Jockey's Ridge State Park

Experience a world of the shifting sands and a barren, desert environment as well as an estuarine environment of the tidal waters of the Roanoke Sound at Jockey's Ridge State Park in Nags Head, North Carolina.

Preview your trip on the web: Jockey's Ridge State Park

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• USGS Geology in the Parks This site includes information on plate tectonics, rocks and minerals, geologic time, caves, glaciers, and sand dunes, as well as a glossary of geologic terms and animations. You can see the wonders of many National Parks on this site.
• National Estuary Program This site contains a weath of data on the estuaries of the United State as well as information on what estuarys are and the animals that inhabit thses important areas.
• North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve (NCNERR) This site has information on estuaries in North Carolina as well as field trip information, lesson plans, hourly weather and water observations, an esturary cam, videos, and much more.

Related pages

• Singletary Lake State Park: The Singletary Lake program introduces students to the unique geology of Carolina bays.
• New River State Park: Visit New River State Park and discover its unspoiled beauty as well as the flora and fauna of the area.
• Jones Lake State Park: A visit to Jones Lake Park not only teaches students about the habitats and animals that can be found there, but the phenomenon of the Carolina Bays is also explored.

Related topics

• Learn more about Dare County, North Carolina, Outer Banks, animals, biology, birds, ecosystems, environment, environmental science, geology, habitats, nature, parks, plants, sand dunes, science, state parks, waterfowl, and wildlife.

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The tallest natural sand dune system in the eastern United States is found on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Visitors can find 3 different ecosystems in the park: dunes, maritime thicket, and estuary. There are many types of plants and animals that live in the park. Visitors can see the tracks of raccoons, rabbits, deer, opossum, red fox, gray fox, snakes, and lizards. There are also many species of birds that can be seen at the park. The website provides a page on animal tracks for identification of animals in the park.

The park visitor’s center and park are free and open from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. daily. For more information, call (252) 441-7132 or send email to jockeys.ridge@ncmail.net

Each state park and recreation area has an EELE (Environmental education learning experiences) curriculum guide that includes on-site activities, pre- and post-visit activities, student information pages, worksheets, fact sheets, vocabulary, and references. You can receive a free copy of an EELE by attending its corresponding workshop at a park, or you can borrow these guides through interlibrary loan at any public library in North Carolina. The EELE for Jockey’s Ridge State Park is Tracks in the Sand for grades 3, 4, 5, and 6.

The North Carolina State Parks website offers a search feature for finding the plants and animals that can be found at each state park. Using the drop-down menus, you can choose a park and either an amphibian, bird, reptile, mammal, fungus, insect, or vascular plant. You can search within each group by family, scientific name, or common name. There are photographs from the state parks and fun facts for some of the species.

Also see http://www.jockeysridgestatepark.com/

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