Fort Raleigh: The Free One Everybody Drives Past

Where

Manteo, NC

Cost

Free. No entrance pass required

Season

Grounds open 24 hours a day. Visitor center 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, closed Christmas Day

Time needed

An hour for the earthworks and the visitor center, half a day if you walk the Freedom Trail

Good for

History, birding, shade in August, and anyone who wants a day out that costs nothing

Address

1401 National Park Drive, Manteo, NC 27954

The Outer Banks charges you for most things. Fort Raleigh charges you for nothing, and the car park at the north end of Roanoke Island is usually half empty while the beach roads are solid.

What happened here is the reason the National Park Service owns it. Between 1584 and 1590 Sir Walter Raleigh's voyages put English settlers on this island. The last group, 116 men, women and children, including two who were born here, were gone by the time a relief ship got back. That is the whole of what is known. The rest is guesswork, and the park is refreshingly straight with visitors about which is which.

The earthwork is the actual site

The low turf mound near the visitor center is a reconstruction built from what the archaeologists found, not a film set. Expect a ditch and a bank about the height of your shoulder, with a sand path cut through it. It takes five minutes to walk and it is the oldest thing in this part of the country that you can put your hand on.

Stand in it for a moment before you move on. This is the ground the whole story is argued over, and it is smaller than most people's back garden.

Two trails, and they are not the same walk

The Thomas Hariot Nature Trail is the short one. A 0.3 mile sandy loop starting beside the earthworks, through maritime forest, with wayside exhibits on both Algonquian and English history and access paths down to the beach. From the shore you are looking across Roanoke Sound at Nags Head, Kill Devil Hills and Kitty Hawk, and on a clear day the Wright Brothers monument is visible on top of Big Kill Devil Hill.

The Freedom Trail is the serious one. It runs 1.25 miles one way from the Elizabethan Gardens car park through loblolly pine to Freedmen's Point, near the old Mann's Harbor bridge. After the Battle of Roanoke Island in 1862 a Freedmen's Colony was established here for people who had been enslaved, and the trail carries nine silhouettes and eight wayside exhibits, each one about a named individual from that community. Bikes are not allowed on it.

If you want a loop rather than an out and back, the Roanoke Island Multi-Use Trail runs along Highway 64 and joins up for a 2.5 mile round trip. Watch for cyclists and for cars at the Weir Point Drive crossing.

The practical part, including the bit that catches people out

The address is 1401 National Park Drive, Manteo, and the number is (252) 473-2111. Grounds are open around the clock. The Lindsay Warren Visitor Center runs 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day and shuts on Christmas Day, so an afternoon arrival in December is fine and a late one is not.

Here is the thing people get wrong. Three operations share this entrance and only one of them is free. The national historic site costs nothing. The Lost Colony outdoor drama, run by the Roanoke Island Historical Association, and the Elizabethan Gardens next door are separate organisations with their own tickets and their own seasons. Turning up expecting the drama to be included is the standard mistake.

There is one more thing worth knowing if you have a long drive behind you. The grounds are wooded and shaded, which in July and August makes this one of the few outdoor attractions on the Outer Banks where you are not standing in full sun. Bring water anyway. The trails have none.

The park also has a Junior Ranger programme and ranger talks that move around the calendar, so if you are travelling with children it is worth checking what is on before you set off.

Hours and partner ticket prices change, so check the official park page before you drive over.

Common questions

How much does Fort Raleigh cost?

Nothing. No entrance pass is required for the park, the visitor center or the trails. The two attractions that share the site, the Lost Colony outdoor drama and the Elizabethan Gardens, are run by separate organisations and charge their own admission, so check with them directly.

What are the hours?

The grounds are open 24 hours a day. The Lindsay Warren Visitor Center is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week and closes on Christmas Day.

Is there actually a fort to see?

There is an earthwork, reconstructed from the archaeology rather than guessed at. It is a low turf mound with a ditch, not a stone castle, and it is the reason the park exists. The Thomas Hariot Nature Trail starts right beside it.

Which trail should we walk?

The Thomas Hariot Nature Trail if you have an hour. It is a 0.3 mile sandy loop through maritime forest with wayside exhibits and sound views. The Freedom Trail is 1.25 miles one way and tells the story of the Freedmen's Colony through nine silhouettes and eight waysides. It starts from the Elizabethan Gardens car park and ends at Freedmen's Point.

What happened to the Lost Colony?

Nobody knows. 116 men, women and children, including two born on this side of the Atlantic, were left here between 1584 and 1590 and were gone when the next English ship arrived. The visitor center exhibits set out what the archaeology and the documents actually support, which is less than the legend.