Hatteras Island Recreation

Buxton Woods – National Park Service Nature Trail

• Lighthouse Road
• Buxton
• (252) 995-4474

Near the lighthouse on the NPS grounds is a 3/4-mile trail through the maritime forest of Buxton Woods. From N.C. Highway 12, turn onto Lighthouse Road and continue around the curve to the right past the lighthouse. The trailhead is on the right at the picnic area. A pine needle-covered path leads back into the forest. Along the way there are informational signs about the maritime forest ecosystem and the health of Buxton Woods. You’ll pass Jennette’s Sedge, a naturally occurring freshwater pond. This is a mostly flat, easy walk, though it’s not recommended for the disabled because of slightly rough terrain.

Buxton Woods Coastal Reserve

• Off N.C. Highway 12
• Buxton
• Contact the North Carolina Coastal Reserve office in Kitty Hawk at: (252) 261-8891

Buxton Woods is the largest remaining maritime forest in the Southeast. It consists of pine- and oak-covered dune ridges interspersed with maritime swamp forest and unique marshy wetlands known locally as sedges.

It’s a very rare ecosystem for a barrier island, and most visitors don’t even realize it exists. The North Carolina Coastal Reserve, a program of the N.C. Division of Coastal Management, maintains more than 900 acres of the woods for research, education and recreation and offers some great hiking trails for the public to experience this amazing ecosystem.

On a walk here you might see one of 360 species of birds, including bald eagles and peregrine falcons, along with gray fox, white-tailed deer, mink, river otter, box turtles, salamanders or snakes.

A great hiking trail can be found just west of Buxton. Off N.C. Highway 12, turn south onto Old Doctor’s Road. If you have a four-wheel-drive vehicle, keep heading straight back on that sand road until it dead ends. If you don’t have four-wheel-drive, park your car on the little turnout off to the side of Old Doctor’s Road. At the end of the sand road is a trailhead sign for a 1/3-mile hike, called Lookout Loop, that takes you up to a high dune ridge. From this ridge you can look down at Jennette’s Sedge, a beautiful interdunal pond teeming with life. If you walk from the beginning of the road to the trail and back, it will take you about an hour.

Another set of trails through Buxton Woods is a little west of the one on Old Doctor’s Road. Turn south off Highway 12 on Water Association Road and take the road all the way back until you reach a 90-degree bend in the road. At the corner of Water Association Road and Great Ridge Road, you’ll find the trailhead with parking.

Though trail use is restricted to walkers and some designated trails to horses, some traditional use is accommodated within the reserve. Seasonal hunting is allowed, per state and local regulations (call the reserve office for additional information). Licensed vehicles are allowed only on the dirt roads within the reserve. Target shooting and camping are prohibited.

The Coastal Reserve staff maintains a kiosk at the Old Doctor’s Road entrance with a map of hiking trails. Buxton Woods does not offer any facilities so please wear appropriate clothing to protect against biting insects and poisonous plants. Bring water, snacks and sunscreen to ensure an enjoyable visit to the woods.

For additional information about hiking, hunting permits and reserve rules call the reserve office in Kitty Hawk at (252) 261-8891.

Cap’N Clam

• Oden's Dock, N.C. Highway 12
• Hatteras Village
• (252) 986-2365

Cap’N Clam hosts half-day fishing trips that are great options for families with young children because they are just the right length for a child’s attention span. They also offer a Children’s Pirate Cruise for all the rowdy mateys on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 6:30 to 8 p.m. This cruise promises lots of pirate-style shenanigans and pirate souvenirs. For celebrations or special events, consider a custom charter of the Cap’N Clam.

Cape Hatteras Secondary School Tennis Courts

• 48576 N.C. Highway 12
• Buxton
• No phone

Cape Hatteras Secondary School has tennis courts that are open to the public in daylight after school hours.

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.

Coastal Kayak Touring Company

• Locations throughout the Outer Banks
• Hatteras Island
• (252) 261-6262, (252) 441-3393

You haven’t seen the Outer Banks until you’ve seen it from the water, and Coastal Kayak can take you there. They offer trips to four different areas of the Outer Banks: Pine Island Audubon Sanctuary (between Corolla and Duck), Kitty Hawk Woods, Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge on Hatteras Island and the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge on the Dare County mainland. Tours last two to three hours. The guides offer kayaking instruction if you need it, plus they narrate about the local history and ecology along the way. Single and tandem kayaks are available. Children are welcome as long they are at least 30 pounds, but certain trips are better for kids than others. Reservations are required.

DVO/Duck Village Outfitters

• 26689 N.C. Highway 12
• Salvo
• (252) 987-1222

A surf shop staple in Duck for decades, DVO now has a location on Hatteras Island. DVO rents bikes, kayaks, surfboards and paddleboards and offers kayak tours and surf lessons for all ages. The surf shop sells major brands of clothing for men, women and children, including Billabong, Hurley, Quicksilver and more.

Equine Adventures

• 52173 Piney Ridge Road
• Frisco
• (252) 995-4897

Equine Adventures offers two-hour guided horseback rides through the scenic trails of Frisco Woods and on the beach. All levels of riders are accommodated, but children younger than 10 or people weighing more than 225 pounds are not accepted. Rides are offered year round. You must make reservations in advance. The price is $95 for all riders.

Fessenden Center Skate Park

• 46830 N.C. Highway 12
• Buxton
• (252) 475-5650

The county-run Fessenden Center, across from Red Drum Tackle Shop in Buxton, has a small, skate-at-your-own-risk skate park. There is no supervision and you don’t have to sign a waiver, but helmets are required and pads are recommended. The park features a street course and a bowl. It’s open in daylight hours seven days a week.

Fessenden Center Tennis Courts

• 46830 N.C. Highway 12
• Buxton
• (252) 475-5650

The county-run Fessenden Center has tennis courts open for first-come, first-served play in daylight hours.

Fox Watersports

• 47108 N.C. Highway 12
• Buxton
• (252) 995-4372

Fox specializes in windsurfing, kiteboarding and surfing. You can buy all the gear you’ll need for these sports plus take lessons if you need them. You can also rent windsurfing equipment, surfboards, kayaks, standup paddleboards and body boards and purchase skim boards, sunglasses, clothes, flip-flops or a wetsuit. Sailboard and surfboard repair are offered.

Frisco Art Center

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

Frisco Art Center offers a unique shopping experience. Housed under one roof are three distinct galleries — Sea Glass Gallery, The Art Cottage and an old-fashioned Christmas Shop. Together, the galleries represent more than 75 local, North Carolina and coastal artists, and everything sold here is handmade by an artist. A few of the mediums you’ll find include pottery, jewelry, glass sculptures and photography, and there’s much more so plan to spend some time looking around here. The mission of the Frisco Art Center is to support the arts, sponsor students through scholarships and offer affordable prices to their customers.

Frisco Mini-Golf and Go-Karts

• 50212 Trent Lake Lane and N.C. Highway 12
• Frisco
• (252) 995-6325

For a day or night of good fun, head 1.5 miles south of Buxton to this Frisco recreational facility. The mini-golf course, which is actually quite challenging, has 18 holes in a natural setting with waterfalls and fish ponds. You can play all day until 5 p.m. for one fee. After 5 p.m., there is a charge per a round of golf. There are two go-kart tracks here — a slick track and a family track — and there are also bumper cars. Drivers must be at least 54 inches tall, but little kids can ride with an adult. For little kids there are kiddie go-karts; children must be at least 5 years old but no taller than 54 inches. There’s also a game room here. In season, everything is open from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 1 to 11 p.m. on Sunday. Call for off-season hours. There’s plenty of parking for larger vehicles like RVs. 

Good Times Surf Shop

• 23280 N.C. Highway 12
• Rodanthe
• (252) 987-2245

Good Times is dedicated to sharing the love of surfing. Experienced instructors offer group, semi-private and private surf lessons and surfing day camps that are great for kids. They also rent surfboards, boogie boards, skim boards and kayaks, and their store sells some surfing-related gear.

Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum

• 59200 Museum Drive
• Hatteras Village
• (252) 986-2995 or (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 WWI) 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 Island Boardsports

• 41074 N.C. Highway 12
• Avon
• (252) 995-6160

Hatteras Island Boardsports rents kayaks, surfboards, body boards, skim boards and wetsuits, and delivery is available. You can also take group or private surfing lessons. The shop is a one-stop shop for surf gear and apparel for men, women and kids. Some brand names you’ll find here include Billabong, Quiksilver, Volcom, Roxy and Rusty, along with surfboards by Dewey Weber, Rusty and Imagine.

Hatteras Island Massage

• 23280 N.C. Highway 12
• Rodanthe
• (252) 305-5551

Licensed therapist Chris Rutledge has a massage studio next to Good Times Surf Shop and offers a variety of therapeutic massage techniques.

Hatteras Island Sail Shop

• 25199 Vela Court and N.C. Highway 12
• Waves
• (252) 987-2292

This soundfront recreation center offers rentals of kayaks, sailboats and windsurfing equipment plus lessons in windsurfing and kiteboarding. An on-site launching facility makes it easy to slip into the water. Kayak eco-tours are offered here.

Hatteras Island Surf Shop

• 25410 N.C. Highway 12
• Waves
• (252) 987-2296

This classic surf shop in an old cottage has been a fixture on the island surf scene for more than 40 years. The shop sells new and used boards and surf-related gear and rents surf, body and skim boards plus beach gear. Surf lessons are available for adults as well as kids.

Hatteras Parasail and Watersports

• 57878 N.C. Highway 12, Oden’s Dock
• Hatteras Village
• (252) 986-2627

There’s nothing like a bird’s-eye view of the Outer Banks to lift your spirits. Hatteras Parasail can take you to hundreds of feet above the islands for a view you won’t forget. Parasailing can be done as singles, tandems or triples. This family-owned company has been operating for nearly 20 years, and they also offer guided kayak eco-tours in single or tandem kayaks. The tours take you along the Pamlico Sound and through the waterways of Hatteras Village. They also rent Waverunners that carry up to three people. This business is closed on Sundays. Reservations are recommended.

Hatteras Tours

• Hatteras Island
• (252) 475-4477

For a local historian’s perspective of Hatteras and Ocracoke islands, you won’t want to miss this bus tour of Hatteras Island. Island native Danny Couch leads tours in a 25-passenger mini-bus, telling fascinating stories and bits of island history along the way. Couch grew up on the island and is passionate about its history. The stories he tells will intrigue you. Tours include Chicamacomico (Rodanthe, Waves and Salvo), Kinnakeet (Avon), The Cape (Buxton), Hatteras Village, Ocracoke Island and Roanoke Island. Family groups are encouraged. Call ahead for more information or to organize a custom tour. Ticket prices range from $45 to $60, depending on the season and the tour. Call the number above for more information or to reserve your seat.

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. In the summer (May 30 to September 5), the ferry runs every hour from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m., every 30 minutes between 7:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. and every hour between 8 p.m. and midnight. Call for off-season hours.

Haulover Day Use Area

• N.C. Highway 12
• Rodanthe

The Haulover Day Use Area is also known as Canadian Hole because it is a hotspot for windsurfers and kiteboarders, many of whom hail from Canada. This soundside access makes a day on the sound very convenient. There’s lots of parking plus a bathhouse with rinse-off showers, changing rooms and restrooms. This little beach can be quite the scene when it’s packed with windsurfers and kiteboarders, but a lot of families come here, too, to swim, kayak, paddleboard and sit on the beach.

In Touch Massage & Wellness Center

• 50840 N.C. Highway 12
• Frisco
• (252) 995-4067

In Touch Massage and Wellness Center is a haven of peace and rejuvenation on Hatteras Island. The center offers holistic massage and spa treatments using only natural and organic products. Pamper yourself with a sugar or salt scrub, or choose a Chinese herbal facial. Allow the highly trained therapists to create a custom massage to meet your individual needs. Four treatment rooms accommodate group appointments with ease. An acupuncturist and counselor also offer their services here. The center offers organic skin and body products, Jane Iredale mineral make-up, natural supplements and homeopathic remedies. In Touch is located in the same building as Indiantown Gallery and a coffee shop, so be sure to visit all three.

Island Cruisers

• 26248 N.C. Highway 12
• Salvo
• (252) 987-1250, (252) 202-8388

Island Cruisers offers car rentals on Hatteras Island, including four-wheel-drive vehicles. RV campers who need a car to get around like this service. You can also rent a classic VW–powered fiberglass convertible Buggy that’s a blast to drive. Or you can rent a regular car — economy size to multi-passenger mini-vans. All their vehicles are street legal and get excellent gas mileage. Fishing gear packages are available to rent as well. Reservations are required.