The Outer Banks
A chain of barrier islands off the North Carolina coast
The Outer Banks are a long, thin chain of barrier islands and spits arcing about 200 miles along the coast of North Carolina, separated from the mainland by broad, shallow sounds. Constantly reshaped by storms and currents, they are some of the most dynamic landforms in the country - sand ribbons that migrate, breach, and rebuild, never far above the reach of the Atlantic.
Their treacherous shoals, shifting inlets, and frequent storms earned the waters offshore the name "Graveyard of the Atlantic" for the hundreds of shipwrecks there. The banks were the site of the Wright brothers' first powered flight at Kitty Hawk in 1903 and of the lost 16th-century Roanoke Colony. Today their lighthouses, wild beaches, and villages draw heavy tourism, even as rising seas and erosion threaten the narrow strands.