Outer Banks Named by National Geographic as ‘Drives of a Lifetime’ Destinations
There is an excellent article in National Geographic naming the Outer Banks as one of the ‘Drives of a Lifetime.’ As anyone who has made the drive from Corolla to Ocracoke can attest the Outer Banks is quite the picturesque driving trip. The author John Briley names some of the best known top spots to stop along your drive. He also gives a great recommendation that the best time to do it is often in the Fall. Nothing beats a good fall driving trip along Route – 12. By September the humidity is usually gone and it is possible to cruise with the windows down enjoying the warm salt air that permeates the Outer Banks.
Stand on the metal walkway that encircles the lantern room of the Cape Hatteras Light, some 165 feet above ground, and you’ll sense that this towering sentry, which has been saving lives since 1870, is still vital to today’s passing mariners. Looking east, you watch the relentless swells of the Atlantic Ocean paw away at the beach, continuously redrawing the contours of this coast. Panning south, you see Cape Hatteras National Seashore sweeping out toward Cape Hatteras Point, which knifes into the ocean like a giant arrowhead. Even on a calm day you can make out the froth of the treacherous waters just beyond Diamond Shoals, where the northern Labrador Current clashes theatrically with the Gulf Stream.
This lighthouse is among four that dot the main stretch of North Carolina’s Outer Banks. All were built during the 1800s and still cast their beacons today—guiding white-knuckled seafarers through famously ornery waters. Over the centuries, some 1,500 ships have perished here, earning the Outer Banks the moniker Graveyard of the Atlantic.
Nature still rules this tendril of barrier islands, despite the creep of development in some Outer Banks towns. Marsh grasses bend to light breezes in Pea Island Wildlife Refuge; just up the road, long-billed herons, ibises, oystercatchers, and plovers feed in the tea-colored waters of Pamlico Sound; and out in the Atlantic, surfers and sea kayakers frolic in the breakers.
Overview
This 114-mile drive cruises from Corolla to Ocracoke Village. Start at the northern end of Highway 12, literally where the pavement turns to sand at the Currituck Banks Estuarine Reserve. Follow it to Route 158, which is the bypass road for Highway 12 and travels through Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills and Nags Head. Rejoin Highway 12 at Whalebone Junction (the entrance to Cape Hatteras National Seashore), and stay on it all the way to Ocracoke Village, including the car ferry from Hatteras Village to Ocracoke Island. The route, mostly two-lane, runs straight and flat, linking communities of weathered beach houses, offering ocean views amid the dunes, and serving up extended vistas of the sound.
Start at Currituck Beach Lighthouse, Corolla
The Currituck Beach Lighthouse (1101 Corolla Village Rd., Corolla; +1 252 453 4939; www.currituckbeachlight.com) is not the lonely northern outpost it once was: Beach houses have knuckled in around the 162-foot-high sentry. But the sense of history is still strong at the light itself and at the adjacent keeper’s house, which is now a museum shop. Climb the tower’s 214 steps to scan the Currituck Banks estuarine reserve for wild horses (you’ll need binoculars).
Wright Brothers National Memorial
Driving south, the first major stop is major indeed: the site where air travel was born. The Wright Brothers National Memorial (Hwy. 158, Kill Devil Hills; +1 252 441 7430; www.nps.gov/wrbr) encompasses more than 400 acres and marks the places where brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright made their first four powered flights. A full-size replica of their Flyer is on display in the visitors center. Another exhibit hall interprets the region’s history. Photos show Model Ts parked in sandy lots next to beachfront homes and women in dresses emptying fish nets. Also covered is aviation history, from gliders to the space shuttle.
