Deer, raccoons, osprey, pelicans, and loggerhead turtles inhabit this thriving island, while a wide variety of aquatic life can be found in the marshes and tidal flats. On Bogue Banks, the Theodore Roosevelt Natural Area is the remnant of a lush maritime forest and contains natural habitats once prevalent over most of the island. Fort Macon State Park at the eastern tip of Bogue banks has an easy quarter-mile loop nature trails that meanders through the beach and maritime forest environment of the Park. The Rachel Carson National Estuarine Reserve near Beaufort includes a number of low tidal islands inhabited by a herd of feral horses and 200 species of birds. Cape Lookout National Seashore encompasses 56 miles of undeveloped barrier islands known as Core Banks and Shackleford Banks.
Access is by boat only, and several fishing camps offer rustic accommodations right on the beach.
The NC Maritime Museum in Beaufort offers weekend programs, and the National Park Service maintains a visitor center near the Cape. The barrier islands north of Cape Lookout are part of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, which extends from Ocracoke Village northward to Nags Head. Within the Seashore, visitors will find a variety of ecosystems and the most extensive range of animal species on the coast. The combination of the cold arctic waters north of Cape Hatteras and the warm waters of the Gulf Stream in the south makes for a diverse ecosystem. The Seashore is famous for its great concentration of migratory birds on the Atlantic Flyway.