Outer Banks National Scenic Byway
The 21 maritime communities on the Outer Banks National Scenic Byway evolved in response to barrier islands, capes and shallow sound waters. That village culture is intimately linked to striking natural features and nationally significant historic places along the Byway corridor.
The Byway offers grand scenic views of barrier islands bracketed by the Atlantic Ocean and an estuarine system of shallow, fertile sounds. On half of the Byway’s 137.8 land miles, visitors see the corridor’s wild side of dunes, marsh and water in the Cape Hatteras and Cape Lookout National Seashores and two national wildlife refuges, Pea Island and Cedar Island. These national seashores and refuges mark the Byway’s natural beaches, tidal flats, maritime forests, and abundant marine, avian and terrestrial wildlife.
Outer Banks living demands vital knowledge of wildlife, waters and weather. That knowledge is expressed in rich traditions, building and settlement patterns, occupations, tales, recipes, community events, and place names.
Fishing and hunting as livelihoods are keys to this culture that clings to the coastal edge. Working watermen ply the region’s waters from backyard docks, marinas and public harbors. Pound net stakes are everywhere in the sounds. Waterfowl hunters scan the sky from blinds in marshes and on far-from-land shallow waters and reefs of the sounds.
On the Byway’s Hatteras and Ocracoke islands, a “beach vacation” landscape with outstanding recreation includes eight villages surrounded by national seashore. Historic settlement patterns are visible in ancient live oaks, harbors, old houses, family cemeteries, churches, family stores, fish houses, and 19th-century life-saving stations.
The Byway’s Down East showcases Outer Banks maritime culture with little impact from current-day tourism. A heritage center reinforces an experience of place with stories, objects and exhibits. The pronounced flare to the bow of a Harkers Island fishing vessel is a centuries-old boatbuilding tradition unique to regional waters.
By virtue of geographic location, Byway villages are tied to significant national history. A collection of the nation’s earliest civil works includes four historic lighthouses and eight early U.S. Life-Saving Service or U.S. Coast Guard stations.
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Bodie Island Lighthouse
Last Modified: Apr 25, 2013
The 156-foot Bodie Island Light Station is one of three lighthouses located in Cape Hatteras National Seashore. The tower of Bodie Island Lighthouse is currently undergoing a major...
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Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge
Last Modified: Apr 25, 2013
Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge: Sweeping Natural Terrain An outstanding early refuge (1937), Pea Island is National Register-eligible. Established for migrating birds, the re...
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Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station: Heritage Alive
Last Modified: Apr 25, 2013
At Rodanthe, one of 21 coastal Byway villages, Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station’s compound connects visitors to a National Register-eligible historic district of five houses and o...
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Cape Hatteras Lighthouse: A National Treasure
Last Modified: Apr 25, 2013
The 198-foot Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, a National Historic Landmark, is the nation’s tallest brick light. The famed lighthouse is the one of two Byway lighthouses regularly open fo...
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Hatteras: Barrier Island Village Proud of Heritage
Last Modified: Apr 25, 2013
This fishing village was settled in the 1780s. In 1866 the Burrus family built its first grocery. The family still runs the Red & White store at the village center. The 1902 U.S. W...
Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum
Last Modified: Apr 25, 2013
The quest for a world-class shipwreck museum started in 1985, when audacious Hatteras villagers decided to compete for U.S.S. Monitor artifacts. While those artifacts went to Virgi...
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Hatteras Inlet: Fishing
Last Modified: Apr 25, 2013
The parade of deep-sea charter fishing boats and working watermen vessels through Hatteras Inlet and into the village harbor is a special sight. In 1846, a gale opened Hatteras Inl...
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North Carolina Ferries: A Maritime Culture Continues
Last Modified: Apr 25, 2013
Water travel was and is critical along the Byway. Today, state-owned ferries connect Byway islands to each other and the mainland. Weather dominates Byway life and disrupts ferry s...
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Ocracoke Island Natural: Ocracoke Ponies
Last Modified: Apr 25, 2013
The Ocracoke “Banker” ponies have played a major role in the history of Ocracoke Island. Legends say that the “Banker” ponies were left by shipwrecked explorers in the 16th or 17t...
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Ocracoke Island Natural: Springer's Point
Last Modified: Apr 25, 2013
The 12-mile drive from the ferry landing to the village is a beautiful, natural stretch of the Byway through the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Seven creeks open Pamlico Sound vi...
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Ocracoke Village Cultural Treasure: Working Watermen
Last Modified: Apr 25, 2013
The Ocracoke Seafood, cooperatively owned by the Ocracoke Working Watermen’s Association, provides a market outlet for over 30 Ocracoke commercial fishermen. When the last fish hou...
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Ocracoke Village: Ocracoke Preservation Society Museum
Last Modified: Apr 25, 2013
The Ocracoke Preservation Society Museum is located in the David Williams House, built around 1900. The museum displays artifacts retrieved from Fort Ocracoke, historic photographs...
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Ocracoke Village: Ocracoke Lighthouse
Last Modified: Apr 25, 2013
Ocracoke village hugs Silver Lake Harbor. The harbor provides focus to village activity as NCDOT ferries, sailboats, and commercial fishing vessels come and go. Close to 250 histor...
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Ocracoke Village: British Cemetery
Last Modified: Apr 25, 2013
In 1942, German U-Boats hunted along the world’s busiest sea lane passing by Cape Hatteras. The campaign sunk nearly 400 largely unescorted merchant vessels and stopped delivery of...
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Ocracoke Island Connected: Inlet. Ferry
Last Modified: Apr 25, 2013
Ocracoke Inlet, once the primary shipping channel for North Carolina, is a maritime haven. The deep inlet and safe harbor of the island provided pirates a resting spot. The village...
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Cedar Island National Wildlife Refuge
Last Modified: Apr 25, 2013
This national wildlife refuge is noteworthy for its beauty and grandeur. The Monroe Gaskill Bridge rises high above the marsh, affording a view of low-lying Core Banks, which paral...
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Cedar Island: Waterman's Paradise
Last Modified: Apr 25, 2013
Cedar Island today remains a hunting and fishing community with working harbors and fish houses operating throughout the year. Hunters move in for the winter season to take advanta...
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Harkers Island: Distinctive Traditions
Last Modified: Apr 25, 2013
Isolated until 1941 when a bridge was built, Harkers Island has preserved many characteristics unique to Down East’s cultural landscape. Large and high, Harkers Island added famili...
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Core Sound Waterfowl Museum & Heritage Center
Last Modified: Apr 25, 2013
Founded by the Core Sound Decoy Carvers Guild, today the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum & Heritage Center celebrates decoy carvers, boat builders, model boat makers and rich community...
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Cape Lookout National Seashore
Last Modified: Apr 25, 2013
In the Cape Lookout National Seashore, barrier islands from Ocracoke to Beaufort stretch 56 roadless miles. The seashore is an International Biosphere Reserve. Core Banks, with its...