Most tourists come to see the lighthouses, and to fish, hang- glide, windsurf and swim. They clam -
ber to scale the tallest natural sand- dune system in the eastern United States ( Jockey’s Ridge).
They travel to the barrier islands to witness the fall migration of thousands upon thousands of
ducks, geese and swans and to bear tribute to the first pow -
ered flight by humans— the one Orville and Wilbur Wright
made at Kill Devil Hills in 1903. Others take the bridge
across the sound to the site of the first English settlement
in America ( Roanoke Island, 1585). However, a newer breed
of tourist travels to the mainland to glimpse the basin’s
lesser- known treasures— the pristine waters of the Alliga -
tor River and its newest residents, red wolves; the country’s
oldest operating canal ( Dismal Swamp); and Native Amer -
ican cypress canoes as old as the pyramids ( Lake Phelps).
The Pasquotank River Basin boasts many treasures, all
connected to its diverse aquatic resources. The basin is
W hat North Carolina river basin is 41 percent water, contains more national wildlife
refuges than any other and has the fewest people? If you guessed the Pasquotank
River Basin, you’re right. But these facts prob-ably
escape the notice of the millions of vis-itors
who flock to the basin’s Outer Banks
every year. They need only the region’s
reputation for unsurpassed beauty and rich
natural heritage to entice them.
Total miles of
streams and rivers:
474
Total acres of
estuary: 918,223
Total miles of
coastline: 110
Municipalities
within basin: 11
Counties
within basin: 10
Size: 3,635
square miles
Population:
118,913
( 2000 U. S. Census)
profile:
PASQUOTANK RIVER
BASIN
Va
Bodie Island Lighthouse,
Cape Hatteras National
Seashore ( left); Jockey’s
Ridge, the tallest natural
sand dune system in the
eastern United States,
fluctuates between 80
and 120 feet high ( below).
BILL LEA
BILL LEA