North of Corolla, for 12 miles to the Virginia line, lies one of the last stretches of fairly undeveloped barrier beaches on the Outer Banks. This is the final frontier in Currituck County. And although several families live here year round and vacation homes are popping up in increasing numbers, there will always be a limit to development here because there is no paved road.
Highway 12, which runs almost the entire length of the Outer Banks from Ocracoke to Corolla, comes to an abrupt end just north of Corolla. Here, drivers either turn around or pop it into four-wheel drive and hit the beach. From there, 12 miles of state and federally owned land, intermingled with new vacation homes, old Coast Guard stations, and wild horses coexist next to wide, white sandy beaches and preserved maritime woods and wetlands.
On the south end of this stretch lies the Currituck Banks Coastal Estuarine Reserve. The Reserve was established to preserve fragile natural areas and the variety of life they support. The Currituck Banks unit is one of four in the state, and is a cross-section of a northern Outer Banks barrier island/estuarine complex bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the low-salinity waters of Currituck Sound to the west.
The Nature Conservancy also owns and manages several tracts of land along this stretch of beach. Between holdings on the Banks and the mainland, the Conservancy protects over 6,800 acres of sensitive wetlands and barrier island environments in Currituck County.
The Currituck National Wildlife Refuge also encompasses about 4,000 acres of land on the Currituck Banks. Established in 1984, the Refuge attracts about 15,000 visitors annually and protects the last remaining habitat of the endangered or threatened piping plover, loggerhead sea turtle and seabeach amaranth.
There is a stretch of beach here known locally as Wash Woods, characterized by gnarled and weatherworn tree stumps. Poking above the sand and surf like defeated sentinels, the stumps are the remnants of an ancient forest that once covered the Soundside of the barrier island. As the islands retreated westward in response to rising sea levels, the forest was covered, then uncovered, leaving ''wash woods'' for visitors and residents to ponder.
Just north of the first refuge tract is Swan Beach. Here you will find a few dozen rental homes, some of which are built practically on the wide, flat beach. A few miles north of Swan Beach, a stone's throw from the Virginia line, is Carova (the name is representative of its proximity to both Carolina and Virginia), a similar subdivision with both rustic and modern homes nestled in quite woods. Homes in Carova and Swan Beach are connected by a system of dirt roads behind the dune line allows residents access to their homes.
Carova is bounded on the north by a fence that runs from sound to ocean and marks the Virginia State line. On the Virginia side of the fence, False Cape State Park and Back Bay Wildlife Refuges offer hikers and campers wonderful opportunities to experience an untouched barrier island environment.
........Carova Beach, Swan Beach history
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