Kill Devil Hill

Best Time to Visit Kill Devil Hill

Because the walk to the summit is so short, Kill Devil Hill doesn't call for any particular season or time of day — it works as an easy add-on whenever you're already visiting the Wright Brothers National Memorial. There's no need to time it separately from the rest of your visit; just fold it in whenever you're on the grounds. It's worth making the climb regardless, simply for the perspective it gives on how much elevation the Wright brothers were actually working with a century ago — something that's hard to grasp from ground level.

Tips for Visiting Kill Devil Hill

• Budget only a few minutes for the summit climb — it's short enough to fit alongside the rest of a Wright Brothers National Memorial visit without changing your plans much.
• At the summit, take a moment to look around in every direction before heading back down — taking in the full view is part of the reward for the short climb.

Getting to Kill Devil Hill

Kill Devil Hill is part of the Wright Brothers National Memorial grounds in Kill Devil Hills. A paved path climbs from the memorial grounds up to the summit. Because the hill sits on the same grounds as the rest of the memorial, it's easy to work into a single visit rather than treating it as a separate stop.

What to Expect at Kill Devil Hill

Kill Devil Hill is the actual dune where Wilbur and Orville Wright ran their glider tests in the years before 1903, working out the control and lift problems that led to the first powered flight on the flatter ground below. It's the tallest natural rise in Kill Devil Hills, now part of the Wright Brothers National Memorial grounds. Between 1900 and 1902 the hill absorbed hundreds of glider flights, the trial-and-error work that made the powered flight of December 17, 1903 possible. A granite monument to the brothers was dedicated on top of the hill in 1932 and remains the most recognizable landmark on this stretch of the Outer Banks. The dune itself wasn't naturally stable — it once shifted with the wind like other large Outer Banks sand hills — so stabilization work anchored it with vegetation to keep the summit and monument in place. From the top, the view opens across the rooftops of Kill Devil Hills to the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the sound to the west.