A barrier island, wild horses at one end, a striped lighthouse at the other
Outer Banks, North Carolina · 4 nights · May · Jun · Sep · Oct · up to 12
The Outer Banks is a hundred and thirty miles of sandbar with one road down the middle, and where you sleep decides which trip you get. The northern end has the wild horses on the Corolla beach, a herd descended from Spanish stock and reachable only by driving on sand. The southern end has the tallest brick lighthouse in America, which the Park Service moved half a mile inland in 1999 because the sea had arrived at it. Four nights, because the driving is real and a house here costs less than three hotel rooms.
The ending
A black-and-white spiral tower standing over low scrub and sand, half a mile back from where it was built, Atlantic on one side and sound on the other and nothing tall for thirty miles.
That is Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, Cape Hatteras National Seashore. See how private it is and when it’s open, or build the rest of the trip around it.
Do
- Corolla Wild Horse Tour
- Kitty Hawk Kites Kayak Tour
- Wright Brothers National Memorial
- The Spa at Sanderling Resort
Eat
- Coastal Provisions
- Kimball's Kitchen (Sanderling)
Stay
- Sanderling Resort
- Oceanfront Mega House (VRBO)
How far apart are the two ends?
Corolla to Hatteras is about three hours of driving on a single road. Pick a base rather than trying to do both from one place.
House or hotel?
For more than four people a house, and it is what the island is built for. The Sanderling is the answer when there are two of you.