Planning a multi-day trip to Ocracoke, starting at the south end and moving north to Hatteras. As I’ve paddled most of the rest of the Outer Banks, the question arises–is the sounside shore amenable to camping here? Is it legal? Anybody have any suggestions? Thanks in advance for your replies.
contact park service
or look online for some info. I think you can camp but no open fires, designated zones, etc. Never done it but remember reading about it online somewhere. If I find the link I’ll post it.
ah, here it is…
http://www.nps.gov/caha/camping99.htm
“Camping is permitted ONLY at designated campgrounds”…sorry.
Ocracoke
I’ve been going to Ocracoke Island since the early 60’s and spent some time on the sound side. The paddling is nice but often very shallow. Camping is not allowed anywhere except where designated, but even if you were allowed, everything I’ve seen on the sound side would have been miserable camping. Either low and marshy or a little higher but covered in saw grass and insects. So camp in a campground (or grab a hotel on Silver Lake) and paddle the island in a day. Even if you really putz around you’d cover the length of the island in a half day.
Randy