Jockey's Ridge State Park facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Jockey's Ridge State Park |
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IUCN Category III (Natural Monument)
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A sand dune at Jockey's Ridge State Park
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 Jockey's Ridge State Park
Location in North Carolina
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| Location | Dare, North Carolina, United States |
| Area | 427 acres (173 ha) |
| Elevation | 100 ft (30 m) |
| Established | 1975 |
| Named for | Jockey's Ridge |
| Governing body | North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation |
| Website | Jockey's Ridge State Park |
| Designated: | 1974 |
Jockey's Ridge State Park is a special place in Dare County, North Carolina, United States. It's a state park that covers about 427 acres. This park is famous for having the tallest active sand dune system in the eastern United States. It's also the most visited park in North Carolina's park system!
The park is open for day visits, which means you can't camp there overnight. Jockey's Ridge is home to three unique natural areas: the Roanoke Sound, the huge sand dunes, and a maritime forest. Sometimes, after it rains, temporary ponds called vernal pools form at the bottom of the dunes. You might not see many animals on the dunes, but some plants, like tall grass, grow near the bottom.
You can visit the park almost any day of the year, except Christmas Day. There's no fee to get in, park, or join programs. The park entrance is on S. Croatan Highway/US 158 at Milepost 12. Park rangers often lead fun programs throughout the year. You can also explore nature trails, access the sound, and use picnic areas. Many visitors love watching the sunset over the sound, bird watching, and flying kites. The park has outdoor bathrooms that are usually open from spring until the first frost in fall.
If you visit during summer, it's super important to bring your own water. The park doesn't have fresh water available. The dune area can feel like a desert, with temperatures reaching 110 degrees Fahrenheit. The sand can be even hotter, sometimes 30 degrees warmer!
The park's visitor center has a museum where you can learn about the park's history and nature. This includes facts about sand dunes, local plants and animals, weather, and even pirates! There's also a hang-gliding school that offers lessons right in the park. You can reach the main dune area from the visitor center's back deck or the parking lot by walking along a 350-foot boardwalk.
Contents
Park History and How it Formed
Scientists believe the barrier islands of the Outer Banks, where Jockey's Ridge is, are leftovers from the last Ice Age. That ice age ended about 12,000 years ago. Jockey's Ridge itself probably started forming around 7,000 years ago.
It's not totally clear how it happened, but scientists think minerals like quartz were washed from mountains to the ocean. This created sand. Storms and hurricanes then pushed this sand onto the beaches. Over time, winds blew the sand inland in a process called saltation. This sand piled up in the area we now call Jockey's Ridge, starting the huge dune system.
Long ago, the dunes of the Outer Banks stretched all the way to southern Virginia. In the 1500s, sailors used Jockey's Ridge as an important landmark to help them navigate their ships along the coast.
Saving the Sand Dune
By the early 1900s, the Outer Banks became a popular place for tourists. This led to a lot of building and development. Many local people wanted to protect the beautiful dune area. In the summer of 1973, bulldozers started clearing land on the sound side of Jockey's Ridge. A local resident named Carolista Baum found out when her children, who were playing nearby, told her. She bravely stopped the bulldozer and demanded it be turned off.
Soon, people started petitions to "Save Our Sand Dune," and a group called "People to Preserve Jockey's Ridge" was formed. Their hard work paid off! On July 25, 1974, Jockey's Ridge was named a National Natural Landmark. With money from North Carolina and the U.S. government, about 152 acres were bought in 1975 to create Jockey's Ridge State Park.
How Jockey's Ridge Got Its Name
There are a few ideas about how Jockey's Ridge got its name. An old document from 1753 mentions "Jockey's Hill." A 1953 map called the area "Jackey's Ridge," which might mean a family named Jackey or Jacock once owned the land.
A popular story says the name comes from the "Bankers," who were local people who used to catch and race Spanish Mustangs. These wild horses came from ships that wrecked offshore. Riders, or jockeys, raced the horses on the flat areas at the bottom of the big dune. The steep sides of the ridge were like a natural grandstand for people to watch the races!
Cool Projects at the Park
Shoreline Restoration
In 2008, Jockey's Ridge State Park worked with other groups to build a natural oyster bulkhead along the sound side of the park. This project had two main goals: to protect and stabilize the shoreline and to help new oysters grow in the water. They used almost 4,000 bushels of recycled oyster shells for this project!
Wind Turbine Energy
In 2010, Jockey's Ridge became the first state park in North Carolina to use wind power! A 10 kilowatt wind turbine helps power the park, making about 700-900 kilowatt-hours of electricity each month. This helps the park use less energy from other sources.
Park Ecosystems
Jockey's Ridge State Park has three main ecosystems, each with its own special features.
The Jockey's Ridge Sand Dunes
The tall dune area of Jockey's Ridge is called a medano. This means it's a huge, uneven, shifting hill of sand with almost no plants. It's a tough place to live because it's like a desert. The famous winds of the Outer Banks constantly move the sand on the dunes. Stronger winds in winter blow the dunes about one to six feet to the southwest each year. However, the forests around the dunes help keep them somewhat stable. Scientists guess there are about 30 million tons of sand in the park!
The Maritime Forest
The maritime forest is where most of the plants and animals in the park live. These forests help hold the dunes in place. In return, the dunes protect the forests from strong winds and harsh salt spray from the ocean.
Flora: Plants of the Forest
Many types of plants have special ways of living on the Outer Banks. Live oaks are very strong trees common in the southeastern U.S. You can find thick bushes of southern wax myrtle, eastern redcedar, live oak, and redbay near the picnic area and in protected spots among the dunes. West of the dunes, there's a forest with live oaks, southern red oaks, hickory trees, American sweetgum, and loblolly pine. Smaller trees like dogwood and sassafras grow beneath them.
Fauna: Animals of the Forest
Many animals living in Jockey's Ridge have adapted to their environment. Most of them are nocturnal, meaning they come out at night, to avoid the summer heat. So, visitors usually don't see them. But the animals leave clear clues: their tracks! Some interesting creatures that live in the park include the gray fox, six-lined racerunner lizard, Virginia opossum, tiger beetle, eastern spadefoot toad, and antlion.
The Roanoke Sound
The Roanoke Sound is a shallow body of water that separates Bodie Island from Roanoke Island. It's a brackish estuary, meaning it's a mix of fresh and saltwater. The sound stays shallow because the same winds that build the dunes also blow sand from the dunes into the water.
The sound acts like a hatchery for many types of fish, both freshwater and saltwater, because its waters are mostly calm. You might find Croakers, shrimp, striped burrfish, pipefish, blue crabs, and seahorses near the park. Many kinds of shorebirds also live along the sound. Ospreys are a fascinating sight to see in the area during warmer months.
