Ramp 32, parking lot, footpath on Hatteras Island to open Sept. 4

The National Park Service will open a newly constructed parking area, footpath, and off-road vehicle ramp in the Cape Hatteras National Seashore on Friday, Sept. 4.

The new ramp — Ramp 32, is located on the oceanside of Highway 12 between the villages of Salvo and Avon and near the soundside site of the historic Little Kinnakeet Life-Saving Station. 

“We made the opening of the new ORV beach access Ramp 32 and the nearby newly constructed parking lot and foo path, named ‘Little Kinnakeet Beach Trail,’ a priority so we could offer these new access areas to beachgoers in time for the Labor Day weekend,” stated seashore Superintendent David Hallac.

The opening also coincides with the beginning of the seashore’s fall fishing season. The paved parking area to the south of Ramp 32 provides additional pedestrian access to Cape Hatteras National Seashore. 

Ramp 32 is the second of several such beach access projects planned for the seashore’s future.  The opening of Ramp 32 and the new beach trail marks the second time in one year that the park has expedited construction to increase the number of facilities for improved access to the seashore’s beaches.  On Sept. 11, 2014, the new Ramp 25 opened with a handicapped accessible boardwalk.

Expediting new ORV access ramps and roads was mandated in legislation passed by Congress last December as part of the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act.

Planning for this project was completed in an Environmental Assessment in 2012 that gave consideration to new parking areas, paved and two unpaved roads, ORV ramps, footpaths, ADA accessible boardwalks, and the elevation of an existing flood-prone road section. 

For more information about this or other projects, please call park headquarters at 252-473-2111.