Jockey's Ridge State Park
Subnational Park · Nags Head, North Carolina
The tallest active sand dune system in the eastern United States, sitting in the middle of Nags Head with houses on three sides. It is a medial dune - no vegetation holds it, so it moves, and its height changes measurably from year to year with the wind. The park is 427 acres of three colliding ecosystems: the open dune, a maritime forest on its flank, and the Roanoke Sound shallows. It is also the best place to fly a kite in North Carolina, and one of the best in the country to learn to hang glide.
300 West Carolista Drive, Nags Head, North Carolina, 27959, United States
FREE and open daily, with hours that change by month - roughly 8 AM to 6 PM in winter and to 9 PM in midsummer. DAY USE ONLY: there is no campground. Closed Christmas Day. Hang gliding instruction and kite operations on the dune are run by permitted commercial outfitters with their own schedules. The sound-side access on Soundside Road has its own gate hours.
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