Corolla

The northernmost town on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, Corolla, is home to Historic Corolla Park (aka Currituck Heritage Park) where museums and landmarks are all within walking distance of one another including the Corolla Beach Lighthouse, the Whalehead Club, the Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education and the Currituck Maritime Museum. From the time Europeans arrived, the area was a legendary center for hunting the thousands of migratory birds that stopped there in winter.

A saltwater pond and a boathouse are situated in the center of the park. Here people can launch their kayaks and explore the Currituck Sound and marshes. A boardwalk trail meanders through the marsh and shore of Currituck Sound. Corolla Wild Horse Fund Museum is a short walk from the park. Learn about the free ranging wild horses, directly descended from horses brought to the New World by Spanish explorers in the 16th century.

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Duck

Traveling south on Highway 12, stop at Duck Town Park with 11 acres of trails, green space and a mile-long boardwalk edging the Currituck Sound shore. Do some crabbing or launch your kayak. Rest rooms, a playground and picnic tables are close by. For a magical experience, go in the evening and watch the sunset from the boardwalk.

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Nags Head

Continuing south on US 158 is Jockey’s Ridge State Park. While the massive sand dunes (tallest on the Atlantic coast) of Jockey’s Ridge are well-known, not everyone knows that on the backside is a beach area on Roanoke Sound. This hidden gem is open to swimming,* sunbathing, hiking and paddling. The water is shallow, perfect for young children.

Adjacent to the beach parking area is the entrance to Soundside Nature Trail. The one-mile, self-guided hiking trail winds through wetlands, maritime forest and sand dunes. A variety of wildlife may be observed along the trail including deer, raccoons, red foxes, opossums and rabbits. Reptiles and birds also make their homes in the area. Take the high spur of the trail to climb expansive sand dunes.

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Kill Devil Hills

A 10-minute drive further south off Highway 158, brings you to visit the Nags Head Woods Preserve (701 W Ocean Acres Drive, Kill Devil Hills), the largest maritime forest on the East Coast. It is managed by the Nature Conservancy, a global nonprofit whose mission is “to preserve the lands and waters on which all life depends.”

The shaded hiking trails include wooded ridges, ponds, marshlands and wetlands. A half-mile wheelchair-accessible trail encircles a freshwater pond. Individuals and families looking for a cool retreat and quiet solitude — and a place to bring along your leashed dog — can enjoy nature and learn the history of the making of the Outer Banks.

You’ll also find the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills where you can take in the visitors center, the monument and look with awe upon the path where the first powered flight took to the skies.

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Rodanthe

South of Nags Head, take Highway 12 to Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge. This is a birder’s paradise. The refuge’s main draw is the migratory birds in winter months, but it is home to sea and shore birds year-round.

The North Pond Trail begins from the Visitor Center. The 0.6-mile (one way) trail follows the top of a dike between North Pond and New Field Ponds. A boardwalk crosses over Turtle Pond, which is home to a variety of turtle species. There are several observation decks along the trail with interpretive panels and permanently mounted binocular spotting scopes.

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Buxton

Continue your soundside adventures further south on Highway 12 to Hatteras Island. For overnight accommodation, stop at Frisco Woods Campground. They offer sites for RV camping, secluded campsites for tents or pop-ups and camping cabins with electricity and air conditioning.

Exhibits at the Frisco Native American and Natural History Museum include artifacts of native cultures from across the United States and a gallery dedicated to the Croatian people who once inhabited Hatteras Island.

Buxton Woods Reserve borders Frisco. Its 1,007 acres adjoin the largest maritime evergreen forest on the Atlantic coast. Maritime evergreen dune ridges with elevations up to 29 feet, shrub-swamp, ponds and wetlands make up the area.

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Hatteras

In Hatteras Village, you can rent a kayak or paddleboard from Slash Creek Outfitters and explore the Pamlico Sound. They offer guided tours on the sound for sunset or eco tours, and also provide self-guided maps and routes for those wanting to explore on their own.

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Manteo

If heading back north to return to the mainland via Highway 64, learn more about the history of the Outer Banks on Roanoke Island. Manteo has a host of historic and natural points of interest. Island Farm, a 10-acre living museum where visitors will experience farm life during the 1850s, is just north of the town of Manteo. Tour a furnished farmhouse and outbuildings and watch demonstrations of cooking, blacksmithing, woodworking, weaving, gardening, food preservation and more.

Roanoke Island Festival Park, across from the Manteo waterfront, carries its visitors back in time to when the first English explorers came to the island in 1585. Explore the Elizabeth II, a replica of the ship that carried the colonists to Roanoke Island. Tour an American Indian Town, an English Explorer’s camp, and visit the Roanoke Adventure Museum.

Finish your tour of Roanoke Island with a visit to Fort Raleigh Historic Site, where the first English colony was located until it mysteriously disappeared. Also tour the Elizabethan Gardens, and walk the Freedom Trail where slaves found their way to Roanoke Island to form the Freedmen’s Colony during the Civil War. During the summer season, don’t miss Paul Green’s outdoor play, “The Lost Colony,” at the Waterside Theater overlooking Roanoke Sound.

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Along with its natural and historic sites, the soundside of the Outer Banks offers restaurants, several with outdoor dining, perfect for watching the sunset, and plenty of shopping centers, including outlet stores and souvenir shops. Check with specific points of interest for seasonal closings and activities, and be sure to include the soundside in your visit to the Outer Banks.