North Carolina’s Crystal Coast

Route description

New Bern, the colonial capital where Pepsi was invented, is a pleasant start with Tryon Palace and a walkable waterfront. Take US-70 southeast through pine forest and past Morehead City to Beaufort, a seaport of 18th-century houses with a maritime museum and wild horses grazing on the islands across the channel.

Continue to Harkers Island, home of decoy carvers and boatbuilders. From here, or from Beaufort, passenger ferries cross to Cape Lookout National Seashore, where you can climb the diamond-patterned lighthouse in season and walk empty beaches; no cars go to the island, so plan for a half-day trip.

Back on the mainland, cross to Bogue Banks at Atlantic Beach and visit Fort Macon, a brick fort guarding Beaufort Inlet. State Road 58 then runs the length of the island through Pine Knoll Shores to the quieter beaches of Emerald Isle.

End in Swansboro, a small fishing town on the White Oak River; Hammocks Beach State Park just outside it runs ferries to undeveloped Bear Island. Late spring and early fall are the best times, warm without the summer rental crowds.