Campground · Cape Hatteras National Seashore
Open camping, a dune walk from the Atlantic and Cape Point.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Cape Hatteras Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Cape Hatteras National Seashore. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
Recorded for this place
Cape Point Campground“Up ahead is Cape Point Campground, the seashore's largest campground. I'd choose it for a stay near the Atlantic beach; a walk through the dunes gets you to the shore.”
Plays as you drive up to Cape Point Campground in the Parkwolf Cape Hatteras Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
Cape Point is the largest of the four campgrounds at Cape Hatteras National Seashore, with 202 sites southwest of Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. The sites sit on a broad, level open field between rolling dunes and maritime forest; a walk through the dunes reaches the Atlantic beach and Cape Point. It’s a useful base for time on that stretch of shore, but the campground itself is exposed and has no shade trees.
Every site has a paved parking pad, picnic table, and charcoal grill. Forty-nine sites are tent-only, and there are no RV hookups. Four bathhouse areas provide seasonal flush toilets and cold outdoor showers; potable water is seasonal too. There’s no camp store, and ice and firewood aren’t sold here. Only charcoal cooking fires are allowed, in a grill or other self-contained unit; wood fires are prohibited. Dogs are allowed on a leash no longer than six feet.
Wildlife
489 sightingsBrown PelicanMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
64 sightingsTamanend's Bottlenose DolphinMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
35 sightingsBald EagleMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
225 sightingsWhite-tailed DeerMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
59 sightingsRiver OtterMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
112 sightingsOspreyMost seen around 8 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Cape Hatteras. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
EasyLoran Road Trail0.5 mi · 15 min · 0.6 mi awayAn easy accessible walk along a former Coast Guard tower road.
ModerateOpen Ponds Trail4.5 mi · 4 hr · 0.9 mi awayA one-way crossing through Hatteras dunes, ponds, and maritime woods.
EasyBuxton Woods Trail0.8 mi · 45 min · 1.3 mi awayA marsh boardwalk and maritime forest in under an hour.
EasyLookout Loop Trail0.3 mi · 21 min · 1.7 mi awayA quick ridge-to-sedge walk across old coastal dunes.
EasyThe Lighthouse Pathway1.5 mi · 36 min · 2.2 mi awayA broad paved link from Buxton to the lighthouse and beach.
ModerateNorth Trail (Buxton Woods Reserve)2 mi · 1.3 hr · 2.7 mi awayA steep climb through the barrier island’s dune-ridge forest.
Sight · 0.9 mi awayBuxton British CemeteryTwo sailors' graves give this short stop a World War II story.
Sight · 1.2 mi awayCape Hatteras LighthouseA black-and-white beacon for the Graveyard of the Atlantic.
Sight · 1.2 mi awayMuseum of the SeaShipwreck and lifesaving stories inside a 1854 keeper house.
Beach · 1.2 mi awayCape PointTwo shores, shifting sand, and surf fishing at the island's bend.
Picnic area · 1.3 mi awayBuxton Woods Picnic AreaA shady picnic stop with a lighthouse view and forest trail.
Beach · 1.6 mi awayOld Lighthouse BeachSurf, shells and a lighthouse story written into the sand.
Sight · 1.7 mi awayHistoric Cape Hatteras Lighthouse SiteSee the old footprint and the tower’s 2,900-foot move.
Food · 2.1 mi awayOrange Blossom Bakery & CaféA big apple fritter with a story built into the dough.Parkwolf’s Cape Hatteras ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
