North Carolina – Outer Banks – Corolla

Since the forecast said wind chill in the 20s, we decided it would be a good day for a drive to Corolla. So we packed a lunch, jumped in the 4Runner and drove all the way to the northern end of the Outer Banks. Our first stop was the Currituck Beach Light.

Unlike the other Outer Banks lighthouses, this one was not painted, leaving its brick facade visible. We weren’t able to tour the lighthouse as their season had not yet begun, but we took pictures from the outside. We also found a letterbox planted by the couple we met back at the St Augustine Light.

We walked in a pleasant park in Historic Corolla. Here in the 1920s Edward Collings Knight Jr. built the Whalehead, a 21,000-square-foot “mansion by the sea,” as a place for him and his wife to hunt fowl, because hunt clubs only allowed men. The house now hosts tours and special events.

Then we headed north. We stopped before the pavement ended to lower the tire air pressure, drove past the sign that says "4-wheel drive vehicles only" and drove through a cattle guard onto Carova Beach.

Driving was a little tricky and there are all sorts of warnings about what to do if you get stuck.

The beach had lots of solitude. Here’s where we stopped for a picnic lunch.

The waves were fantastic.

Surprisingly there are lots of homes and their only access is by 4WD vehicle along the beach.

The unique thing about this area is that it is protected land for wild horses. The lady at the visitor center said there are 90 horses on 1,800 acres, so we knew there was a chance we wouldn’t spot any. Being a very cold windy day we thought they wouldn’t be on the beach, so took one of the sandy inland roads.

And we spotted a wild horse!

The ancestors of these horses were brought over in the late 1500s by Spain and became wild due to shipwreck or abandonment.

On our way home we stopped at Jockey’s Ridge State Park with the Outer Bank’s largest sand dune.

We felt the 30+mph winds and as we trudged up the sand we couldn’t help but think of Wilbur and Orville trudging up Kill Devil Hill with their glider.

campground: Cape Hatteras KOA, 61mi 1hr27min to Currituck Beach Lighthouse,  73mi 2hr to our picnic place at Carova Beach near the Virginia border