Jim Stephenson Nature Trail Springer's Point

Best Time to Visit Springer's Point's Jim Stephenson Nature Trail

The trail keeps specific hours — 8 a.m. to sunset, Tuesday through Sunday — and the preserve is closed on Mondays, so it's worth checking the day of the week before heading over. Since the walk ends at the water, aim to arrive with enough daylight left to reach the beach, take it in, and walk back out before the trail closes at sunset.

Trail Tips for the Jim Stephenson Nature Trail at Springer's Point

• Dogs are welcome on leash, but camping, fires, and motorized vehicles are not permitted anywhere in the preserve.
• Watch the salt marsh and wet grasslands along the route for herons and egrets — they're good spots for birdwatching.
• Look for the memorial benches spaced along the trail; they honor island residents with deep ties to Ocracoke, part of a quiet local tradition of remembrance.

Getting to Springer's Point and the Jim Stephenson Nature Trail

The Jim Stephenson Nature Trail is reached on foot or by bicycle only — there's no trailhead parking, so plan to walk or bike in rather than expecting to drive up to a trailhead.

What to Expect on the Jim Stephenson Nature Trail at Springer's Point

The Jim Stephenson Nature Trail is the main path through Springer's Point, a 132-acre preserve managed by the North Carolina Coastal Land Trust at the edge of Ocracoke village. It's an easy, shaded out-and-back walk of about 0.8 miles round trip, passing beneath ancient live oaks, loblolly pine, and red cedar before opening onto a quiet soundside beach on Pamlico Sound.

The point carries real pirate history: it was once known as Teach's Plantation, a favored anchorage of Blackbeard, and the water just offshore, Teach's Hole, is where the pirate was killed in an 1718 battle. The trail's name honors Jim Stephenson, a longtime coastal policy advocate with the NC Coastal Federation who died unexpectedly in 2009.