Only accesible by boat Cape Lookout is the perfect getaway.

Whether you rent the ferry to take you over, or take the Kayak the beach here is one of the best places to really get back to nature.

The wildhorses live on the islands between mainland and the OBX, taking the time to stop and see them is a must.

The campsite is the entire beach, you can camp sound side, but I don't suggest it. The constant breeze on the beach side keeps the mosquitos at bay, and you will get eaten alive on the sound side. Plus the morning view to waking up to watching the sun rise over the ocean can be beat.

Show up late in April, early may and you will get to see the bioluminesent plankton wash up sound side, and a hike will leave glow in the dark foot frints.

Show up in October and you may get to help the rangers protect the sea turtles as they hatch.

Watersouts are extremely common here, so use sandbags with your tent and make sure the tent can handle heavy winds if the storms blow in over night

If you use the ferry you have to schedule your pickup time when you go.

there is a water pump at the lighthouse, and an outside shower, but you are not allowed to use soap at it. There are restrooms at the lighthouse, and one restroom at the end of the alkay that crosses the dunes to the beach.

There are no "sites" just find a place you want to set up camp, just stay off the dunes.

Fires are allowed as long as you build them below high tide, plenty of driftwood out there to find to burn.

This is a wonderful little campsite primarily catering the seasonal RVer. With that said they do have primitive camping spots next to the putt putt course and water only tent sits at the upper feild. There are also water/electric sites in a loop behind the honeymooner cabins, and they have teh best shade and set up for hammock camping.

The ferry here is real, and has been in operation for the last 100+ years

There is a small goat petting zoo, with very friendly pigmy goats and the camp is extremely pet friendly as long as they are on a leash.

There is the typical camp store, and in addition there is the icecream store next to the river. Across the street is a local winery with the best views of the river around.

The campsite fills quickly on the weekends, kayakers and fishers, and motorboats use this as the weekend home and mini family vacation spots.

The showers are located in the RV section of the campground, so you will have to walk a bit if you are tent camping.

There are horse stable available as well on site.

There are 9 sites at the campground you can reserve a spot at. There is water, bathrooms, and all 9 spots are easy to get to from the parking lot.

The rangers require that all camping be on the the tent pads, this includes hammocks. With that said the aphids and acid rain destroyed the canopy cover that was there just 20 years ago. There are only 2 sites here that have trees large enough for hammocks any more.

Be careful in researching the trails here as well, you will see the hike guides saying to use the old Mitchell trail from the campsite to the summit, that is not the trail you will be on though from the main site. You will be on the campsite spur trail… just shy of 1 mile to the summit.

There are several sites throughout the park, Deep Gap being the easiest to get to, 4.5 miles from the Mitchell Summit parking lot over both Mount Craig and Big Tom. The trail there can be hard at points with more stairs than you want to count and several areas where you are hiking on boulders. In the dry weather pretty easy, get caught in the rain and it's pretty slick. I have seen 4 year old hike this trail though, and families go to Big Tom with infants on their backs all the time. My last trek there I sat with a man in his late 80's at the summit of Mount Craig.

All of the water in the park is listed as "non potable" but it's because of the laws defining the pipes and the flow of water, as the pipes are in granite they can't make the modification needed to label it at potable by current standards. The entire mountain system is fed by the same springs and is slightly chlorinated and safe to drink.

Campsites 4 and 5 have the best veiw of Mount Mitchell

Campsite 1 has a easy ramp access from the parking lot and is the most isolated

Campsite 8 is the smallest site due to the weirdly shaped tree next to the tent pad

Currently there is free wood there as they are felling the dead trees and leaving the wood split in the sites for free. There is enough dead wood there that they are guessing this will continue till 2020.

There are no shower facilities at this camp.

The bear boxes do leak so don't think they are water proof.

The rangers do patrol the campgrounds several times each night, and take the alcohol ban very seriously.