A Field Guide to Roanoke Island and Dare Mainland

By Jason Frye on Sep. 28, 2021

For many visitors, the Outer Banks begins with sun, sand, waves, sunrise walks, and afternoons in the sun. Yet North Carolina’s Outer Banks offers far more than beach time. Dare County is the largest county out of one hundred in North Carolina, covering 1,562 square miles — larger than Rhode Island — with woods, wilderness, wetlands, waters, islands, and beaches.

Beyond the shoreline, Roanoke Island holds historic mysteries, the Alligator Wilderness National Wildlife Refuge offers wildlife and paddling routes, and the wider county is filled with places worth discovering. Use this guide to explore Roanoke Island and the NC mainland, then head outside and enjoy it.

Wildlife Encounters

Beachgoers and birdwatchers can see shorebirds and gulls, while Pea Island offers the chance to spot a dozen species of waterfowl. Around dusk, however, the William B. Umstead Bridge at the north end of Roanoke Island provides a remarkable spectacle. Thousands of Purple Martins migrate every summer to late fall, roosting and raising their young on the bridge before filling the evening sky. Their numbers are so great that they appear on local weather radar, creating what looks like a storm of birds.

A small fishing pier and gazebo on the mainland side of the Umstead Bridge in Mann’s Harbor make a good viewing spot. On the bridge’s north side, anglers can use the boat launch, dock, and gazebo, while photographers, bird watchers, and artists can enjoy the setting as well.

Continue to the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge for more birding and the possibility of seeing black bears, white-tailed deer, alligators, and perhaps a red wolf or two. Private guides visit the quieter corners of Alligator River in search of songbirds, raptors, scavenging birds, and, with luck, the elusive red-cockaded woodpecker.

Keep watch for black bears and white-tailed deer while traveling through Alligator River. Red wolves live here too, although they are rare, and careful observers may find signs of them. Wildlife Drive offers especially good chances of seeing a bear, particularly in spring and early summer when mothers are out with their cubs. Tours are another option: National Wildlife Refuge staff travel the wildlife access roads and logging roads, combining local history with an introduction to the area’s environments. Outer Banks Adventures also offers wildlife excursions, using an old school bus converted into a comfortable mobile viewing station.

Red wolves are the world’s most endangered wolf, and fewer than 400 live in protected facilities and in the wild. Only 20 or so roam Alligator River. Tours held throughout the year invite visitors to listen for the animals’ distinctive yips and howls and search for tracks and other evidence. The experience begins at the Creef Cut Wildlife Trail parking lot, where someone from the Wildlife Service shares information about the wolves before the group enters the refuge.

Outdoor Ways to Explore

Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge also attracts hunters and anglers. Visitors come for whitetail deer season, small game, and waterfowl, while fishing takes place in the waterways and along the shores year-round. The paddle trails are another major draw. Milltail Creek begins 24.5 miles of routes that reach deeper into the Wildlife Reserve, continue to Sawyer Lake, and lead out to the Alligator River.

The routes are clearly marked, so visitors with their own kayak or canoe can follow them independently. Outfitters including Kitty Hawk Kites, Coastal Kayak, and Outer Banks Kayak Adventure provide guided trips and boat rentals, adding local lore, natural history, and opportunities for memorable photographs along the blackwater creeks.

Roanoke Island is only one of the islands in the area. Sandbars, spoil islands, and hummocks can be reached by kayak, standup paddleboard, power boat, sailboat, or airboat. Outer Banks Adventures can arrange an airboat outing and tailor it to the group, whether the goal is a deserted-isle picnic, an eco-tour, shelling and artifact hunting, or a new photographic perspective on the Outer Banks.

Boaters will find dozens of wildlife ramps and marinas for launching. Some marinas offer overnight dockage, but reservations should be made in advance. Sailing charters, sunset cruises, and dolphin tours depart from the marina in downtown Manteo and other marinas throughout the area.

Fresh Seafood

Seafood has shaped local life for generations. Families here have hauled nets, cast lines, and brought in everything from blue crabs to yellowfin tuna, and local catches appear on menus and tables throughout the county.

In Wanchese, O’Neal’s Sea Harvest is a worthwhile stop, especially since it sits near several charter boats. The wholesale operation behind the market connects restaurants and shops with fishermen and their fresh catch. In front, visitors can buy seafood to prepare at home or order a meal. Freshly caught fish, shellfish, and crabs are available, and the fish sold in the case is also used in the kitchen. Choices include a fried fish platter, a softshell crab sandwich, a salad with fried oysters or blackened scallops, and a pound of seasoned shrimp to enjoy while waiting.

Some charter boats specialize in shrimping and crabbing as well as rod-and-reel fishing. With OBX Crabbing and Shrimping Charters, Captain Marc Mitchum takes groups out on a shrimp boat for a day of lowering and hauling the nets. Guests can help sort shrimp, crabs, fish, and other sea creatures, keeping anything that is in season and of legal size. Some of the catch can be frozen for another meal, while the rest can become that evening’s feast. Captain Marc and his crew also know how to cook shrimp and can offer preparation advice.

Across the Virginia Dare Memorial Bridge on the Dare County mainland, Outland Seafood Market displays cases of fresh fish and provides in-house cooking for shrimp and crabs. The staff can season and steam seafood, including catch brought back from a day with Captain Marc, so visitors can leave with dinner and leftovers.

Next door, White’s Gas and Grill supplies last-minute hunting and fishing gear and serves burgers, grilled cheese, barbecue, and fried fish sandwiches. Many travelers stop at White’s and Outland as they leave the Outer Banks with a cooler of seafood, but the two businesses also make a good arrival-day lunch and dinner stop.

History You Can Experience

On the Manteo waterfront, the Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse recreates the lighthouses that once marked safe passage through the marshes for fishermen and recreational boaters. Inside the lighthouse and the nearby George Washington Creef Boathouse, home to the Roanoke Island Maritime Museum, exhibits explore the history of boatbuilding on the outer banks.

Warren O’Neal’s contemporary fishing and pleasure boat designs and George Washington Creef’s historic shad boat design are displayed alongside tools, drawings, models, historic photos, and other objects. Fishing fleets in the region include designs by O’Neal and Paul Mann of Mann’s Harbor, and observant visitors may see both new designs and historic hulls on the water.

Across Shallowbag Bay from Manteo stands Elizabeth II, a recreation of the 16th century ship that carried colonists and explorers to Roanoke Island. Costumed interpreters describe life aboard the vessel, the voyage to the New World, the dangers of crossing the Atlantic, and the details of Elizabeth II. Visitors may notice that the ship has no wheel and can ask the sailors why.

Elizabeth II is part of Roanoke Island Festival Park, which hosts festivals and fairs throughout the year and presents additional 16th-century history. Artisans demonstrate blacksmithing and carpentry skills like those experienced by the Roanoke Colonists in the 1580s. The Adventure Museum adds interactive exhibits about native tribes, colonists, the Civil War and Freedmen’s Colony, the US Life-Saving Service, boatbuilding, and contemporary history.

A car or the 7 miles of bike trails across Roanoke Island can take visitors north to Island Farm, the Mothervine, and Fort Raleigh State Historic Site, where one of the earliest attempts to establish a colony ended mysteriously.

The Mothervine is a gnarled grapevine that has produced grapes since 1584 and is the oldest cultivated grape vine in the United States. It produces Muscadine grapes rather than the red or green table grapes and wine grapes commonly found in stores. The sweet fruit makes an unusual wine as well as juice and nutrient-rich extracts. The Mothervine is also associated with claims of age-defying fruit, a fitting idea for a grapevine nearing its 450th birthday. Visitors can try non-alcoholic juice and extracts made from its fruit.

Nearby Island Farm portrays Roanoke Island life in the 1850s. The property belonged to generations of the Etheridge family and includes the original home, barns, and outbuildings. Costumed interpreters share stories ranging from African American history to the hardships of island life in the centuries before the Civil War.

Visitors can walk through the home, speak with the blacksmith, and spend time with the animals. The livestock includes cows, sheep, and Banker Ponies, the famous wild horses of the Outer Banks. Two wild horses live on the farm, offering another way to learn about the region’s wild herd and its history.

The Island Farm windmill is another distinctive feature. Windmills were once common on the Outer Banks, where local residents used wind power to operate grist mills for grinding corn and other grains. The windmill demonstrates a design typical of the Outer Banks, and on some days its sails can be seen turning.

The Etheridge name is central to Island Farm and to Outer Banks history. The prominent Etheridge family helped build the Outer Banks, and many descendants still live here. Family members served in the U.S. Life Saving Service, assisted the Wright Brothers, and participated in many pivotal events in the region.

Captain Richard Etheridge was born enslaved and is believed to have been the son of one of the Etheridge patriarchs. He became the first African-American to command a lifesaving crew. His all-Black crew, another first and a rarity in post-Civil War America, was stationed on Pea Island. The crew answered dozens of distress calls and carried out countless rescues along this dangerous coast.

Island Farm shares more about Captain Etheridge. His gravesite and memorial can be seen at the North Carolina Aquarium at Roanoke Island, and his story is also told in the book Fire on the Beach.

The North Carolina Aquarium at Roanoke Island is another essential stop. Exhibits and large aquariums trace the movement of water toward the Atlantic Ocean, from inland creeks and rivers through marshes and sounds and onward. River otters, alligators, and other inland animals appear in one area, while sea jellies, sharks, octopus, and a hundred other fish species occupy habitats throughout the facility. Children can take part in programs and explore the interactive touch tank.

Outside the Aquarium, a small cemetery and memorial mark the burial place of Etheridge, a man born enslaved whose influence reached Black and White communities along this coast. The Aquarium and nearby Dare County Airport occupy the site of the Roanoke Island Freedmen’s Colony.

Enslaved African Americans lived in several places across the Outer Banks. When the Civil War reached this part of the state, Roanoke Island changed from Confederate control to Union control. Union forces established a Freedman’s Colony, where formerly enslaved people experienced liberation. By 1865, nearly 4,000 men, women, and children lived there, farming and fishing for food while worshipping, attending school, and building their lives. Like many Freedmen Colonies, this one was dissolved as the Civil War ended, though scholars and historians are increasingly telling its full story.

Fort Raleigh and The Lost Colony

Fort Raleigh National Historic Site offers more information about the Freedmen’s Colony and the nation’s enduring Lost Colony mystery. In 1587, English colonists attempted to create a permanent settlement nearby, but the Roanoke Colony disappeared. Before that disappearance, the colonists welcomed Virginia Dare, the first English child born in the New World.

Attempts were made to resupply the settlement and bring additional colonists to Roanoke Island, but ships from England did not arrive until 1590. They found the colony empty: fields had grown over, homes and cabins stood vacant, and the garrison had no occupants. There was no evidence of war or disease. The only clue was Croatoan, carved into a wooden post. Whether it identified a nearby place, a native tribe, an individual, or something else remains unknown. The fate of the Lost Colony is still debated, and Fort Raleigh presents the many theories surrounding it.

Just steps from Fort Raleigh, a sound side amphitheater hosts the nation’s oldest and longest-running outdoor drama each summer. The Lost Colony premiered in 1937 and has played nearly every summer since, with few exceptions. Its location, at the setting of the Roanoke Colony, gives the production a strong connection to the history it portrays.

Next door, Elizabethan Gardens honors the Roanoke Colony and Virginia Dare through 10 acres of manicured gardens and flower beds. English gardening traditions, many of them dating to the 16th century, appear throughout the grounds. A tree-shaded lane leads to a statue of Virginia Dare, presented as a young woman through an artist’s interpretation.

At the center, a symmetrical sunken garden reflects the English aesthetic. The two grand lawns look out toward the sound and offer shade from giant live oaks, some of which may have been saplings when Virginia Dare was born.

About Jason Frye

Jason Frye first fell in love with The Outer Banks in the summer of 1990, when his family traveled from the mountains of West Virginia to the shores of North Carolina for a change of scenery. One week on the OBX was not enough. When he could, Jason moved to North Carolina and began exploring and writing about the state from the Outer Banks to the Smoky Mountains, with his deepest affection remaining on the coast.

He now lives in Wilmington and visits the Outer Banks as often as possible. His writing covers travel, food, and all things North Carolina. His travel guide is Moon North Carolina Coast.