Brochures Cape Lookout National Seashore is home to a wide variety of plants and animals and a rich cultural heritage. The park also provides many recreational opportunities for those who enjoy a more wilderness style beach experience. Park brochures offer a concise guide to one of the recreational activities at the park or an introduction to part of the natural and cultural history of the area. Several brochures are available for download below.
Cape Lookout Lighthouse (pdf, 730 Kb) Portsmouth Village (pdf, 1.5 MB) Portsmouth Village Lives (pdf, 3.7 MB) Shackleford Horses (pdf, 1.8 MB) Sea Turtles (pdf, 1.27 Mb) Beach Safety (pdf, 1.29 Mb) Beach Camping (pdf, 521 Kb) Beach Driving (pdf, 533 Kb) All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) Use (pdf, 123 Kb) Personal Watercraft (PWC) Use (pdf, 152 Kb) Hunting on the National Seashore (pdf, 0.7 Mb) Wildlife ManagementThe islands are more than a place to enjoy a warm summer’s day. For sea turtles and many shore birds, the beaches are a nursery for their young. Some endangered plants, such as Seabeach Amaranth, only grow on specific areas of the dunes. The wild horses of Shackleford Banks depend exclusively on the resources of their island to survive. The National Park Service must balance the needs of those who use the islands for recreation with the needs of those who use them for survival. For this reason, the park’s resource management staff spends most of the spring and summer monitoring and marking the areas needed by nesting shore birds and sea turtles as well as endangered plant species. The Shackleford horses are monitored all year. Below are links to reports that tell us how we are doing in sharing the islands with those who need them for survival. These reports are available for download in pdf format. 2023 Annual Report for piping plover, red knots, American oystercatcher, & colonial nesting shorebirds
2022 Annual Report for piping plover, red knots, American oystercatcher, & colonial nesting shorebirds (pdf, 1.25 MB) 2021 Annual Report for piping plover, red knots, American oystercatcher, & colonial nesting shorebirds (pdf, 7.54 MB) 2018 Annual Report for piping plover, red knots, American oystercatcher, & colonial nesting shorebirds (pdf, 6.03 MB) Bird Counts & Monitoring Reports
Nesting Success Reports
Endangered Plant Species Reports
Shackleford Banks Wild Horse Reports
Historic Site ManagementManaging the historic resources in Cape Lookout National Seashore requires a lot of research into the history of the buildings and surrounding area. This research is documented in Historic Resource Studies, Historic Structure Reports, Cultural Landscape Reports, Engineering Reports, and other reports. Listed below are the completed plans and reports for the various buildings and areas in Cape Lookout National Seashore. Gateway to the Atlantic World, 2016 (pdf, 49.5 MB) Engineering Study:
Historic Structure Report:
Cultural Landscape Report: Historic Resource Study:
Historic Structure Report:
Historice Structures Reuse Implementation Plan:
Cultural Landscape Report: Historic Resource Study: Historic Structure Reports (HSR):
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Last updated: July 25, 2025