The speed limit on all of the gravel roads of the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge is a modest 35 mph. Visitors would be wise, however, to creep along at a slower pace.

First of all, it’ll make it easier to avoid turtles, snakes and even surprising finds like crayfish crossing to the next canal.

Secondly, it’ll make it easier to spot that bear marking a tree just inside the brush line, or that alligator snacking on a salamander, or that red wolf crossing the field.

Oh, and your shoulders will thank you every time the driver hits the brakes and locks the seatbelts when someone in the car enthusiastically yells “BEAR!” or “GATOR!”
“Definitely the thing about this Refuge, there’s no set spot,” says Sarah Toner, who serves as the Visitor Services Manager of the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. “You’ve just got to drive and keep your eyes out and what you see will depend on what you’re looking for. You just have to be in the right place.”

Photo by Wes Snyder Photography

On this late May morning that begins with sunshine and ends in steady rain, Toner serves as expert guide and storyteller for a crew from Outer Banks Coastal Life Magazine. She spots the first bear. Points out unique birds. Helps a turtle across the road. Reminds other visitors of the “no stopping” stretch of road they’ve stopped on. Hypothesizes about what we just saw an alligator eat. And she shares note after note about one of the most interesting places on the Outer Banks.

It turns out there are three categories of locals when it comes to the Alligator River Refuge. One group – seemingly pretty small – can’t get enough of the place and makes regular trips to enjoy being in nature and capture photographs of the wildlife. A second group will visit once or twice a year, usually hoping to see a bear or two.

As for the third group? That’s most of us who see the various turn-offs from Highway 64 and 264 and worry whether or not a state trooper is hiding out as we speed back and forth to Greenville or Raleigh.

As this visit shows, that should change. Why should you make that drive of no more than an hour from the northern beaches and put on that blinker to turn left onto Milltail Road?

Did we mention the bears? And the alligator? And the rare chance to see red wolves in the wild?

This bird might appear to be hiding in the tree at Alligator River, but young Barred Owls are actually hard to miss in May and June because of the racket they make. “The easiest way to find them is when the young fledge from the nest, they have a very unique call that is nothing like a hoot,” Buckler explains. “They do this begging call that’s a real screechy thing, so that makes them much easier to find.” Photo by Mark Buckler Photography

GETTING STARTED
While the Refuge is certainly no secret, its visitor center in Manteo between the Manns Harbor bridge and the turnoff for the Elizabethan Gardens and Fort Raleigh is a facility that more folks should discover. The massive building nestled in the trees is one part offices for all the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service refuges in eastern NC and one part information center for visitors. Great exhibits, short videos and a gift shop await, as well as friendly volunteers armed with maps and knowledge about the best reason to stop by: maximizing your visit to the Refuge itself.

The Refuge protects more than 160,000 acres and contains a surprising network of roads within its boundaries from the Croatan Sound to the Alligator River to highways 64 and 264. A huge swath inside is off limits – don’t mess with the Dare County Bombing Range – while more than 4,100 acres are farmed by three locals in a partnership with Fish and Wildlife. All that is to say, having a map and knowing where to go can be helpful.

The maps include reminders about being careful not to get stuck on less-traveled side roads, especially after rain, and offer numbers for towing companies – assuming you have cell service. Toner says 90 to 95 percent of visitors stick to the more heavily traveled paths just off 64, traversing Milltail Road, Buffalo City Road, and Long Curve Road, which takes you toward 264. A leisurely cruise in the neighborhood of two hours definitely provides enough time to hit the highlights.

WHAT YOU’LL SEE
Much of the Refuge is a boggy peatland pocosin habitat and also features brackish marshland, hardwood swamp forest, and freshwater pools and creeks. That makes for a wide variety of fauna to spot and…“BEAR!”

Less than five minutes into this morning visit, a tree at the edge of the brush line moves as a black bear brushes against it. Seeing the vehicle, the bear retreats deeper into the forest, but a minute or two later, brush begins to dance again and then he’s back. The bear rears up on his hind legs and stretches tall to scratch at the bark high up on a tree. Toner shares that this is marking behavior, showing off how tall he is.

Photo by Wes Snyder Photography

Task complete, the bear vanishes back into the tree line, but our day is already made. How many bears live in the Refuge? Toner says an old study that the FWS is trying to update showed a population of between 180 to 293 bears, which may not sound like a lot, but actually makes the Refuge one of the most densely populated in the world at about three bears per square mile.

That makes them easier to spot when you visit at the right time – not in the heat of the day – but still scarce enough that interaction between people and bears is at a minimum.

“I’ve had situations where I’ve been on foot and I just turn around and walk back to my car,” says Toner, who’s been at Alligator River about four years. “Thankfully, we haven’t had any incidents, and we’d like to keep it that way. They’re not very scared of vehicles, which isn’t ideal, so we do try to encourage people to keep a good distance away if a bear is approaching.”

Just a few minutes later, another bear is spotted way out in one of the farm fields, head popping up and down. A third bear sighting comes courtesy of a friendly passerby, who watched a bear climb a tree and pointed out rough directions on how to find it. Sure enough, there it is, getting cozy some 50, 60 feet off the ground and settling down for a nap.

That spirit of camaraderie is common, Toner says, among the birders and wildlife enthusiasts who flock to the Refuge.

Shifting our gazes downward, we intently look for alligators in the canals along the road, but come up empty. Turtles everywhere. One, sadly, not moving in the middle of the road after being hit. A snake slithering through a puddle and into the tall grass. And the oddest thing of all, a crayfish nearly finished with its journey from one side of the road to the other.

Toner stops to help it all the way into the brush.

“I’ve never seen a crayfish on the move here. That’s a new one for me!” she exclaims. “It’s such a habit of mine to move animals off the road if they’re on there.”
Some 90 minutes have passed and we’re making our way back toward Milltail Road when, finally…“GATOR!”

This is no ordinary sighting in the canal, however; after it poses for photos, the gator suddenly lunges toward the shoreline and promptly starts chewing. It’s impossible to know for sure as the scene unfolds through reeds, but Toner catches enough of a glimpse to guess that an unsuspecting aquatic salamander called an amphiuma just became the gator’s brunch.

“People are wanting to see a black bear, an alligator and a red wolf – that’s kind of like the trifecta,” Toner says of a Refuge visit. “But given how skittish and how scarce the red wolves are, getting to see multiple black bears and the gator means you’ve gotten the Alligator River experience.”

CHANCES TO LEARN AND EXPLORE
The FWS estimates that some 435,000 visits were made to Alligator River last year and that interest in the Refuge continues to grow. While the roads and two walking trails – the half-mile Creef Cut Wildlife Trail and Sandy Ridge Wildlife Trail – are options for solo visits, other fun can be had in groups both in the water and on land.

Four paddling trails, ranging from a mile and a half loop to an 11-mile round trip, can be enjoyed from access points off Buffalo City Road. Plenty of folks put in themselves, but both the FWS and local companies offer canoe or kayak trips in Milltail Creek and Sawyer Lake.

Toner adds that the Alligator River tram and van tours are also hugely popular, usually filling up for their weekly summer and monthly offseason outings. (Learn more at the visitor center or by visiting: https://www.fws.gov/refuge/alligator-river). Other guided programs to find bears and also to see the elusive red wolves that are part of the much-heralded Red Wolf Recovery Program take place weekly. School groups also visit the Refuge with rangers in the fall and spring.

It’s all part of FWS’ mission to not just preserve and protect wildlife areas, but also to educate people about the cultural and natural resources that, in this case, can be found right in their own backyard. The Refuge actually turns 40 this year – perhaps it’s time to help this amazing place celebrate its birthday by planning a visit!

“Some days you come out and drive and you just get turtles, and some days you get everything,” Toner says. “People are always like, ‘Where are the bears?’ We don’t know exactly where they are right now – they don’t tell us their schedule – but if you come here, you’ll have a chance.”

Steve Hanf is a former professional sportswriter who now teaches journalism at First Flight High School. This visit to Alligator River was his first since moving to the beach in 2015 but won’t be his last!

Author: Steve Hanf

Steve Hanf is a former professional sportswriter who teaches the journalism classes at First Flight High School. The dormant Nike Running Club app on his phone offers a reminder of the seven half-marathons and one full marathon he completed … several years ago.