Where, in 1587, Sir Walter Raleigh's colonists came to carve out a settlement from the wilderness dunes of Roanoke Island in the New World, later disappearing and leaving an enduring unsolved mystery. Where brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright broke man's bond to the earth on December 17, 1903, when they made the first flight of a heavier-than-air, machine-powered glider, thus solving a puzzle that had mystified man since the dawn of time ... how to fly like birds.
The Outer Banks is a place you can climb the 268 steps to the top of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, the tallest on the American Coast, for an unparalleled panoramic view of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. There's all this and so much more.
Stay at choice accommodations, from historic inns to full-service hotels, from classic cottages to camping. Dine on fresh seafood at one of our fine restaurants or cook up your daily catch on the grill. Enjoy a festival or special event, where we celebrate everything from fish to flight and from kites to watermelons. Take part in your own adventure. Glide across the water on a windsurfer or soar atop Jockey's Ridge on a hang glider. Or, simply relax with a stroll along the shore searching for the perfect seashell or in a hammock with that book you've been wanting to read.
When you visit the Outer Banks of North Carolina in person we invite you to visit the Aycock Brown Welcome Center on US 158 Bypass at Milepost 1.5 in Kitty Hawk or the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau at One Visitors Center Circle on Roanoke Island in Manteo.