Emerald Isle, North Carolina.

Last week we visited the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores, however midway through our journey through the aquarium exhibits, we were encouraged to venture outside. There, we discovered the boardwalk and nature trail, which offered a fascinating insight into the ecosystem of the island marshes along the North Carolina coast.

At the time of writing this in February 2024, I noticed on the aquarium’s website that the boardwalk and nature trail are presently undergoing renovations that are scheduled to conclude in May 2024. By the time this post is made public in early April, I recommend checking the website here before your visit if the outdoor activities at the aquarium are of interest to you.

The boardwalk features many placards each detailing the unique aspects of the various viewpoints encountered along your path. However, due to the limits of my photo collection, I wasn’t able to capture the entire expanse of the boardwalk. This boardwalk extends behind the aquarium, skirts the edge of Bogue Sound and meanders through the coastal woodland.

We didn’t visit the Snakes building exhibit at Pine Knoll Shores, and I couldn’t find any information on their website about what was inside other than was on the sign in the photo above. I leave it to you, dear reader, to comment and let me know what you know about the displayed reptiles. It is a sidestep off the boardwalk.

Near the end of the boardwalk, a nature trail beckons. The short loop trail took us about 30 minutes to walk and brought us back to the boardwalk and the aquarium. There, we concluded our visit and took in the final few aquarium exhibits.

We saw only a few birds on our visit and a single ground squirrel. Even so, the short hike was enjoyable and allowed us to view the forest ecosystem on the edge of the island near Bogue Sound.

The suspension bridge is more stable than most I’ve encountered, and its short distance is probably the main reason for its stability. It is needed to transit a marshy area on the loop trail.

There is also a children’s play area with climbing equipment that marks the beginning and end of the loop trail. Given the many children engaged in play, I opted not to share a photograph to avoid any potential discomfort among parents who might be wary of an unfamiliar person capturing images of their kids. While I’m aware that it’s legally permissible to photograph public areas and that individuals don’t possess privacy rights in such spaces, I decided to exercise discretion due to the commonplace nature of the play equipment and the high volume of children present.

The cost to visit the outdoor ecosystem is included in the aquarium’s price of admission which, at this writing is less than $13 with discounts for seniors, military, and children. As I noted, if visiting the marsh here at the edge of Bogue Sound is a priority, be sure to contact them or check their website here, to see if the boardwalk and nature trail are open for the spring and summer season.

My entire collection of images taken at the aquarium has been uploaded to my Flickr site here, where they can be viewed in 2K HD.  The gallery there also includes the scenes I captured from our visit to the indoor aquarium experience I shared in last week’s Travel Tuesday post.

John Steiner