A few miles south of the Wright Memorial, today's aspiring aerialists are continuing Orville and Wilbur Wright's tradition of learning to take flight from the dunes of the Outer Banks. The tallest living sand dune on the Atlantic coast is located a just South of the Wright memorial in Jockey Ridge NC State Park. With a view arcing from the Atlantic Ocean to Roanoke Sound, and year around steady winds, it is a premier location for hang gliding, kites, sightseeing, and sunsets watching.
A visitor center with museum, and 360-foot boardwalk with exhibits explain the dune’s ecology. All along the boardwalk, the names of each of the trees and plants in this maritime forest are labeled.
The walk not only protects the fragile maritime forest plant-life, but provides an easy and gradual entrance to the dunes,
and a one-mile nature trail that opens onto wetlands, grassy dunes and maritime thickets.
The sound side access via the park's boardwalk is a different experience offering sunbathing, wading, paddling, and sand boarding (by permit only).
CC found the latter requirement quite amusing, since she has fond memories of sledding down the sand dunes of the West Coast on large pieces of cardboard as a child.
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