The North Carolina Outer Banks, (OBX), includes the counties of
Dare,
Currituck and
Hyde as well as the towns of Corolla, Duck, Kitty Hawk, Naghead, Avon, Hatteras and Ocracoke, to name a few. The Outer Banks is a 200-mile long string of narrow barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina and a small portion of
Virginia, beginning in the southeastern corner of
Virginia Beach.
The Outer Banks is a major tourist destination and is known for its temperate climate and wide expanse of open beachfront. The Cape Hatteras National Seashore has four campgrounds where visitors may camp.
The Wright brothers' first flight in a powered, heavier-than-air vehicle took place on the Outer Banks on December 17, 1903, at Kill Devil Hills near the seafront town of Kitty Hawk. The Wright Brothers National Monument commemorates the historic flights, and First Flight Airport is a small, general-aviation airfield located there.
The English Roanoke Colony - where the first person of English descent, Virginia Dare, was born on American soil - vanished from Roanoke Island in 1587. The Lost Colony, written and performed to commemorate the original colonists, is the longest running outdoor drama in the United States and its theater acts as a cultural focal point for much of the Outer Banks.
The treacherous seas off the Outer Banks and the large number of shipwrecks that have occurred there have given these seas the nickname Graveyard of the Atlantic. The Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum is located in Hatteras Village near the United States Coast Guard facility and Hatteras ferry.
