Fort Raleigh

Fort Raleigh is one of the best places to visit on the Outer Banks if you're into history. Marking the location of some of the earliest English settlers, it offers walking trails, historical reconstructions, and educational displays.

Inside the main entrance there are a few monuments to look at as well as the visitor center. Inside the visitor center there are displays, educational videos, and artifacts from the 1500s. History about the underground railroad can be explored here as well. Further inside the complex visitors can stroll along paved footpaths and learn about the settlers from displays. There is a large, reconstructed earthwork fort in the middle of the grounds, replicating the perimeter of one of the settlers' encampments. Hiking trails through the woods and along the water veer off from the main area, though not all are paved and wheelchair accessible.  

Fort Raleigh is very close to the Elizabethan Gardens and to the Waterside Theatre, where performers with the Roanoke Island Historical Association put on acclaimed shows about the Lost Colony during the summer months.