Southern Outer Banks, North Carolina

These notes aim to provide guidance for handicapped, disabled or wheelchair users who travel to the southern outer banks, North Carolina. These informal notes are from a trip I took there with my wife.

Outer Banks
The outer banks are a thin strip of islands off the East Coast of North Carolina (Note: it would be kind of difficult to have islands off the West coast - since there isn't a West Coast!). The northern end is fairly developed with hundreds of condos for rent and a few hotels and restaurants. The southern end is primarily a National Seashore Reserve and development and residency is restricted to a handful of villages.

We stayed at the southern tip in Ocracoke, then drove up the banks to Kill Devil Hills.

Getting There
You need to drive. The outer banks are joined to the mainland at the northern end by a causeway. Most of the islands are linked by bridges, the exception being Ocracoke Island on the southern end which is accessible only by ferry.

We took the ferry from Cedar Island, a two hour ride. Timetables and ferry information is available at www.ncferry.org. Tell the ferry staff that you use a wheelchair when you arrive, they will try to load you close to the door to the café area. You drive on-board. It is possible to stay in your vehicle, but the door to the café area is ramped and there is an accessible toilet on-board. There are vending machines, but apart from that facilities are pretty basic. The ferry deposits you in Ocracoke.

Coming from the north, you get a ferry from Hatteras. This is a short (30min) journey and you can stay in your vehicle.

Places to Stay and Eat
Ocracoke is a small community (pop. 750) with a lot of rental property available. Unfortunately, most of this is hopelessly inaccessible since the building technique here is to place all living area at least one floor above ground level (presumably because of flooding during storms).

The Ocracoke Harbor Inn (www.ocracokeharborinn.com ) has two accessible bedrooms. These are up a long ramp and have a very steep short ramp to get over the threshold (4” rise in 6”). The room is compact with a spacious bathroom. The breakfast room is beside the reception area across the road and is accessible via a steep ramp. My research turned up no other accessible accommodation in Ocracoke.

The Flying Melon in Ocracoke serves great food and is accessible, although the path leading to the restaurant is unpaved and very rough. They do not have accessible toilets.

Further north the only real option is one of the chain hotels. We stayed in a Comfort Inn in Kill Devil Hills and it was acceptable in terms of access.

Things to do
The National Seashore Park (www.nps.gov/caha) is the main attraction here. Miles of wonderful beach and plenty of opportunities for wildlife spotting. There are several access points to the beach via boardwalks, but the beach itself is not wheelable. A beach chair is available (www.nps.gov/caha/pphtml/accessibility.html for details).

The nature trail on island is not officially accessible but I gave it a shot anyway. I think that it is doable with assistance from a strong walkie. I was on my own (in a street chair ill-suited to off-road travels) and managed to cover over half of it. The early stages are boardwalk which makes traveling easy. After that, I went anti-clockwise around the trail loop for a period before a steep sandy hill defeated me. In the clockwise direction I got further, although areas of the trail were under an inch of water and the mud threatened to bog me down. The effort was worth it for the birds, frogs and snakes that I encountered, but mosquito spray is an absolute must!

Further north is Hatteras Lighthouse. For obvious reasons the look-out post at the top is not accessible! The information centre is.

Further north again, the wildlife trail is partly accessible. It is a loop. The southern end has been paved and provides superb views over the banks and a breathtaking array of birds. There are various viewing platforms and each one has a wheelchair accessible magnifying viewer (Good for kids also!). The information centre is accessible. The Northern end is paved for a shorter stretch and I did not explore it.