The Town of Nags Head
Nags Head - The Beach Paradise
Sand, Surf and Fun in one of America’s First Tourist Towns. With some of the widest and finest beaches on the northern Outer Banks, Nags Head has been welcoming visitors since the 1820s.
The sand, surf and summer breezes are what brought the first visitor to the town, but the Nags Head experience is much more than leisurely days on the beach. The town is home to Jockeys Ridge State Park, the most visited park in the North Carolina system. Jockey’s Ridge is the highest naturally occurring sand dune in the East Coast and it has been the home of the Kitty Hawk Kites hang gliding school since 1974.
The northern boundary of Cape Hatteras National Seashore (CHNS) is in Nags Head. CHNS was the first national seashore, officially dedicated in 1958. Encompassing almost all of the Outer Banks from Nags Head to Ocracoke, the park includes three lighthouses and some of the finest beaches on the Outer Banks.
Placing Nags Head on the Map
Nags Head is the southernmost of the three largest towns that occupy the northern Outer Banks--Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills are the other two. The town limits begin at MP10, or ten miles south of the Wright Memorial Bridge on either Virginia Dare Trail or Croatan Highway.
Kill Devil Hills is to the north. CHNS is to the south and Nags Head is the first town north of Oregon Inlet. Roanoke Sound borders the town to the west; there is a causeway and bridge that connects the Outer Banks with Roanoke Island where Manteo is located.
Navigating the Town of Nags Head
Some important terminology
In the main towns of the Outer Banks, US158 is Croatan Highway, but is most often referred to as the Bypass.
NC 12 is Virginia Dare Trail but is usually called the Beach Road.
Regular visitors and residents navigate by mileposts. So someone might give directions saying, “Meet me at Nags Head Pier, milepost 11.5 on the Beach Road,” meaning Nags Head Pier is about 11 and a half miles south of the Wright Memorial Bridge on Virginia Dare Trail, also known as the the Beach Road.
