Nags Head Woods
Visit this complex maritime forest ecosystem tucked away on the Outer Banks in Nags Head, North Carolina.
Preview your trip on the web: Nags Head Woods
Learn more
- The Nature Conservancy Find detailed information for more than 50 of the places The Nature Conservancy protects in North Carolina including the Currituck Outer Banks, Celo Knob, the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, and Raven Rock State Park. Also learn about invasive species in our state.
- Lesson plan: Experimental archaeology: Making cordage Students will make cordage and use an activity sheet to experience a technique and skill that ancient Native Americans in North Carolina needed for everyday life. They will also compute the amount of time and materials that might have been required to make cordage and construct a scientific inquiry to study the contents of an archaeological site.
- Lesson plan: Trees in Your Own Backyard This activity lets students discover the benefits of urban forests by looking at trees on the schoolyard. Students will read a synopsis of the 400-year history of communal forests, survey their schoolyard trees, and draft a schoolyard tree ordinance.
- Plant and animal species in Nags Head Woods A short walk along the trails of the Nature Conservancy gives a spectacular glimpse of the great diversity of this barrier island maritime forest.
- Nags Head Woods: A maritime forest In many cases, the natural processes on the Outer Banks evolve from predetermined conditions, as exemplified by the landscape of Nags Head Woods. Nags Head Woods is a mature maritime forest that is bounded on three sides by the large dune complex of Jockey’s Ridge and Pamlico Sound to the west.
Related pages
- Mountain Island Educational State Forest: This State Forest concentrates its programs on best forestry management practices and water quality. Located on Mountain Island Lake, the Forest offers educational opportunities to classroom students.
- Jockey's Ridge State Park: Experience a world of the shifting sands and a barren, desert environment as well as an estuarine environment of the tidal waters of the Roanoke Sound at Jockey's Ridge State Park in Nags Head, North Carolina.
- The Walter B. Jones Sr. Center for The Sounds and the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge: Students can take a walk on the Scuppernong River Interpretive Boardwalk and participate in an environmental education program at the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge.
Related topics
- Learn more about Dare County, North Carolina, Outer Banks, biology, conservation, ecosystems, environmental science, habitats, invasive species, maritime forests, nature reserves, preservation, science, and wetlands.
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One of the best examples of a mid-Atlantic maritime forest with deciduous hardwoods, Nags Head Woods has trees that are up to 500 years old. There are dunes, interdune ponds and wetlands. The preserve has more than 50 species of birds. Other wildlife includes otters, muskrats, turtles and salamanders.
Nags Head Woods is a National Natural Landmark and the Nature Conservancy along with the city of Nags Head and the Friends of Nags Head Woods protects this fragile ecosystem. The Nature Conservancy has “established a visitors’ center and oversees many research and monitoring programs.
Nags Head Woods is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday during the summer. Call (252) 441-2525 for more information.
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