Cape Lookout National Seashore

While in Newport, we spent a day at the Cape Lookout National Seashore, a 56-mile long section of the Southern Outer Banks, or Crystal Coast, of North Carolina. Three undeveloped barrier islands make up the seashore – North and South Core Banks and Shackleford Banks. The seashore includes two historic villages on Core Banks, Shackleford’s wild horses, and the Cape Lookout Lighthouse.

Our journey started with a 35-mile drive from Newport to the Harkers Island Visitors Center, followed by a 15-minute ferry boat ride to Shackleford Banks, followed by another short ferry hop to Cape Lookout, before returning to the visitors Center. We didn’t have much time to explore the visitors center before our ferry ride, but we did take a few minutes to look at the displays and posted information about the area.

Our first ferry stop was Shackleford Banks, a barrier island that contains a herd of over 100 feral horse, scallops, crabs, and loggerhead turtles who nest there in the summer. The National Park Service closely monitors and studies the wild horses, who provide a glimpse into how horses lived in the wild before their domestication. It is still a mystery as to how the horses arrived; legend has it that these horses are descendants of Spanish Mustangs that survived a shipwreck. They have resided on this island for centuries, and have adapted to the harsh environment. They will swim between marsh islands to obtain access to the various grasses they graze on. We really enjoyed seeing the horses, who did not seem to be very concerned about us at all.

After about an hour on Shackleford, the ferry picked us up and took us to the Southern Outer Banks, home to the Cape Lookout lighthouse. The lighthouse is 163-foot high and flashes every 15 seconds and is visible at least 12-19 miles out to sea. Cape Lookout Light is one of the very few lighthouses that operate during the day. It became fully automated in 1950, and is the only such structure in the United States to bear the checkered daymark, intended to differentiate between similar light towers and to show direction. The center of the black diamonds points in a north-south direction, while the center of the white diamonds points east-west.

Notice my accidental complementary wardrobe selection for our trip to the lighthouse…I’m not sure if the direction of the stripes on my shirt signified anything or not.