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The Corolla Wild Horses: Fifty Feet Is the Law, Not a Suggestion
Where the Corolla wild horses actually live, how to get up the beach to see them, and the Currituck County rules that carry real penalties.
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The Elizabethan Gardens: Closed Every January, and Nobody Tells You
Ten acres of formal garden next door to Fort Raleigh, with Renaissance Italian statuary, $12 admission, $5 dogs, and a January closure that catches people out.
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Fort Raleigh: The Free One Everybody Drives Past
A free national historic site on Roanoke Island with the Lost Colony earthworks, two walking trails and a visitor center open 9 to 5 every day.
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Nags Head Woods: Sixteen Parking Spaces and a Mountain Forest
A free Nature Conservancy preserve in Kill Devil Hills with eight trails, 550 plant species and a car park that fills by mid morning.
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Whalehead in Corolla: Tiffany Glass in a Duck Hunting Lodge
A 1925 mansion with cork floors and signed Tiffany fixtures, on 39 soundfront acres in Corolla. $7 for adults, the park around it is free, and the museum keeps weekday hours.
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Jennette's Pier: Two Dollars to Walk on the Ocean
A thousand feet of concrete pier in Nags Head. $2 to walk on, $15 to fish, open year round, and run by the state aquariums.
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NC Aquarium on Roanoke Island: The Rainy Day Plan
Timed tickets, a shark tank, otters and a working sea turtle hospital, twenty minutes inland in Manteo. What to know before you book.
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Bodie Island Lighthouse: Climbing It, and What It Costs
219 steps to the top of an 1872 tower on the Nags Head marsh. The 2026 climb season, ticket rules, the 42 inch height limit, and what is still closed.
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Currituck Beach Lighthouse: Climbing the Corolla Tower
220 steps up an unpainted brick tower in Corolla, open March to November for $13. Season dates, the age rule, and why it beats Bodie Island.
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Wright Brothers National Memorial: What to Know Before You Go
The first powered flight happened on this field in Kill Devil Hills, and the ground still shows exactly where. Hours, the $10 fee, the four flight markers, and how long to allow.
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Jockey's Ridge State Park: What to Know Before You Go
Jockey's Ridge in Nags Head is the tallest natural sand dune on the East Coast, and it is free to visit. Hours, parking, sandboarding rules and the best time to climb.
