Once home to thousands of wild banker horses, now there's just under 100 left on Corolla. And we were fortunate enough to meet a few of them on our self-guided tour. Wild horses or not, driving on the 4x4 beach is a must have Outer Banks experience in my opinion!
Music featured in this video: “Hopefully Start” by John Bartmann, “Follow Me Home” by Arulo, and “Love They” by Loyalty Freak Music
Visiting the Beach
If you plan on visiting Corolla, there's some important things to know first:
Corolla is home to wild horses and Currituck County has strict ordinances in place to protect them. For example, coming within 50 ft of one of the horses is punishable by law. Feeding the horses is also illegal and could kill them. You can read more about the laws regarding the horses HERE.
Corolla's beach access is 4WD only. AWD does not work. Without this feature you won't be able to drive on Corolla. You will also need to deflate your tires to 15 - 20 psi before driving on the sand. Afterwards you can refill your tires in Historic Corolla Park near the picnic pavillion. More info on the "Air Up Location" can be found HERE under Currituck County (Corolla) Specific Rules
Once on the beach, there is no stopping in the ramp area and no parking on the beach until after about a mile in. There are signs are present to let you know where you can park and when to keep moving. Be sure to check out this list of beach access guidelines.
There's a chance you might not see any horses. In our case, we reached the very end of the beach and still hadn't seen a single horse. It wasn't until we drove into the community that we saw them. While touring the neighborhood doesn't guarantee it, it may increase your chances of seeing them.
Lastly, watch out for stumps on the beach! Especially during low tide.
Tours and Rentals
If you don't have a vehicle with 4WD don't worry! There are a couple ways you can still experience this adventure.
Go through Wild Horse Adventure Tours. This is a guided tour lasting a little over two hours. To book a tour or get a little more information go to their website: Outer Banks Wild Horse Tours Corolla NC
Or rent a 4WD vehicle. This is the option we chose. Which was great because it gave us more flexibility. There was no time slot to reserve or schedule to keep. (Aside from the vehicle pick up and drop off, of course) It was also kind of fun being in charge of all our own tour details like how far down the beach to go, navigating the neighborhood/ housing community, and even adjusting the tire pressure.
We rented from Bret through Beach4x4.com. He gave us a general rundown of the Jeep and all the need-to-know info before taking it on the beach. Side note: there was a hefty security deposit, but we got it back soon after returning the vehicle back in the same condition it was lent to us. We had a great experience renting from Bret, and highly recommend him.
Another rental option is Outer Banks Jeep Rentals. They are a family owned business in Kill Devil Hills with over 75 positive reviews on. Since we didn't personally use this rental service, I can't say much more than that.
Our Visit
After picking the Jeep, we began our tour of Corolla by finding the "Air Up Station" (in Historic Corolla Park). Deflating the tires is easy enough, but the last thing I wanted was to get back from the beach and have no idea where to reinflate them! So, we took a short drive around the park. It took us a minute to find it, located near to the picnic pavilion. This page from OBX Beach Access gives you a description of the Air Up Station and pictures.
Now the exciting part: actually driving on the beach! It was pretty cool seeing the paved road gradually disappear into sand leading up to the access. Like I mentioned above, there were signs everywhere. From "Keep Your Vehicle Moving" to "Don't Even LOOK at the Horses Funny" (Not really. But there were signs about not approaching or feeding them.) One of the guides I read beforehand said you're likely to see horses about 6 miles down the beach. We went all the way to the barricade/border for False Cape State Park (a little over 10 miles from the access) No horses. While that was a bit disappointing, it was still a lot of fun getting to drive on the beach.
Then Jordan had the brilliant idea of taking a detour into the neighborhood/housing development. Jackpot! We saw 4 horses hanging out grazing on one of the lawns. We continued to drive around seeing a solo horse here and there. If you do plan to take this trip for yourself, STAY ALERT! The horses will run right up to and in front of your vehicle out of nowhere. Thankfully we were all keeping our eyes peeled for them and made it through the visit with no incidents.
History
You may be wondering "How did wild horses get on the Outer Banks?" The short answer is Spanish Explorers. When their relationship with the Native people went South so did they, leaving behind their livestock. There's also an account of Spanish ships wrecking near the Outer Banks. The horses onboard swam ashore making the barrier islands their new home.
In the last 100 year their population has dwindled significantly. Once numbering in the 1000s, there's only a couple hundred left today. These horses have actually been the subject of a lot of controversy and drama over the decades. Some see them as a non-native invasive nuisance, while others see them as an important part of coastal heritage in need of protection. I can honestly say I have an opinion either way on the matter. But you can get a quick run-down on the horsey drama here: The Controversy Behind the Outer Banks Wild Horses (wildhorsetour.com)