Fort Raleigh National Historic Site Review

Overall 3.00 of 5 (by 1 user)

jps246
Metrowest, MA

Historically important, but not much to see - Fort Raleigh NHS

budget conscious traveler, off the beaten path, married, love to travel, adventurous, gay/lesbian traveler, love nature, budget conscious

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Pros

Historically important

Cons

Not all that much to see or do

MAY

2009

Fort Raleigh National Historic Site —

I'd read about the history of England's first attempts at a colony in the New World, so I was excited to finally get to see the site when I visited the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site. I might have had high expectations though, since it wasn't quite what I expected. Not really in a bad way, but it turns out that the area is a simple site that includes a visitor center, some informational signs, a reconstruction of Fort Raleigh and then several nature trails that take you through the area. No explorations of the Lost Colony or the archaeological excavations in the area.

The site is located on Roanoke Island in the sound behind the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The easiest way to reach the site is on Highway 64 and it's about 3 miles from Manteo. Our visit began at the visitor center which is home to an exhibit hall along with a small theater that shows a movie on the Historic Site. We spent about 20 minutes wandering through and reading the various displays. From the visitor center, we headed out onto the nature trails to visit the reconstructed Fort Raleigh. There's not that much to see and really no interpretive information given at the Fort, which I found to be a bit disappointing. From here you can walk over to the Lost Colony Theater area or over to the Elizabethan Gardens. There's also a nature trail that takes you down along the shoreline of the island.
My Take I have to say I was a bit let down with my visit, yet I was happy I was there. The visitor center is pretty run of the mill and the reconstructed Fort Raleigh is just a small set of earthen works. There's very little interpretive information available and unless you have a distinct interest in the history of the Lost Colony, there's not all that much to see here. However, if you are visiting the Outer Banks area and want to spend a few hours exploring the area's history, I think a stop at the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site is worth it. In the end, I probably wouldn't go again, but I am glad that I did get to visit.