Cape Lookout National Seashore is one of America's few remaining undeveloped coastal barrier island systems. It encompasses about 29,000 acres of islands, most of which run roughly parallel to the eastern shores of Carteret County. The system is bounded on the north by Ocracoke Inlet and on the south by Beaufort...more about Cape Lookout National Seashore
State and National Parks
Cedar Island National Wildlife Refuge consists of 14,480 acres predominantly irregularly-flooded brackish marsh along with some pocosin and woodland habitat. The refuge is located on the south shores of the Pamlico Sound in Carteret County, North Carolina. It was established in 1964 under the Migratory Bird Conservation Act to protect...more about Cedar Island National Wildlife Refuge
Located between New Bern and Emerald Isle, the Croatan National Forest is a 161,000 acre coastal and inland swamp habitat. The Croatan Forest is home to the largest collection of carnivorous plants in any national forest and it is near the northern range limit of the American alligator. It also has...more about Croatan National Forest
The Rachel Carson Reserve, part of the four-component North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve, is just across Taylor's Creek from Beaufort. It may look like just a collection of small marshy islands — including Town Marsh, Bird Shoals, Carrot Island, Middle Marshes — but the reserve is an active field research...more about Rachel Carson Reserve
