Jockey's Ridge State Park

The dune is a medano - a shifting hill of sand with no vegetation to hold it - and its height varies with wind and storms, generally cited somewhere between eighteen and thirty metres depending on the year. It migrates: the whole system moves south-west by a few metres annually, has buried a miniature golf course and has threatened houses at the edge. It is also losing volume overall. The park was created in 1975 after a local campaign stopped a developer levelling it; the story of one resident lying in front of a bulldozer is part of the founding account. The steady Atlantic wind makes it the site of the oldest hang gliding school in the country, running lessons on the slopes since 1974.

Highlights

• The tallest natural dune on the Atlantic coast - height varying by year.
• A dune that migrates - a few metres south-west annually.
• Hang gliding lessons - on the slopes since 1974.
• A park created by a local campaign - against levelling in the 1970s.

When to go

April to October; sunset is the popular time. Two to three hours.

What to expect

The sand reaches painful temperatures in summer - shoes are essential midday. There is no shade anywhere on the dune. Wind blows sand constantly, which is hard on cameras. Walking in soft sand uphill is more work than it looks.

Nearby

Wright Brothers Memorial is north; Cape Hatteras runs south.

Key facts