The North Carolina Coast
We’ve compiled the best of the best in The North Carolina Coast - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
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1. Cape Lookout Lighthouse
This distinctive 1859 lighthouse's double walls allow the tower to rise as tall as required—169 feet—without making the building unstable. This lighthouse on Core Banks island withstood retreating Confederate troops' attempts to blow it up to keep it out of Union hands (they stole the lens instead). With its white-and-black diamond markings, the beacon continues to function as a navigational aid. A small museum inside the visitor center over on Harkers Island tells the story of the lighthouse from its first incarnation in 1812. Anyone 44 inches or taller may climb the tower's 207 steps from mid-May to mid-September. The climb is worth it for an incomparable view of Cape Lookout's wild shores. A private ferry, Island Express Ferry Service, runs between both Beaufort and Harkers Island to the lighthouse.
131 Charles St., Harkers Island, North Carolina, 28531, USA252-728–2250-Cape Lookout park service information lineSight Details
Rate Includes: Grounds free; lighthouse $8; round-trip for pedestrian ferry from Harkers Island $18, from Beaufort $40, Lighthouse closed mid-Sept.–late May; Harkers Island and Beaufort ferries closed Oct.–Feb. -
2. Portsmouth Village
Portsmouth IslandThis coastal "ghost town" is like nowhere else on the southeastern Atlantic coast, and the few thousand people that make it here each year are stunned to realize it exists.Inhabited from 1753 until the early 1970s, Portsmouth had 685 permanent residents at its peak in 1860, making it one of the largest settlements on the Outer Banks. It was a "lightering" town, where ships heavy with cargo had to unload to smaller boats that could navigate the shallow Ocracoke Inlet. But the Civil War and the dredging of a deeper inlet at Hatteras were the beginning of the end for the town. By 1956 there were 17 inhabitants; the last two left in 1971. Today the public can tour the one-room schoolhouse, the Methodist church, the post office and general store, and the turn-of-the-20th-century lifesaving station (a multiroom Coast Guard station), each of which has been restored following the devestating flooding of Hurricane Dorian in 2019. Guided tours are available June 1 to September 1. Bring your own food, water, and bug spray (the mosquitoes could carry you away). Rudy Austin's Portsmouth Island Boat Tours runs a small passenger boat from Ocracoke.
Cape Lookout National Seashore, North Carolina, 28531, USA252-728–2250-park information lineSight Details
Rate Includes: Passenger ferry $40 per person -
3. Cape Lookout Beach
BeachWhite sand beaches, blue-green waters, and a tall lighthouse mark this quiet beach at the southern tip of Cape Lookout National Seashore. A boat is the only way to get here. Passenger ferries leave from Harkers Island and Beaufort, while passenger and vehicle ferries leave from Davis and Atlantic. Land on the sound side, then walk across a path to the beach, where you'll be greeted by a long beach strand full of seashells, including large whelk shells. In-season, you can also climb the lighthouse tower or tour a museum in the keeper's quarters. Amenities: toilets. Best for: solitude; sunrise; sunset; swimming; walking.
Cape Lookout National Seashore, North Carolina, USASight Details
Rate Includes: Beach free; $16 round-trip pedestrian ferry from Harkers Island, $35 from Beaufort; vehicle ferry from Davis is $80 to $150 (pedestrian $16); vehicle ferry from Atlantic $75 to $95 (pedestrian $14), Ferry dates vary but are generally closed Oct. or Nov.–Feb. -
4. Shackleford Banks
Wild, wooded, and undeveloped, this 7½-mile-long barrier island, the southernmost part of Cape Lookout National Seashore, is made even more magical by myriad seashells along the shore and about 100 free-roaming horses. Folklore offers two reasons for the Banker ponies' presence. One tale claims they swam ashore from a long-ago Spanish shipwreck, but some locals say early settlers first put these horses to pasture on the island. The horses may look friendly, but it's best to view them from a distance. The island hosted various settlements in the 1800s, but storms drove residents inland. Today, gravestones here and there are the only remaining evidence of the people who lived here. Island access is by ferry only, from Beaufort and Harkers Island, and although primitive camping is allowed (at no fee), there are no amenities aside from composting toilets. Amenities: toilets. Best for: swimming; walking.
Cape Lookout National Seashore, North Carolina, USA252-728–7433-Island Express Ferry Service (private ferry)Sight Details
Rate Includes: Island beaches free, Harkers Island or Beaufort ferry $18, Ferry times vary, closed Oct.–Mar. -
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