4/9/2013
Cape Point Closed to Vehicles Due to Plover Activity

NPS announced the clousure of Cape Point to vehicular access as of 4/9/2013 due to breeding activities of a pair of piping plovers near the vehicle route.  Pedestrian access remains open at present.

Experince from past years suggest theORV access will not reopen until August, after the Piping Plover and Oyster Catcher nesting / breeding season is completed.  Pedestrian access will likely also be closed for much of this period, depending on the exact location of the nests  and broods before fledging.

The full text of the NPS announcement:

Cape Point Temporarily Closes to ORV Access

 Acting Superintendent Darrell Echols announces the temporary off-road vehicle (ORV) access closure of Cape Point area in accordance with the requirements of the ORV Management Plan for Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

 On April 9, 2013, approximately 0.5 of a mile south of Ramp 44 adjacent to the ocean shoreline, National Park Service staff observed piping plover breeding behavior in an area south of what is commonly known as "the bypass."  The required buffer of 75-meters to the east resulted in the closure to vehicles.  There currently is not an alternative ORV access route through the resource closure to Cape Point.  Pedestrian access remains east of the closure along the shoreline to the tip of Cape Point.

 For more information on beach access, check Google Earth maps at: 

http://www.nps.gov/caha/planyourvisit/googleearthmap.htm  or call 252-475-9000.

 -NPS-