NPS Summer Programs Begin for 2012

Date: June 13, 2012
Contact: Outer Banks Group, 252-473-2111

Summer programs started last week at the National Park Service Outer Banks Group.A wide variety of programs are being offered.Summer programs will run from June 9 - August 17, 2012.The summer program schedules include history talks, nature walks, and recreational programs such as surf fishing, cast netting, crabbing, seining, and snorkeling.

Four special tours will be offered this summer at Cape Hatteras National Seashore:

·Coast Guard Station Tour will provide an up-close look at Coast Guard operations and vessels at Oregon Inlet and Hatteras stations;

·Old Days at the Hatteras Weather Station relays the history of this recently restored building and U.S. Weather Bureau operations on Hatteras Island;

·Night Climb - a guided night tour of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is offered twice every Thursday evening (a pre-registration program - see the park website for details); and

·Village Walking Tour is a discovery of Ocracoke's historic sites.

Wright Brothers National Memorial and Fort Raleigh National Historic Site are offering two new kids programs-Being Wright at Wright Brothers National Memorial and Playing the Part at Fort Raleigh National Historic Site.

Program schedules and descriptions are available on-line at each park's website: Fort Raleigh NHS, www.nps.gov/fora; Wright Brothers NMEM, www.nps.gov/wrbr; and Cape Hatteras NS, www.nps.gov/caha.Program schedules are also listed in In the Park, the National Park Service Outer Banks summer newspaper, available at any park visitor center and Outer Banks Visitors Bureau Welcome Center.

The Full Moon Tour of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse will also return this year on July 3, Aug. 1, Aug. 30, and Sept 29. - watch for details to be announced!

The visitor center and museum at the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse are now open on the extended hours of 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. daily.The lighthouse itself is open on the extended hours of 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.The visitor centers at Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, Wright Brothers National Memorial, and Bodie and Ocracoke Islands on Cape Hatteras National Seashore are open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily.