Cape Hatteras National Seashore Guide

Cape Hatteras National Seashore was the first national seashore in the country, protecting more than 70 miles of wild, undeveloped barrier beach — and its crown is the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, at 198 feet the tallest brick lighthouse in America, its black-and-white spiral warning ships off the Diamond Shoals, the “Graveyard of the Atlantic,” where a thousand-plus ships have gone down. In 1999 engineers jacked up all 4,830 tons of it and rolled it 2,900 feet inland over 23 days to save it from the advancing surf. You can climb its 257 steps for the view.