Escaped from Spanish ships, North Carolina's wild horses have run freely for nearly 500 years on the Outer Banks beaches of Corolla and on the Shackleford Banks in the Crystal Coast. The best way to see them is on a wild horse vehicle tour or a trip with the Corolla Wild Horse Fund.

As many Nicholas Sparks fans know, nearly all of his books and movies are set in different parts of North Carolina; he even resides in New Bern.

The sands and constant wind of the Outer Banks make the area the perfect destination for gliding on the air. In fact, Orville Wright set the world record for gliding in the Outer Banks several years after his historic flight.

The coast of North Carolina has inspired mankind for centuries, but on Dec. 17, 1903, the pull reached new heights. Brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright achieved man's first successful heavier-than-air, powered, controlled flight that day at Kill Devil Hills near Kitty Hawk.

Topsail’s beaches are known for their natural beauty, which is often a draw for visitors — and sea turtles. North Carolina’s warm and shallow waters, plus a vast system of estuaries, provide an ideal habitat for nesting sea turtles, and Topsail hosts a large number throughout the year.

Pier fishing is a tradition along North Carolina’s coast, and no spot has a longer history for anglers than the Kure Beach Fishing Pier — the oldest on the Atlantic Coast. The pier dates back to 1923 when LC Kure built a 120-foot-long pier made of pine. That pier lasted less than a year, but in 1924 he pioneered the use of reinforced concrete to build a 240-foot pier.

If you walk in front of the seawall between Kure Beach and Fort Fisher at low tide, you’ll come upon the only coquina outcrop on the North Carolina coast. Located a short distance from the Fort Fisher State Recreation Area, these mounds of clumped shells have hardened over the years from surface exposure. They form a small platform extending beneath Kure and Carolina beaches as well as Masonboro Island.

One of the most distinct and spectacular aspects of the Outer Banks is the natural, scenic and remote condition of so much of a vast coastal area that is close to major population centers along the East Coast.

Springer's Point is a 120-acre coastal nature preserve with a legendary past. First settled in the early 1600s as a bustling shipping port, its flow of goods and barrier-island features attracted one of Ocracoke’s most infamous visitors, Edward Teach. Better known as notorious pirate captain Blackbeard, Teach used the sound and ocean access of Springer’s Point to raid and plunder well-stocked cargo ships.

Roaming freely along the windswept shores of Northern Outer Banks, the wild horses of Corolla are living links to a bygone era. Believed to be descendants of Spanish mustangs brought here by explorers over 400 years ago, these striking horses have adapted to life on the barrier islands, navigating dunes, salt marshes and scrub forests with quiet resilience. These wild herds are a reminder of the unique and untamed spirit that still defines the Outer Banks.