Outer Banks

Route description

From Norfolk, a major naval port on the Chesapeake Bay, head south on VA-168 and US-158 to cross Currituck Sound onto the Outer Banks. The road reaches Kitty Hawk, the start of a chain of narrow barrier islands between the ocean and the sounds. Jockey’s Ridge State Park nearby has huge sand dunes you can climb.

At Kill Devil Hills, the Wright Brothers National Memorial marks the spot where the first powered flight took off in 1903, with markers for each attempt and a granite monument on the hill above. South of Nags Head, NC-12 enters Cape Hatteras National Seashore, passing Bodie Island Lighthouse and crossing Oregon Inlet on a long bridge. The road then runs through the Pea Island refuge between dunes and marshes.

At Buxton, Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, the tallest brick lighthouse in the country, stands where it was moved inland in 1999. From Hatteras village, the free state ferry crosses to Ocracoke, a village of small cottages and a white lighthouse on an island reached only by boat. Ferries from Ocracoke to the mainland at Swan Quarter and Cedar Island require reservations.

NC-12 can be closed by overwash and sand during storms, so check road conditions before you set out. Summer ferry lines can be long, so leave early in the morning. Spring and fall are quieter, and hurricane season runs from June to November.