen breaching and lunge feeding. In the latter action, the whale blows a bubble net to corral fish, then leaps through it open-mouthed to gulp in everything.

Pilot whales can be seen offshore year-round. Even the most endangered species, the Northern right whale, was identified while scratching its head on an Outer Banks sandbar. We've also had rare washups of the dense beaked whale. Offshore sightings have been made of the Cuvier's beaked whale, and the first live sighting of the True's beaked whale was 33 nautical miles southeast of Hatteras Inlet.

Visitors to the park delight in filling all available pockets and pails with shells. Hatteras Island is one of the farthest points out on the Eastern Seaboard. Its steep beaches cause high-energy wave action, so unbroken shells rarely make it to the shore. But the sea tosses up lovely blue mussels, quahog, jackknife clams, slipper shells, baby's ears, jingle shells, and oysters. A good time to search for shells is at changing tides, after high tide, or following a storm. If you are seeking whole shells, continue south to Ocracoke Island, where the beaches have gentle slopes.