The Coastal North Carolina National Wildlife Refuges Gateway Visitor Center (Gateway Visitor Center in short) represents eleven national wildlife refuges and one national fish hatchery, offering an invitation to visit them all. Interactive exhibits teach visitors about each of the refuges in the Coastal North Carolina National Wildlife Refuges Complex, from Cedar Island National Wildlife Refuge to Currituck National Wildlife Refuge. The center is staffed by trained volunteers to answer questions and offer suggestions for visiting any of the refuges in the complex.

About Us

The Gateway Visitor Center serves as an introduction to the Coastal North Carolina National Wildlife Refuge Complex, as well as two other refuges and a national fish hatchery in the area: Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge, and Edenton National Fish Hatchery.

Visit Us

An open, well-lit atrium with an information desk and interpretive exhibits, including a diorama of a forest and a photo stand of wildland firefighters
Image Details
Refuge Education Programs

The nine refuges in the Coastal North Carolina NWR Complex host a variety of guided tours and educational programs. Learn more at the link below!

Refuge Education Programs

Gateway Visitor Center

Through interactive exhibits, audio-visual programs, and even a virtual airplane ride, visitors may experience a field trip to each refuge with hopes to entice them to visit these special places.  See how the Outer Banks will change as the sea level rises. Sit for a spell in the old Dare Forest Supply Store and experience life through a short multi-sensory film, when Buffalo City was a bustling logging and moonshining town! In this small theater you will also have an opportunity to watch 2 other nature and area-related films. In the main lobby, try to find 37 critters hiding in the pocosin diorama. Peek into a red wolf den. Have a picture taken of you as a wildlands firefighter! A short interpreted nature trail wanders through the woods behind the center.

The center is staffed by volunteers. Our non-profit friends group, Coastal Wildlife Refuge Society, operates Wild Things, a gift shop that offers innovative wildlife-related gift items such as nature identification guides, children's toys and books, jewelry, apparel and other items to make your visit both enjoyable and memorable. All proceeds benefit refuge programs.

 

Latest News

3 white, yellow, brown & black pelicans stand next to the water
Three Brown Pelicans
Pictured are three brown pelicans on Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge. Standing along the ocean shore you'll often see long lines of brown pelicans riding the air current just above the top of the wave line.
Multiple flowering small white petals on green and brown tree branch
Coastal Serviceberry Blooms
Coastal Serviceberry is a small tree that blooms early in the growing season before the trees in the forest overstory have sprouted leaves.
3 sets of white purple martin houses on poles in a green field
Purple Martin Housing
If you're a migrating purple martin, clean, affordable, secure housing can be tough to locate. Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge has helped meet the birds' challenge by providing state-of-the-art housing, including adding 12 new gourd houses.
Long-clawed yellow-belied slider turtle stretching its neck while on a log next to wate
Yellow-belied slider
If you're a turtle what can you do with a long set of claws? Digging, defending, mating, eating & sheltering. If you've never before noticed the length of some turtles' claws, look at these!
Brown pelicans and gulls stand calmly on sandy shore next to a raging Atlantic Ocean
Study in Contrasts
You may be used to seeing a long single file line of brown pelicans skimming nimbly in the air above a line of breaking waves or floating and bobbing on the ocean's surface, or even diving from heights straight into the water to catch a fish.
Fluffy white/yellow cumulus clouds over the sunrise-morning refuge tree line
Sunrise on Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge
Six months ago, this was the early morning view on Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. The time of large, puffy cumulus clouds and miles of green fields will be here before we know it.
View All News

Our Library

Gateway National Wildlife Refuges Visitor Center Flyer
Name
Gateway National Wildlife Refuges Visitor Center Flyer
PDF
Coastal North Carolina NWRs Gateway Visitor Center Trail Map
Name
Coastal North Carolina NWRs Gateway Visitor Center Trail Map
PDF

Get Involved

The Gateway Visitor Center depends on dedicated volunteers to provide information, answer questions, and assist with guided programs. There are many opportunities at Gateway and refuges throughout the Coastal North Carolina National Wildlife Refuges Complex for different kinds of volunteers, as well as internships and partnerships. 

Location and Contact Information