Hatteras Island Attractions

Blue Marlin Display

• 57690 N.C. Highway 12, Hatteras Village Library and Community Center
• Hatteras Village

Hatteras Village is the offshore fishing capital of the Outer Banks. Big-game marlin fishing began here in the 1930s. To see a blue marlin (one that’s been mounted and preserved), go over to the Hatteras Village Library and Community Center. On the outside wall, encased in a glass box, is a world-record, 810-pound blue marlin that was caught on June 11, 1962, off Hatteras Island. The world record has since been broken, but this is still an impressive specimen.

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

• 46379 N.C. Highway 12 and Lighthouse Road
• Buxton

If any one thing represents all of Hatteras Island, it has to be the famous black-and-white, spiral-striped Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. The lighthouse has become the icon of the island, representing the hopeful, stalwart, survivalist attitude that is so pervasive among the people of Hatteras. This is one of the most famous lighthouses in the nation, especially since it survived a precarious move in 1999. Now in the hands of the National Park Service, the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is open to the public for visitation and climbing.

Visitors 42 inches and taller can climb the spiral staircase up to the top of the lighthouse for an unforgettable view of the Atlantic Ocean, Cape Hatteras and Buxton. For the 2009 season, the climb will cost $7 for adults and $3.50 for children younger than 12 and seniors age 62 and older. The lighthouse is open from the third Friday in April through Columbus Day. Lighthouse tours begin at 9 a.m. daily and run every 10 minutes with a limit of 30 visitors per tour. The last tickets of the day are sold at 5:40 p.m. between Memorial Day and Labor Day and 4:40 p.m. other times of the year. This is a very popular attraction and no advance tickets are sold, so the best thing to do is to get there early (before noon) and visit the ticket booth to buy a ticket, which will state the time of your tour. The ticket booth opens at 8:15 a.m. Be sure to be at the gate five minutes before your tour time. A museum about lighthouses and the history of the Outer Banks is located inside the historic Double Keepers’ Quarters Building just across the lawn from the lighthouse. Hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. in summer and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. the rest of the year.

Cape Hatteras National Seashore/Hatteras Island Visitor Center

• 46379 N.C. Highway 12 and Lighthouse Road, At the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse
• Buxton
• (252) 995-4474

The National Park Service’s Hatteras Island Visitor Center is located at the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse site. Maps, informational brochures and the park newspaper are available here, and staff can answer any questions you have about visiting Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Lots of parking and restrooms are on site. There’s also a bookstore with gifts. Inquire at the Visitor Center about the ranger-led history and nature programs that are held regularly from Memorial Day through Labor Day. The Visitor Center is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the summer months and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. the rest of the year.

Chicamacomico Life Saving Station

• 23645 N.C. Highway 12, MP 39.5
• Rodanthe
• (252) 987-1552

The Chicamacomico Life Saving Station is the nation’s most complete existing example of the life saving stations that were built along the coast in the late 19th century, the age of shipping, to attend to shipwrecks and rescue survivors. The 1874 station was the first operational life saving station built in North Carolina, serving until 1954. Chicamacomico has been partially restored, thanks to numerous volunteers who formed a nonprofit organization to save it, and it is now a fine museum and historic site; all structures are original buildings.

On a visit here you’ll see the 1874 Station, the 1911 Station, two cookhouses, water tanks and cistern, a stable, a tractor shed, the smaller boathouse (now the Visitors Center) and a village home built in 1907. In the museum, you’ll learn about the U.S. Life Saving Service and some of the rescues that occurred here. Artifacts, uniforms, rescue equipment, displays and video presentations abound, and self-guided tours help complete your knowledge of place and history. The gift shop is full of unique nautical items and works by local craftspeople plus books and old-fashioned toys.

June through August, try to catch any of the special programs offered Monday through Friday at 2 p.m. Mondays, hear about the movie Nights in Rodanthe, which was filmed on Hatteras Island. Tuesdays hear true shipwreck and rescue stories. Wednesdays hear native Hatteras Islander Carol Dillon speak about being the real-life inspiration for the book Taffy of Torpedo Junction. Thursdays is the popular historic Beach Apparatus Drill Re-enactment – the only Breeches Buoy demonstration in the country performed by active-duty U.S. Coast Guard personnel. Fridays hear author Scott Dawson’s ideas about what really happened to the Lost Colony. Programs are free with paid admission to the site.

The site is open from mid-April through Thanksgiving weekend, Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission fees are charged.

Frisco Native American Museum & Natural History Center

• 53536 N.C. Highway 12
• Frisco
• (252) 995-4440

The Native American history of Hatteras Island and the Native American culture of our nation are preserved at this must-see museum in Frisco. The founders of this museum, Joyce and Carl Bornfriend, have taken great care to preserve Native American heritage, and their collection of artifacts, exhibits and natural history displays is nationally recognized and respected. The galleries include information on Native Americans across the United States. Particularly interesting to Hatteras Island visitors are the artifacts from the Native Americans who once inhabited this island. A dugout canoe, which was found on the museum property, is displayed with tools, instruments and other items uncovered on the island in an archaeological dig conducted by East Carolina University; these items offer a glimpse into the island’s previous life.

The museum recently opened almost 1,000 square feet of new exhibits, including an art gallery and a new room overlooking a beautiful bird garden. The gift shop has a great variety of Native American-made items, including arts and crafts, walking sticks, dream-catchers, moccasins, jewelry, paintings, drums, pottery, handmade knives and much more. The facility also includes a book store and even an antiques gallery operated by Friends of the Museum. While you’re here, be sure to walk on the museum’s nature trails that wind through several acres of maritime forest. Museum hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Winter hours may vary; call for confirmation. Cost is $5 per person, $3 for seniors or $15 per family. Guided tours for groups are available. The museum sponsors a not-to-be-missed annual Inter-Tribal Powwow on Hatteras Island in April.

Gaskins Gallery

• 40462 North End Road
• Avon
• (252) 995-6617

It’s worth the trip onto the back roads of Avon to find this gallery. Turn west on Harbor Road (at the stoplight) then take a right on North End Road. The gallery is in a cedar-shake house a little ways down on the left. In two levels of galleries, you’ll find paintings and pottery by local artists, prints, photography, Annalee dolls, jewelry and other works of art. Gaskins Gallery specializes in framing.

Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum

• 59200 Museum Drive
• Hatteras Village
• (252) 986-2995, (252) 986-2996

At the end of N.C. Highway 12 next to the ferry terminal, the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum attracts a lot of attention in its unique, ship-like building with porthole windows and curved timbers. Now a regional history museum operated by the North Carolina Division of Cultural Resources, the museum has several exhibits plus a gift shop, lobby and community room. The museum focuses on the maritime history and shipwrecks of North Carolina’s Outer Banks, often called the Graveyard of the Atlantic. The exhibits emphasize the periods from 1524 to 1945, with shipwreck artifacts and memorabilia on display and changing exhibits telling the dramatic tales of shipwrecks and life saving along the Carolina coast.

All of the planned exhibits are not finished yet. For now, you can visit the museum for free and see the original 1854 lens to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, the enigma machine from the U-85, the bell from the Diamond Shoals Lightship (which was sunk by the Germans in WWII) and other exhibits on maritime history and shipwrecks. When you’re here, check out the historic markers in the parking lot, which tell interesting stories about the Civil War on the Outer Banks.

Hatteras-Ocracoke Ferry

• End of N.C. Highway 12
• Hatteras Village
• (252) 986-2353, (800) BY FERRY

For a free boat ride, drive onto the ferry at the south end of Hatteras Island. You’ll cross Hatteras Inlet and end up on the absolutely charming island of Ocracoke, where you’ll definitely want to spend a few hours or a whole day exploring the village shops, restaurants and historic sites (and pick up a copy of our sister paper, the Ocracoke Island tabloid). The ferry ride is about 45 minutes long. Once you get off the ferry onto Ocracoke Island, you’ll need transportation — your car or a bicycle — because it’s about 13 miles from the ferry dock to the village. The ferry is free and it runs every 30 minutes in the summer season. Call for off-season hours.

Indian Town Gallery and Gifts

• 50840 N.C. Highway 12
• Frisco
• (252) 995-5181

Indian Town Gallery is one of the Outer Banks’ best art galleries. Most the art is made by Outer Banks artists, the majority of them from the island. The gallery also sells handmade crafts from locals and select artists from around the country. One look in here and you’ll be convinced that the gift of creativity is abundant by the sea. This is the place to come for original works of art, some of them exclusive to this gallery, including paintings, pottery, jewelry, woodworks, photographs, blown glass, baskets and more. Most days you’ll find native painter Wayne Fulcher at work here. This gallery is also home to The Coffee Shop at Indian Town Gallery, offering expertly made coffee and espresso-based drinks, homemade scones and muffins and WiFi on your computer or theirs.

Karen Rhodes Billfish Art

• 56190 N.C. Highway 12, Stowe on Twelve
• Hatteras Village
• (252) 986-4096

Whimsical billfish — that’s about the best way to describe Karen Rhodes’ unique artwork, which celebrates the offshore fishing culture of Hatteras Village. Her designs are highly original and fun. Karen takes her signature billfish images and puts them on a variety of products such as tees, prints, tiles, cutting boards, Tervis tumblers, belts, flip-flops, baby rompers, pajamas, handbags, doggie items, note cards, you name it. There are other things here too, like Odor Eliminator Candles, bath salts and more. This really fun store is in the little stand-alone building at Stowe on 12.

Michael Halminski Photo Gallery

• 25197 Lillian Lane, off N.C. Highway 12
• Waves
• (252) 987-2401

Michael Halminski is one of the Outer Banks’ most talented photographers. His photographs of birds, wildlife, water, sky and local scenes perfectly capture the mood of Hatteras Island. Photographs and note cards are available for sale at his island studio. Call before stopping by.

Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge

• N.C. Highway 12
• Hatteras Island
• (252) 987-2394

The refuge’s Visitor Center, located on the northern end of Hatteras Island about 4 miles south of Oregon Inlet, is a good place to start a Pea Island visit. It gives an introduction to the ecosystem and wildlife of the refuge and the activities that are permissible there. You can also pick up informational brochures, the National Park Service’s newspaper and trail maps. A restroom and plenty of parking are available. You can start a hike around North Pond here. Ask at the Visitor Center about the canoe tours and guided bird walks that are offered almost year round or other programs that might be held during the summer. The Visitor Center is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day. Beyond the Visitor Center, Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge is a 13-mile stretch of pristine barrier island. The beaches are wonderfully devoid of people most of the time, and there are several access points for getting to the beach. Pea Island is also great for surfing, surf fishing, shell hunting, kayaking, photography and other eco-friendly outdoor activities. Driving on the beach is not allowed here.

A good, flat, easy hike starts at the Pea Island Visitor Center, about 4 miles south of Oregon Inlet. Park in the parking lot and look for the North Pond trailhead behind the restrooms. A sturdy, handicapped-accessible boardwalk leads back into the marshy areas around North Pond where you’ll see a variety of birds and wildlife. After the boardwalk ends, you can keep going on an unpaved service road that takes you all the way around the pond. The North Pond Trail connects with the Salt Flats Trail, and at the end (N.C. Highway 12) you can either turn back and go the way you came or walk down N.C. 12 or along the beach to get back to the Visitor Center. The entire loop, if you take the beach route, is about 4 miles. The northern leg of the North Pond circuit is prone to excessive mosquito habitation at all times of the year. Don’t let that keep you away; just bring insect repellent. You can also park at the Salt Flats trailhead, a little over a mile north of the Visitor Center. You’ll see a lot of birds on these trails no matter what time of year you’re here, but this hike is most phenomenal in the fall and winter, when thousands of migratory birds are resting over on the pond. You’ll see snow geese, Canada geese, tundra swan and numerous species of ducks. You can pick up trail maps at the Visitor Center from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day. Ask about the guided bird walks held here.

Sandy Bay Gallery

• 57204 N.C. Highway 12, Stowe on 12
• Hatteras Village
• (252) 986-1338

Sandy Bay Gallery is a standout among the art galleries on the Outer Banks. A favorite place to shop for locals and visitors alike, it is a place of pure creativity, with original fine artwork by locals and artists from around the country. You’ll find jewelry, canvas, art glass, sculpture, iron, clay and much more.

Sunsational Designs Gallery, Coffee and Beads

• 53255 N.C. Highway 12
• Frisco

This gallery, owned by a native Hatteras Island family for more than 20 years, is not an ordinary art gallery. Sure, they offer paintings and other artwork by local artists, including the jewelry of Sarah Jackson, but they also offer rock art, buoy art and fun gifts and souvenirs, like hats and T-shirts. They also sell hundreds of beads, so this is a great place to make your own custom jewelry. Sunsational now offers gourmet coffee and espresso-based drinks and specialty teas.

The Art Cottage

• 53460 N.C. Highway 12
• Frisco
• (252) 995-3400

Located in Frisco, just north of the Native American Museum, is a new gallery called The Art Cottage. Supporting and showcasing the work of more than 50 North Carolina and coastal artists, The Art Cottage specializes in unique art by incredible artists at affordable prices. You’ll find pottery, metal, blown glass, wood, fiber and jewelry. A large percentage of the proceeds goes to scholarships for high school and college students.

The Frisco Jubilee

• 52859 Piney Ridge Road and N.C. Highway 12, Little Grove Church
• Frisco
• (252) 995-3540

Every Saturday night from June 6 through October, be sure to catch Hatteras Island’s best musicians for a night of pickin’ and singin’ old favorites, classic bluegrass, gospel and Outer Banks originals at the Frisco Jubilee. Some of the musicians you might see include Martin Garrish and Friends, Speedy Price, Stash Lawrence, Mahlon Blue and John Couch, April Trueblood, Caitlyn Gray and Johnnie Baum. The show begins at 7:30 p.m., and tickets are sold at the door for $10 each. Watch for special performances to be held in Rodanthe and Hatteras Village.

U.S. Weather Bureau Station/Hatteras Welcome Center

• Hatteras Village
• (252) 986-2203

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, weather observations gathered near Cape Hatteras were important for forecasters all along the East Coast. The Hatteras Island weather station was so critical that in 1901 the U.S. Weather Bureau constructed a dedicated Weather Bureau building in Hatteras Village, one of only 11 such buildings constructed in the nation at the turn of the century. The building still stands in Hatteras Village and is next to the Burrus Red & White grocery store at the corner of Saxon Cut and Kohler roads. The National Park Service restored the building to its original 1901 appearance, yellow exterior and all. The NPS had the benefit of the original building plans to aid in its restoration, so the building is true to its original. The Outer Banks Visitors Bureau operates a visitors/welcome center in one room of the building; stop by to pick up tourist information and also to see the interior of this historic building.

Unloading Catches at the Docks

• Hatteras Village Marinas
• Hatteras Village

For a chance to see the offshore boats unloading the day’s deep-sea catches, head down to one of the Hatteras Village marinas between 3:30 and 5 p.m. When the boats come in, the fishing mates unload the day’s catches onto the docks so the fish can be taken away and cleaned. Most days you’ll see something, usually yellow-fin tuna, mahi-mahi and Wahoo plus some other interesting fish. The big-game fish are caught and released, so you won’t see all the white marlin, blue marlin and sailfish that were caught that day, though you can count the flags on the boats to see how many were released. If you’re really lucky in the winter months you might see a boat bring in a giant blue-fin tuna, a rare spectacle.