A new beach ramp is opening at Cape Hatteras National Seashore on Monday, in time for the fall fishing season/NPS

Beginning this coming Monday, barring unforeseen circumstances, off-road vehicles will have a new ramp for reaching the beaches of Cape Hatteras National Seashore in North Carolina.

Outer Banks Group Superintendent David Hallac said the newly constructed Ramp 48 and a 1-mile section of the “Inside Road” located in Cape Hatteras National Seashore northeast of Ramp 49 and the village of Frisco is set to open Monday. The new ramp and “Inside Road” will facilitate ORV access to a stretch of beach in time for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday and fall fishing visitors to the seashore.

A small ribbon cutting ceremony, beginning at 11 a.m. on Monday, November 23, will be held for interested participants. To attend, meet at the parking area adjacent to the Billy Mitchell Airstrip near Frisco at approximately 10:45 a.m.

Ramp 48 is the third of several beach access projects planned for the seashore’s future and marks the third time in a little more than  two years that the park has expedited construction to increase the number of facilities for improved access to the beaches of Cape Hatteras National Seashore. The opening of the 1-mile stretch of the “Inside Road” will mark the beginning of a longer section opening soon after additional construction is completed this winter.

The opening of Ramp 32, with an accompanying new beach trail, was completed in August, and Ramp 25, with adjacent handicap accessible boardwalk, was completed in September 2014. Planning for these projects was completed in an Environmental Assessment in 2012 that gave consideration to new parking areas, paved and two unpaved roads, ORV ramps, foot paths, ADA accessible boardwalks, and the elevation of an existing flood-prone road section.

With the construction and completion of these beach access ramps and nearby trails and boardwalks, the “Inside Road,” and the construction of Ramp 63 on Ocracoke Island, (scheduled to begin in this coming winter) more immediate vehicle and pedestrian access to the seashore’s beaches are available for visitors to explore and enjoy.