Photo: NPS Natural Resources, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.

Sports & OutdoorsIconicOutdoor Adventure

Cape Hatteras National Seashore

Walk miles of open Atlantic beach, visit three historic lighthouses and camp or fish along the Outer Banks barrier islands.

NC-12 from Bodie Island to Ocracoke Island · Buxton, NC

About Cape Hatteras National Seashore

The country's first national seashore, established in 1953, stretches more than 70 miles across Bodie, Hatteras and Ocracoke islands on the Outer Banks. You can fish and surf from the beach, camp at four campgrounds, and drive designated stretches of sand with an off-road vehicle permit. Three lighthouses stand along NC-12, and Bodie Island Lighthouse can be climbed for a fee. Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is closed to climbing for restoration, but its grounds stay open.

#national seashore
#beach
#lighthouse
#outer banks
#camping

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What's around here?

The closest stops to Cape Hatteras National Seashore, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.

Sightseeing
Iconic
Cape Hatteras Lighthouse
No admission fee
See the black-and-white spiral-striped brick lighthouse that was moved 2,900 feet inland in 1999.
3.7 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing
Museums
Frisco Native American Museum & Natural History Center
Under $25
A nonprofit educational museum that preserves Native American artifacts, art, and culture.
8.0 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums
Museums
Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum
No admission fee
A maritime museum in Hatteras Village that covers Outer Banks shipwreck and coastal history.
13 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums
Sightseeing
History Buff
Bodie Island Lighthouse
No admission fee
See the black-and-white banded 1872 lighthouse over the marsh, and climb its 200-plus steps in season.
36 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing
Sports & Outdoors
Elizabethan Gardens
Check prices
A waterfront garden on the Outer Banks, set inside Fort Raleigh National Historic Site and run by a nonprofit.
45 mi awayMore like this
Sports & Outdoors
Outdoor Adventure
Jockey's Ridge State Park
No admission fee
Climb the tallest living sand dune system on the Atlantic coast, fly a kite, try hang gliding or watch the sun set over Roanoke Sound.
46 mi awayMore like this