Off-Island Trailhead

Entrance gate

Quick Facts

Location:

Nags Head, NC

Significance:

Hiking Trail

Amenities

4 listed

Parking - Auto, Parking - Boat Trailer, Parking - Bus/RV, Trailhead

This quarter-mile long trail begins at the Bodie Island Lighthouse parking area and follows along a gravel road providing an opportunity to explore the marsh ecosystem from the ground and visit the Roanoke Sound, part of the Pamlico-Albemarle Sound System. The Pamlico-Albemarle Sound System is a network of sounds that make up the second largest estuarine ecosystems in the United States of America.

A Nursery, A Haven, A Home

Beneath the surface of the Pamlico Sound is a nursery perfect for marine life. Fed by the ocean and mainland rivers, the sound is a mix of salt and fresh water that is just right for many species. This estuary and its marshes provide protection and shelter for eggs and young to hatch and grow.

Some animals will spend their entire lives here. Others are born in the ocean and travel through inlets into the sound to spend their adolescence before returning to the sea. Some adult fish come into the sound to deposit their eggs among the protective eelgrass. Once hatched, the young stay and grow before leaving the sound for the ocean; only to return, maybe years later, to continue the cycle.

- In the sound, food such as plankton, is readily available. Tall eelgrass gives shelter from the elements and predators.
- The grass shrimp, periwinkle snail, and fiddler crab are some of the animals that spend their entire lives in the Pamlico Sound.
- Some animals, like the red drum, flounder, bull shark, and clear-nosed skate are born in the sound and later live in the ocean.
- The American eel and the green sea turtle are examples of sea life that may go from the ocean to the sound during their lifetime.