National Park Service Announces Fall Program Schedule and Visitor Center Hours

Date: August 29, 2008
Contact: Outer Banks Group, 252-473-2111

The National Park Service Outer Banks Group will offer a variety of free ranger-led programs this fall at Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, Wright Brothers National Memorial and Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Programs will begin on Tuesday, September 2 and run through Tuesday, September 30. All programs are free.

Fort Raleigh National Historic Site will be offering two 30-minute programs daily at the visitor center. At 11 a.m., 1585-1586: The Exploration Expedition will be presented; and at 3 p.m., 1587: The Colony. The video, Roanoke: The Lost Colony is shown daily at 30-minutes past the hour. By completing a booklet and attending a program, kids ages 5-13 can become a Junior Roanoke Ranger. Call the park at [phone] for more information, or check the park website at www.nps.gov/fora.

At the Wright Brothers National Memorial, learn about the Wright brothers, their flight experimentation and their success during Flight Room Talk (30 min.) daily at 10 a.m., 12 p.m., 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. in the Flight Room Auditorium. Fun With Flight (45 min), a kids’ flight exploration program, will be offered in the First Flight Pavilion Auditorium at 11 a.m. Wednesday through Monday, and at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. First Flight Tour (30 min.), detailing the historic December 17, 1903 flights, will be given at 3 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. Visitors can climb to the top of the Wright Monument on Tuesdays at 8:30 a.m. by registering in advance for the Monument to the Dream Tour. This program is limited to 30 people and pre-registration is required. The pre-registration period for each Monument to the Dream Tour program starts at 9 a.m. the Saturday prior to the program and visitors may pre-register by calling [phone] x230. By completing a booklet and attending two programs, kids ages 5-13 can become a Junior Flight Ranger. Call the park at [phone] for more information or check the park website at www.nps.gov/wrbr.

Programs are offered on all three island areas of Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

While visiting the Bodie Island Visitor Center, children can learn more about the seashore on the Especially for Kids program (30 min.) at 11 a.m. daily. Also daily, at 1 p.m., is the 30-minute Ranger’s Choice program.

There are several 30-minute programs taking place daily at the Hatteras Island Visitor Center next to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, including: Outer Banks History at 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., Sentinel of the Shore at 10:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., and Barrier Island Nature at 11:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

While in Ocracoke village, stop by the Ocracoke Island Visitor Center at 11 a.m. to hear the daily 30-minute program: Barrier Island Nature each Sunday and Friday, Outer Banks History on Monday, Thursday and Saturday, Graveyard of the Atlantic on Tuesday and Rangers Choice on Wednesday. For a closer look at life on a sandy beach, come to Explore the Shore(1 hr) starting on Monday at 2 p.m. at the Ocracoke Campground parking lot located three miles northeast of the village. On Tuesday at 2 p.m., attend a talk on the Banker Ponies (30 min) at the Ocracoke Pony Pasture. The Morning Bird Walk (1.5 – 2 hrs) will be on Wednesday at 8 a.m. – meet at the parking lot across from the Hatteras ferry dock.

By attending programs and completing a workbook, kids ages 5-13 can become a Seashore Ranger. For further information on Seashore programs, contact the Bodie Island Visitor Center [phone], Hatteras Island Visitor Center [phone] or Ocracoke Visitor Center [phone]; or check the park website at www.nps.gov/caha.

All National Park Service visitor centers on the Outer Banks are open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. throughout the fall months, starting September 2.

-NPS-