Jockey's Ridge State Park #SandInYourCar

    It's no secret, I love sand dunes. I often dream of taking an epic American sand dune tour. Oh man, it would be sandy. Sand in my shoes. Sand in my ears. And, despite my best efforts to keep it out, no matter what - sand in the car...lots of sand in the car. There's more dunes in the ol' US-of-A than you think. Luckily for us, we don't have to travel too far to start the trip (or at least pretend we're starting the trip).

    Welcome to Jockey's Ridge State Park, a group of dunes located in North Carolina's Outer Banks. The constant wind here has, over many years, blown all of these little grains of sand together for your hiking, kiting, sand boarding, and flying enjoyment. Wait a second, flying? It's a great little state park with a big bonus - you can fly here. Or, at least, learn how to glide, or maybe fall gracefully, or just plain crash a big glider off a giant sand dune.   

   The park includes over 400 acres of dunes and woods and is located in North Carolina's Outer Banks in Nags Head, just minutes from the amazing (and soon to be blogged about here on ETC) Wright Brothers National Memorial. The Outer Banks are one of the many groups of barrier islands that dot up and down the Atlantic coast. The wind here is good and the sand makes for a softer landing - especially if you happen to trial-and-error-crash your glider hundreds of times, just like the Wright brothers did back in the early 1900s.

   We didn't take a gliding lesson on our visit, but we hiked (and took a few toy pics). When you arrive there's a visitor's center and a short boardwalk trail out to an overlook. After that, there's lots of sand to explore. It turns out that Jockey's Ridge is the tallest natural dune system in the Eastern US. You get a great view from the top of the big dune - it's between 80 and 100 feet tall! ​

   So, with just a few paragraphs and pictures, I hope we've established that Jockey's Ridge State Park is worthy of being included in our (or your) future great American sand dune tour. Until that officially begins, we can always head out to Jockey's Ridge to practice our hiking/sand-boarding/kiting/& flying. And maybe, just maybe, with a little practice clicking our heels together, we'll keep at least some of the sand out of the car!

   ~Paul, Amber, Sis, Dad, Susan        ETC

Fun Facts!
*If needed, call the park ahead to arrange a handicap accessible ride to the top of the dunes.
*While hiking, imagine you're walking over a buried mini-golf course.
​*Eat nearby at the best Mexican restaurant on the planet.
*Make sure to wear shoes - this sand is hot like fire in the summer.

Links!
Book some gliding lessons at the park {Bam!}
Check out a PDF map of the park {Pow!}
Check for events at the park {Boom!}
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