A concessionaire offers daily ferry access in the summer months to the Seashore from the island. At the northeastern tip of the down east peninsula, Cedar Island is the mainland terminus of Highway 12. Here motorists board one of the state supported ferries for the two-hour ride across Pamlico Sound to Ocracoke Island, where the Outer Banks leg of Highway 12 begins. Cedar Island National Wildlife Refuge is a well-preserved tidewater ecosystem, encompassing thousands of acres of marshlands and pine hammocks, as well as hundreds of species of wildlife. Visitors can get a unique glimpse of the area by horseback at the White Sands Motel and Horseback Rides, adjacent to the Cedar Island ferry offices.
Local legend has it that Cedar Island has a connection to the famed Lost Colony of Roanoke.
Many local historians believe that Cedar Island was where the colonists actually settled, not further north on Roanoke island as popularly believed. Occasional attempts at proving the theory are made difficult by the wild and inaccessible nature of the area. Core Sound is North Carolina s shallowest and narrowest sound. Named for an indigenous tribe of Indians, the Coree, the sound separates the down east area from the low barrier islands of the Cape Lookout National Seashore. But a visit is well worth it for those of the mind to rough it.