Best 6 Cycling Routes in the Outer Banks

Whether you’re visiting the Outer Banks for a long weekend, a week, or you live at the beach now, here are the best cycling routes to get some miles in the Northern Outer Banks (Rodanthe to Corolla.

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Beach Road (Virginia Dare)

Distance Each Way: 15 Miles
Vehicle Traffic: High
Dedicated Bike Lane: No (KH and KDH) Yes (Nags Head)
Parking: Jennette’s Pier or Outer Banks Visitors Bureau/Kitty Hawk 

The go-to ride for all cyclists when in the Outer Banks. Simply put, from Kitty Hawk, through Kill Devil Hills, down to Nags Head, everyone can quickly access the closest road to the beach, Virginia Dare Trail. And better yet, this uninterrupted stretch of road has only two stoplights. No there isn’t a dedicated bike lane separate from traffic, other than the sidewalk path in Nags Head, but the shoulder is wide enough to feel decently safe riding on the road. Like most routes in the Outer Banks, this is a straight road, but no shortage of sights to see. On one side, you have the ocean, with different access points to pull into for a quick detour, and on the other side you have all the beach road homes. These homes, all different shapes and sizes, are always amazing to look at, but catching their “names” is much more enjoyable than the home itself. Personally, I feel more comfortable riding on the beach side of the road, because there is less of a chance that somebody will pull out onto the road without looking since no streets merge onto the road from the beach side. If you like to stop for a bite to eat or grab a cold drink on your ride, the beach road is the place to be. Stops at Tortugas Lie, Swells’a Brewing, or Mulligans are a great way to spend an afternoon.

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Southern Shores to Duck

Distance Each Way: 21 Miles
Vehicle Traffic: High
Dedicated Bike Lane: Yes & No
Parking: Outer Banks Visitors Bureau/Kitty Hawk or Duck Town Park Boardwalk

As long as you don’t hit this route on a changeover day, Southern Shores up to Duck (and beyond) is a real getaway from the rest of the Outer Banks. Changeover of the vacation rentals can leave the road completely gridlocked from 10AM to 4PM on Saturdays, so time your ride well. The homes lining the road start to get bigger and more spread out, but the best part is riding under the cover of trees once Duck Road forks left off from Ocean Blvd. It’s unlike really any other paved road in OBX. Sadly, this is also where the shoulder of the road gets extremely narrow. Sure, there is a walking path, but it is usually used pretty heavily by walkers and runners, making cycling a slow-going affair at best. Some days, you can ride on the road and the cars pass by with ease and give you a wide berth, other times, cars lack the confidence and will sit behind you backing up traffic making you feel like crap. But if you manage to catch this ride on a good, low-traffic day, you can cruise these winding roads to the town center of Duck and beyond.

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Bay Drive

Distance Each Way:  8.3 Miles
Vehicle Traffic: Low
Dedicated Bike Lane: Yes & No
Parking: First Flight Airport or David Paul Pruitt Park

One of the lesser ridden bike routes in OBX, Bay Drive is a fantastic combination of neighborhood roads and bike paths. With one end starting at the Wright Brothers Memorial bike path in KDH and ending out by the Walmart in Kitty Hawk. With how little traffic uses these roads on the KDH side, the entire pavement is free for you to ride. Plus, this section of road has a few hills by Tateway Road which is a rare option down at the beach. I really like this ride because of the change of scenery from one end to the other. In KDH, you ride through a see of packed in neighborhoods with the Sound waters as a boundary of the sprawl, then a multi-use path separates the dense housing with the much more secluded and wooded sections of road in Kitty Hawk. Following the twisting roads that lead around and over water, you find yourself in a mix of swamp land and dense pine forest before popping out by the Wright Memorial Bridge in Kitty Hawk. Though there is more road traffic on the Kitty Hawk portion of this route, the shoulders are wide enough to really enjoy pedaling through the bay side of the the Outer Banks.

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Nags Head Woods Preserve

Distance Each Way:  2.8 Miles 
Vehicle Traffic: None
Dedicated Bike Lane: Entire Road
Parking: Nags Head Woods Preserve

Hands down, my favorite place to ride a bike in the Outer Banks! Of course, I’m biased due to my passion for mountain and gravel biking. In a place that is developed with 3 story beach homes from the Ocean to the Sound, this is a little slice of paradise that hasn’t been touched. Riding back here, under the canopy of trees, can transport you truly into unadulterated nature. A 100% dirt road from one end to the other, is a perfect chance to get out your wider tire bikes and enjoy climbing the rolling hills. To add to that, I would not recommend bringing your road bike back here, between the rocky sections, loose dirt, and sand traps, you’ll likely loose control and crash. But on a plus side, the critters you get to share the road with add to the mystique of this trail. Although, some might disagree, it does feel like wild nature when you always see spiders, snakes, song birds, deer, and once I even saw a large cat, to which I still think was a bobcat! But one from one and back, you’ll always enjoy it, especially getting to ride the rolling hills in contrast to the extremely flat terrain of the Outer Banks.

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Cape Hatteras National Seashore

Distance Each Way: 24 Miles
Vehicle Traffic: Medium
Dedicated Bike Lane: No
Parking: Jennette’s Pier or Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station Historic Site and Museum

Similar to the beach road, but much better. No worries of cars pulling out of homes or side streets. An almost straight shot from Nags Head down to Rodanthe, with a massive bridge climb over the Oregon Inlet. You’ll pass by some of the best beaches in the world as you connect the segments of the beach towns that make up the Outer Banks. Though there’s no official bike lane, the road is plenty wide enough to feel comfortable the entire way. Plus, a quick stop towards the Nags Head side, you can visit the black and white Bodie Light House.

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Colington Lollipop

Distance Round Trip: 15 Miles
Vehicle Traffic: Low
Dedicated Bike Lane: Yes & No
Parking: Ocean Bay Lifesaving Station

A ride that not only is my go-to because I live back in Colington, but also a favorite because it changes up the cycling routine in contrast to the very straight routes everywhere else. This route will take you from the beach to the sound along a very windy Colington road, over two bridges, past the Blue Crab bar, and into the Colington Harbor neighborhood. Though it is gated, you can still ride your bike back into the neighborhood. Once in the Harbour, you can either go left, on Harbour View Dr, or go right, on Colington Drive. Sadly, it does not connect in a big loop due to the inlet from the neighborhood harbor into the sound, but that’s not so bad when it means you get to ride both segments twice. With a few hill climbs, twisting roads, and a shocking amount of trees, you’ll feel like you’re down in South Carolina more than the Outer Banks any more. An added plus, the sound-side beach at the end of Colington Drive by the harbor is a fantastic place to catch the sunset before riding back to the beach to finish the lollipop route!