Soundside Overlook

Best Time to Visit Soundside Overlook

This side of Jockey's Ridge State Park faces west into Roanoke Sound rather than east into the Atlantic, which makes Soundside Overlook one of the better sunset spots on this stretch of the Outer Banks. Time a visit for late afternoon into evening so the walk out ends with the sun dropping over the sound. No seasonal hours or closures are noted for this access point, so beyond choosing the right time of day, there's nothing else time-sensitive to plan around here.

Trail Tips for Soundside Overlook

• This is one of the least-crowded corners of Jockey's Ridge State Park, since most visitors head for the main dune — a good pick if you want a quieter walk.
• Expect to share the Soundside Access parking area and shoreline with paddlers, waders, and kiteboarders, since the same entrance serves as a launch point onto Roanoke Sound.
• The sound here is shallow and calm compared to the ocean side of the island.

Getting to Soundside Overlook at Jockey's Ridge State Park

Soundside Overlook is reached through the Soundside Access entrance at 330 W. Soundside Road, a separate parking area from Jockey's Ridge State Park's main dune entrance on the Beach Road/US 158 side of the park. This access point is managed as part of Jockey's Ridge State Park by NC State Parks, so use the W. Soundside Road address specifically if the sound-side loop and overlook — rather than the dune — are the destination.

What to Expect at Soundside Overlook

Soundside Overlook sits at the quieter, west-facing edge of Jockey's Ridge State Park — not the towering dune most visitors picture, but a separate Soundside Access where the barrier island narrows down to the calm water of Roanoke Sound. A walking loop of roughly a mile leads through maritime thicket — wind-bent live oak, wax myrtle, and yaupon holly — and across a marshy deflation plain before opening onto the view: open water, marsh grass, and Roanoke Island low across the sound. It's a walk through thicket and wetland rather than sand, and the loop's payoff is that water view rather than a dune summit.