Lighthouse pathway formally opened

Published 3:16 pm Thursday, June 26, 2025

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A ribbon is snipped to commemorate the completion of a 10-foot wide concrete pathway in the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse District in Buxton. At the ribbon are, from left, Bryan Burhans, director of Outer Banks Forever; Dave Hallec, superintendent of the National Parks in Eastern North Carolina; Mike Smith, Outer Banks Forever advisory board member; Trip Forman, Outer Banks Forever Advisory Board president; donor Marilyn Bray; Laura Ertle, director of marketing and public relations at Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperative; Nick Graham, Outer Banks Forever Advisory Board member; and Lee Nettles, executive director of Outer Banks Visitors Bureau. Holding the ribbon is National Park Service Ranger Jaelene Weaver. Mary Helen Goodloe-Murphy photo

A specially designed bench shaped as a surfboard pays homage to Cape Hatteras as the Wave Magnet. On it is a quote from Brett Barley, a professional surfer and Buxton resident. Mary Helen Goodloe-Murphy photo

Kelly Slater as a young person holds his surfboard with the lighthouse in the background. “The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse has stood as a symbol of East Coast and U.S. Surfing since I can remember,” is the quote from Slater.

Trip Forman, president of the Outer Banks Forever Advisory Board, speaks to attendees. “Staying the same is going backwards,” said Forman. Continually improve the park is a goal for Outer Banks Forever. He called the pathway “the real deal.” Mary Helen Goodloe-Murphy photo

Lighthouse Pathway display panel shows the route and alerts visitors to other features of the district. Information about pathway use is also detailed. Along the pathway are more display panels with information.

Attendees gather at the pathway Plaza waiting for speeches to begin. The pathway runs from NC 12 down Lighthouse Road, splits with a route to the Old Lighthouse location and then follows the move route to the new location of the Lighthouse. Mary Helen Goodloe-Murphy photo

The next project will be erected in the grassy area to the left in this photograph. Outer Banks Forever with partners and donors are erecting a bath house with toilets, lavatories and showers with hot water, provided especially for surfers in wintertime.

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At the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, a formal ribbon cutting celebrated the new multiuse pathway running to the currently shrouded lighthouse and to the famed structure’s original site.

That original location is the world-renowned spot for surfing, watersports and fishing.

It’s now safe to ride a bike, run or walk to celebrated locations and follow the pathway the lighthouse took in 1999 on its trip away from the encroaching Atlantic Ocean.

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Dave Hallac, superintendent of the National Parks in Eastern North Carolina, was the leadoff speaker for the event.

He cited the 41-year history of the pathway, called for in the seashore’s General Management Plan in 1984. “It was a long-time coming.”

The paved pathway was on the minds of many Hatteras Islanders. Ginger Knight, now deceased, called every month and sent heartfelt emails to Hallac.

Hallac praised the $30,000 contribution from the Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperative that jump-started the project. That donation helped pay for the pathway’s design, a first step toward the ribbon-cutting on June 12, 2025. Design money is the hardest to come by.

Outer Banks Forever, the philanthropic arm of the Outer Banks national parks, started a fundraising campaign. That $350,000 in raised funds moved the pathway to excellence.

The Federal Highway Administration provided $1.5 million toward construction, reported Hallac.

On Sept. 22, 2023, a $3.2 million contract was awarded to Terra Site Constructors LLC, Front Royal Va., to build the 1.25 mile-long, 10-12-foot-wide paved multi-use, accessible pathway.

Trip Forman, first and only president of Outer Banks Forever Advisory Board, said Cape Hatteras seashore “needed an improvement like this.”

He called the project, “a real deal.”

For 55 years, Marilyn Bray has been visiting the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. She lauded the pathway as creating an accessible way to experience the lighthouse. “I’m proud of it and overwhelmed.”

Representing the Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperative, Laura Ertle, director of marketing and public relations, said the pathway speaks directly to one of the cooperative’s founding principles: concern for the community. She praised the project: “job well done. It looks great!”

Lee Nettles, executive director of the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau, said the organization was proud to offer financial support. The project “literally connects” local residents of Buxton and visitors to the lighthouse.

Bryan Burhans, director of Outer Banks Forever, read the names of the businesses, organizations and individuals who contributed more than $1,000. These donors and others are listed on a display at the Plaza.

Hallac topped off the celebratory morning with the announcement that the Dare County Health Department had lifted its precautionary public health advisory and that the three-tenths of a mile of beach in Buxton was reopened.

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