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Run Hill State Natural Area

 In Culture & Events, Features, Outdoors

The Hidden Gem of KDH

It is a picture-perfect April day on Run Hill. There’s not a cloud in the sky and what little breeze exists, is a gentle whisper from the southwest.

There’s a brown thrasher somewhere close by. His song is somewhat melodic but it’s booming and is typical of a male looking for a mate at this time of the year. His song is so loud, figuring out exactly where he’s located is a bit difficult, but finally there he is, perched atop a pine tree, singing with full gusto hoping a female will come his way.

Run Hill State Natural Area is perhaps the most overlooked wilderness spot on the Outer Banks.

It’s not massive, around 125 acres of protected sand dune, although sand dune seems a poor description of what the environment is really like. The loose sand and sharp incline that is the climb to the top of the hill, though, leave little doubt that this is indeed a sand dune, but it’s a dune like no other on the Outer Banks.

There are no trails here; no visitor’s center, no facilities, just a small sign along the side of 10th Avenue in Kill Devil Hills with a dirt strip that has room for maybe three cars to park. There is another entrance at the back nine of the Casey R. Logan Disc Golf Course, and that may be the better way to access the dune. The course is at the end of a dirt road that passes behind the First Flight High School football field; there is plenty of parking there and the walk through the towering pines of the maritime forest that make up the course is beautiful.

Whether the 10th Avenue or disc golf entrance is used doesn’t really matter—the climb up the dune begins right away and a wonderfully diverse, beautiful ecosystem seems to erupt from the dune. Loblolly pines thrive in this soil, their roots spreading wide in search of nutrients and water. Around the base of a coppice of trees a dense thicket flourishes, and at any time of the year there is the constant rustle of birds flitting through the branches. As the weather warms the spectacular scarlet of the trumpet honeysuckle is everywhere.

The western ridge of the dune falls quickly to the forest floor then to an impenetrable marsh and finally out to Buzzard’s Bay. Overhead the reason for the bay’s name becomes clear; turkey vultures, taking advantage of the uplift from the dune, soar effortlessly on currents of air.

RUN HILLThe Nature Conservancy’s Nags Head Woods borders Run Hill to the south and west. Entering the nature area from the 10th Avenue entrance, at the base of the dune there is a pristine freshwater pond of incredible beauty. The ponds are actually in Nags Head Woods, but there are no boundary markers here. No matter the season, the still waters become a mirror for the dense forest that grows to the edge of the pond. The path—or what passes for a path—to the pond is very steep and climbing back to the top of the dune is challenging, but the beauty and serenity of the water is so remarkable that the reward is worth the effort.

There is a trail that comes out of Nags Head Woods onto Run Hill. From the Run Hill side, it’s hard to find. In Nags Head Woods the trail begins along Old Nags Head Woods Road at what was once a power line access road. As the trail heads to Run Hill, somewhere off to the left is the Baum Cemetery. It cannot be seen from the trail, and it’s best to go with someone who has been there and knows how to find it. Off the trail, Nags Head Woods is a dense, trackless maritime forest and it’s easy to get lost.

Run Hill is one of the northernmost of a series of high dunes that at one time stretched from Kill Devil Hills to Nags Head. Big Kill Devil Hill, clearly visible just to the north, where the Wright Brothers Memorial is located, was one of those dunes, although it has been stabilized with sod and beach grass. To the south, the dunes included the Seven Sisters, a line of dunes abutting Jockey’s Ridge to the south. At one time they ranged in height from 40-50’. They were leveled to make room for homes and businesses and by 1999 there was no trace of them to be seen.

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Run Hill is both curse and benefit to Nags Head Woods. The dune, pushed by the powerful northeast winds off the Atlantic is slowly, inexorably moving south and west and as it does so the sand replaces the trees. It is a process that has been going on for centuries and will, no doubt, continue for several centuries into the future. That process is on full display at the end of the Nags Head Woods trail as it comes to the base of Run Hill. With startling suddenness, the verdant green of the maritime forest gives way to the harsh environment of the dune field.

But Nags Head Woods could not exist if there was no Run Hill protecting the low ground on its western side from the salt spray and harsh winds of the sea. That protection is something all maritime forests need, and without it, they are invariably fatally damaged by ocean winds.

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Top: One of many ponds found in The Nature Conversancy’s Nags Head Woods, on the northern border of Run Hill, completely covered in Duckweed (scientific name: Lemnaceae). Bottom: After a rare snow fall in January of 2014, neighboring locals flocked to Run Hill for sledding and snowboarding.

It was a close thing, but that protection for Nags Head Woods was almost sacrificed for a residential neighborhood in 1990. The plan was approved by Kill Devil Hills in April of that year the Coastland Times reported, with the only stipulation that three lots “…which border on the nature conservancy, will be landscaped so as to protect the sand dune there, and prevent erosion.” Although platted and approved, the project never broke ground.

At the base of the dune the is the First Flight Schools complex and athletic field. The high school especially played a key role in creating Run Hill State Natural Area.

As plans for a new high school were moving forward, the proposed location would have encroached on Run Hill. Concerned that damage to the dune would harm Nags Head Woods, the Nature Conservancy worked with Dare County and Kill Devil Hills to acquire adjacent land for the school and allow for the preservation of Run Hill. The following year, in 1995 the North Carolina General Assembly approved the funds to purchase Run Hill and create a state natural area.

This hidden gem, in the shadow of fraternal dune Jockey’s Ridge is as beautiful as any place on the Outer Banks. For those of us familiar with Run Hill, the remoteness of this majestic mound combines with its breathtaking views to deliver an unmatched, tranquil experience. A visit to this spot, along with many within the Outer Banks further strengthens our appreciation for these treasured nature preserves.

Kip Tabb
Author: Kip Tabb

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Photo by Wes Snyder Photography©Delia D’Ambra