Parks around Nags Head

The sound of ocean waves, the starry night sky, or the calm of the salt marshes, you can experience it all. Shaped by the forces of water, wind, and storms these islands are ever changing. The plants, wildlife, and people who live here adapt continually. Whether you are walking on the beach, kayaking on the sound, or climbing the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse there is something for everyone to explore!

Fort Raleigh National Historic Site protects and preserves known portions of England's first New World settlements from 1584 to 1590. This site also preserves the cultural heritage of the Native Americans, European Americans and African Americans who have lived on Roanoke Island.

Wind, sand, and a dream of flight brought Wilbur and Orville Wright to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina where, after four years of scientific experimentation, they achieved the first successful airplane flights on December 17, 1903. With courage and perseverance, these self-taught engineers relied on teamwork and application of the scientific process. What they achieved changed our world forever.

Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1937 "as a refuge and breeding ground for migratory birds and other wildlife", including the greater snow goose and other migratory waterfowl. The Refuge lies on the north end of Hatteras Island, a coastal barrier island which is part of a chain of islands known as the Outer Banks. These islands are separated from the mainland by a series of...

Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge was established on March 14, 1984. It contains 152,195 acres which lie on the mainland portions of Dare and Hyde Counties, North Carolina. The Refuge is roughly 28 miles from north to south and 15 miles from east to west. It is bordered on the west by the Alligator River and the Intracoastal Waterway; on the north by Albemarle Sound; on the east by Cro...

Currituck NWR, located on the northern end of North Carolina's Outer Banks, was established in 1984 to preserve and protect the coastal barrier island ecosystem. Refuge lands are managed to provide wintering habitat for waterfowl and to protect endangered species such as piping plover, sea turtles, and sea beach amaranth. Habitat types common to most barrier islands are found on the refuge. ...

Located in eastern North Carolina in Hyde County, the Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge consists of more than 50,000 acres of water, marsh, timber and crop lands. The refuge's most significant feature is Lake Mattamuskeet, the largest natural lake in North Carolina. The lake is 16 miles long, five to six miles wide, encompassing approximately 40,000 acres, but averages two feet in depth. Ma...

Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge Pocosin Lakes NWR was established in 1990 when the Conservation Fund in conjunction with the Richard King Mellon Foundation donated over 93,000 acres to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The adjacent 12,000 acre Pungo NWR, established in 1963 to serve as a sanctuary for migratory waterfowl, was combined with these new refuge lands and became the Pungo Unit ...

Mackay Island National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1960 to provide habitat for migratory waterfowl, primarily the greater snow goose. Located between Back Bay in Virginia and the Currituck Sound in NC, the refuge is comprised primarly of marsh habitat. This area has long been recognized for supporting significant migratory waterfowl populations and sport fishery resources. The refuge is...

The Great Dismal Swamp NWR is located in southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina. It includes over 111,000-acres of forested wetlands, with Lake Drummond, a 3,100-acre lake, at its heart. The Great Dismal Swamp has long been considered a place of natural beauty, mystery, and legend. The swamp is an integral part of the cultural history of the region and remains a place of refuge f...

Swanquarter National Wildlife Refuge, located on Pamlico Sound in Hyde County, North Carolina, was established on June 23, 1932. Approximately 8,800 acres are included in the National Wilderness Preservation System. The refuge is made up of saltmarsh islands and forested wetland interspersed with potholes, creeks, and drains. Marsh vegetation is dominated by black needlerush and sawgrass whil...

The Swanquarter Wilderness now contains a total of 8,785 acres and is managed by the Fish & Wildlife Service. All of the Wilderness is in the state of North Carolina. In 1976 the Swanquarter Wilderness became part of the now over 110 million acre National Wilderness Preservation System. In wilderness, you can enjoy challenging recreational activities and extraordinary opportunities for solitude. I...

Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge is located in Virginia and was established in 1938 to provide habitat for migrating and wintering waterfowl. The refuge contains more than 9,100 acres, situated around Back Bay, in the southeastern corner of the City of Virginia Beach. Because of its unique geographic location along the Atlantic Coast that provides overlapping ranges for both northern and southe...

The Dismal Swamp Canal and the Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal form alternate routes along the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (AIWW) between the Chesapeake Bay and Albemarle Sound. The AIWW provides pleasure boaters and commercial shippers with a protected inland channel between Norfolk, Virginia and Miami, Florida. The history of these two canals, which contain the only locks along the AIWW, pai...

Celebrate life on the Chesapeake Bay. Observe watermen bringing their bounty to shore, visit historic towns, and travel through scenic stretches of productive farmland. See the truly special landscape of the Mid-Atlantic Region and gain an appreciation for the working life of Maryland's Eastern Shore farmers, watermen, and merchants.

Cedar Island National Wildlife Refuge, located in Carteret County, North Carolina is on the end of a peninsula marking the southern end of Pamlico Sound. The refuge lies five miles east of the Atlantic ocean and about 40 miles northeast of Beaufort, North Carolina. Established in 1964, the refuge consists of approximately 11,000 acres of irregularly-flooded, brackish marsh and 3,480 acres of pocos...

The Virginia Barrier Island chain, including Fisherman Island National Wildlife Refuge, is one of only 17 sites in the United States classified as a "A Wetland of International Importance." The refuge is the southern most barrier island, separated from the Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge by approximately one-half mile. Sand continues to expand the island's size, which is current...

Roanoke River NWR was established in 1989 to protect and enhance wooded wetlands consisting of bottomland hardwoods and swamps with high waterfowl value along the Roanoke River. The extensive bottomland hardwood habitat of the Roanoke River NWR is part of what the Nature Conservancy calls "one of the last great places." Refuge lands consist of bottomland hardwood forest interspersed with cypre...

Fort Monroe National Monument spans the American story through the 21st century: American Indian presence, Captain John Smith's journeys, a safe haven for freedom seekers during the Civil War, and a bastion of defense for the Chesapeake Bay. A public planning process will determine future public services and programming at this new national park with a centuries-old tradition.

Lying at the tip of the Delmarva Peninsula, the Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge serves as one of the country's most valuable stopovers for migratory birds. Nestled between the Atlantic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay, this 1,127-acre refuge was established in 1984 for migratory birds and endangered species management and for wildlife-dependent recreation including interpretation and e...

Monitor National Marine Sanctuary was designated the nation's first national marine sanctuary on January 30, 1975. The site was the wreck of the USS Monitor, a Civil War vessel that lies off the coast of North Carolina. The Monitor was the prototype for a class of U.S. Civil War ironclad, turreted warships that significantly altered both naval technology and marine architecture in the nineteenth c...

Plum Tree Island National Wildlife Refuge is one of four refuges that comprise the Eastern Virginia Rivers National Wildlife Refuge Complex. The Refuge is situated on the southwestern corner of the Chesapeake Bay in the City of Poquoson and is strategically located almost midpoint on the Atlantic Flyway. It consists of 3,501 acres of saltmarsh, shrub-scrub and wooded habitats that provide a haven ...

A boat ride three miles off-shore brings you to the barrier islands of Cape Lookout National Seashore. Horse watching, shelling, fishing, birding, camping, lighthouse climbing, and touring historic villages--there's something for everyone at Cape Lookout. Be sure to bring all the food, water, and supplies you need (and carry your trash out of the park) when visiting these remote beaches.

The North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve was established to preserve the fragile natural areas that make up the third largest estuarine system in the country and the variety of life found there. Ninety percent of the commercial seafood species caught in the state spend at least part of their lives in an estuary. The state is representative of two major biogeographic regions located n...

The Sheep Ridge Wilderness now contains a total of 9,297 acres and is managed by the Forest Service. All of the Wilderness is in the state of North Carolina. In 1984 the Sheep Ridge Wilderness became part of the now over 109 million acre National Wilderness Preservation System. In wilderness, you can enjoy challenging recreational activities and extraordinary opportunities for solitude. In an age ...