Confirm current access status at NPS Cape Hatteras beach access before you drive.
Where It Is
Ramp 4 is at the south end of Bodie Island, beside the Oregon Inlet Campground and across North Carolina Highway 12 — the two-lane road that runs the length of the Outer Banks — from the Oregon Inlet Fishing Center. It is the last ramp before the bridge over the inlet, and it is the way onto Bodie Island Spit, the sand that runs south from the ramp to the inlet itself. Coquina Beach, about four miles north, is Ramp 2, not this one. Confirm the exact spot on the NPS beach access map.
What’s Typical Here
Inlet water, so the list is longer than it is at a straight stretch of beach: red drum in the fall push, bluefish, sea mullet, spot and croaker through the warm months, Spanish mackerel when the water is clean, and flounder around the structure on the sound side of the spit.
The Read
This is an inlet ramp, not a family beach lot. There is no public parking at the access itself — the campground parking is for campers — so it is a drive-on, and a walk-on only if you have somewhere legal to leave the vehicle. The spit runs south toward moving water and a current that works bait fast, which is why the drum crowd parks here in October and November. Sand at the ramp entrance goes soft when it is dry, and the end of the spit closes for nesting birds for part of the year.
Access Requirements
NPS ORV permit required. See the ORV permit walkthrough for details.
Flying in, or driving something that can’t go on the sand?
Beach4x4 — our rental company, based in Kill Devil Hills — rents beach-ready 4WD Jeeps and SUVs for Ramp 4, Oregon Inlet and the rest of the seashore, with the ORV permit already on the windshield and the required recovery gear in the back. See what’s available →
Parking and Walk-On Access
There is no public parking lot at Ramp 4, so this is not a walk-on access. Walk-on anglers are better off at Coquina Beach (Ramp 2), which has a paved lot, a bathhouse and a boardwalk to the water, or at the Oregon Inlet Fishing Center side for the catwalk under the old bridge. Restrooms at Ramp 4 belong to the campground. Pack out everything you bring.
Current Closure Status
Closure status changes weekly during nesting season (typically March through August) and after major storms. Always check the live NPS status before you drive — a closed ramp ends a trip fast:
