Cape Lookout National Seashore

Long time lurker here, figured I would go ahead and post up some photos from my most recent adventure.

Took a few days to head down to Cape Lookout National Seashore in North Carolina. The island is 56 miles long, accessible only by boat. It's mostly used by fisherman, I took interest in the primitive camping wherever you want on the island.

We set the GPS Friday morning for Atlantic Beach, NC, a small beach town 40 minutes from the location of the ferry. It's a 10.5 hour drive from Ohio.

Cool rig outside an abandoned hotel where we were grabbing gas.





We spent the night there after getting in late, grabbed a beer at the local bar around the corner and caught some sleep.

The next morning, we set out for Davis, NC, where the Ferry was located.

A few fishing rigs sitting in the long term parking lot near the ferry.


Its a small ferry, only room for 4 trucks. After arriving on the island, we aired down and set out to explore a bit. Driving in soft sand is interesting, truck sorta goes where it wants to. Cruising down closer to the beach was nice.



We set camp for the night and took in an absolutely incredible sunset.









The next morning, breakfast was had in front of the water. Our typical egg whites, turkey bacon and some hash browns with a warm cup of coffee.



The island has a lighthouse on the south end so we set out to explore that area. The light house was gorgeously restored and was really a sight to see.



Realizing the tip of the coast was only a few more miles south, we set out to drive as far as we could on the island, really to just say we did.



Heres the truck sitting on the last few feet of the sand, surrounded by the Atlantic.



Headed on back to cook some dinner and caught another incredible sunset.





Caught some sleep before heading out the next morning.



We stopped in Asheville on the way home to recoup and drink some good beer. Decided to leave the the camera in the bag and just enjoy the rest of the trip.

'Till the next trip!

 

Cool, this has been on my to do list since I first lived in NC years ago. Would love to take time one fall to explore/camp/surf fish the island.

 

I definetly recommend it. Was a great opportunity to get away and nothing beats the waves crashing to fall asleep to haha.

 

Beach camping is the best, just not a lot of places where you can do it. I've done a lot of backpacking on the beach's of the Olympic National Park in Washington State before and those are by far my favorite backpacking trips, 60 miles of coastline and very remote.

 

Wonderful photos and information. Thanks, it's an area I want to hit.

 

Great pics !! What ferry service did you use? I have never been on the sand that far south. It looks fairly compacted like Daytona beach. Up around Corolla NC it gets pretty rutted up especially around the access points.

 

Davis Island Ferry Service is a good family owned ferry and they have a larger ferry that is Cape Lookout Cabins and Camps that is a bigger new boat. I prefer Davis Island Ferry, they have free air to pump your tires back up before hitting the asphalt and are cool folks! Check schedule at Davisferry.com

 

I'm starting to plan a fall trip soon and found this when searching.

Anybody know when the big reds bite down there? I would think early November would be a good time. I usually do Hatteras or Ocracoke but I'm wanting to get a bit more primitive this fall.

 

Yep I’ve used both! Both were very accommodating.

That I do not know. But I used to do hatteras and Love this place to death.

Actually just went back about a month ago and then circled up into Uhwarrhie National Forest.

 

Awesome, any tips for first timers to Cape Lookout? I'm an avid surf fisherman but bought an RTT recently to start doing extended trips without having to rent a motel.

 

@fatfurious2 this is overland&water as it gets

 

I plan on getting there this fall!

 

Pretty sure we just set a date for Oct 26-29, at least that weekend. Shit, I forgot @08comatose

 

ok Im in. That other thread?

 

Nah, some local fishing buddies. We usually do Hatteras in the fall but wanted to change it up and camp this time.

 

Hmm that's bow season and prime time Rut around here. Should do last weekend in September

 

In af

 

Merica!

 

Not really. Just book in advance and prepare yourselves for the entire weekend food and drink wise. You won’t have the ability to just hop back on the ferry and head to the general store. It’s a great peaceful place! Air down to take some strain off the truck and have fun. Check out the light house for sure.

 

Any facilities? Shower, toilets?

Edit:
Just saw the truck tent...so i'm gonna guess probably not.