Heading to the coast of the Outerbanks aka OBX Camping? here is a brief look at Oregon Inlet Campground

Oregon inlet campground is one of our favorite places to stay at the Outer Banks of North Carolina aka OBX. The campground address is Nags Head, but it is located south of the town of Nags Head on the well-known highway 12. It is right before you get to the new Bonner Bridge and is across the road from the Oregon Inlet Marina and Coast Guard Station.

Pictures courtesy of National Parks

Each of the loops in the campground has a bath house with flush toilets, potable water, and heated outdoor showers. Each campsite has a paved parking pad, picnic table, and charcoal grill. There are limited sites with RV hook-ups. The dump station is located directly across Highway 12 at Oregon Inlet Fishing Center and is free of charge for campers. 

Map courtesy of National Parks

The campground has two loops that are available for RV’s and Tents and a tent only loop. Each loop has a bath house with 3-stalls and a separate shower house. They do have handicap stalls which are really nice because they are large and spacious.

The showers are unique in the fact that they are outside, but of course private. They are not fully enclosed, and you are going to feel the outside air both at the top and the bottom of the shower house, and by the way they do not have lights either so don’t plan to shower after dark or it may be quite a challenge. The water is hot, but it is a pull chain. The best way to use this type of shower is pulling the chain and get wet, soap up your hair and body, pull it again to rinse and you are all done. You better get dressed fast because the bugs love a good clean leg or arm.

The campground is very flat which is nice, until it rains a lot and then you may find yourself with waterfront property.

Water logged campsites from recent rains

The beach is within walking distance, but make sure you take all your gear with you the first time or you will find the walk gets longer and longer. We are fortunate enough to have a four-wheel drive truck and we drive out on the beach. You will need to get a beach driving permit, but they are easy to obtain and since we typically go out several times a season it is worth the expense for an annual pass for us. We enjoy the spacious beaches, as well as the seashell hunts.

One of the reasons we love Oregon Inlet is its location on the Outer Banks. You can explore around the town of Manteo which has a lot of neat stores and a waterfront boardwalk. It is close to the Nags Head area which of course has a lot to do and it is a beautiful drive down to the Hatteras area as well. When we go to the OBX in the fall, we prefer to stay in the Hatteras and Frisco area because we usually focus on fishing only during fall trips and want to be close to the best fishing areas. I will tell you all about those campgrounds in the fall.

 Everyone blogs about all the typical tourist attractions at the OBX such as Kitty Hawk, the Wright Brother Museum, Jockeys Ridge and such, which is enjoyable and beautiful, it can be very hot in the middle of the summer, so plan on going early in the morning before the day heats up.

A few of my pictures from Jockey’s Ridge 2020

A must-do, if you enter or exit the OBX via US Hwy 64, is make time to cut through the Murphy Peterson Wildlife Drive.

https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Alligator_River/visit/wildlife_drive.html

 There are a series of roads totaling approximately 15 miles, plus many additional roads are open to vehicles and provide access to thousands of acres of wildlands, but if it has rained I would not attempt the “off roads” as they may be impassible.

Don’t worry, we did not disturb the turtle, as she prepared to lay her eggs, right in the middle of the dirt road.

We love to see all the wildlife, but my favorite is to see bears. On our most recent trip, June 2020, we saw 15 bears.

I always get excited when I see these signs. We also look for signs of fresh bear activity, aka, bear poop, but I do not take pictures of this, but it does show bears are in the area, which is a plus. The wooden signs get more and more chewed away when we go back each trip.

Of course, I could not capture them well with my camera, but they were fun to see first-hand. I really do need one of those big fancy zoom lenses.

If you do not like commercialized activities, you should definitely make sure you make this as part of your trip if you enjoy wildlife viewing.

We have been fortunate enough to see bears at different times of the day, but the best time we have found is about an hour before sunset. Here are some pictures of this year’s June 2020 bear citings.

You have to know the story behind this picture to understand “why in the world would someone post a picture this blurry?” I was putting the camera away because we had come to the end of the road and was at the paved road, getting ready to get back onto Highway 64, when I glanced at the walking trail on my right, and right there, as big as day, was a huge bear, walking down the trail. I could not get my camera up fast enough and of course I was so excited I was shaking. So, no, the picture is awful, but it will help me remember to never put my camera away in Eastern North Carolina, because you never know when you will see a bear.