The Core Banks are barrier islands in North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

, part of the Cape Lookout National Seashore

Cape Lookout National Seashore

Cape Lookout National Seashore preserves a 56-mile long section of the Southern Outer Banks, or Crystal Coast, of North Carolina, USA, running from Ocracoke Inlet on the northeast to Beaufort Inlet on the southeast. Three undeveloped barrier islands make up the seashore - North Core Banks, South...

. They extend from Ocracoke Inlet

Ocracoke Inlet

Ocracoke Inlet is an estuary located in the Outer Banks, North Carolina, United States that separates Ocracoke Island and Portsmouth Island. It connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Pamlico Sound. It is the southern terminus of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. It is the northern terminus of the...

 to Cape Lookout

Cape Lookout (North Carolina)

This article is about the Cape Lookout in North Carolina. See Cape Lookout for other places with a similar name. Cape Lookout is southern point of the Core Banks, one of the natural barrier islands on the Atlantic coast of North Carolina, USA. delimits Onslow Bay to the west from Raleigh Bay to...

, and consist of two low relief narrow islands, North Core Banks and South Core Banks, and, since September 2011, two smaller islands. New Drum Inlet

Drum Inlet

Drum Inlet is an inlet of the Outer Banks in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It connects the Core Sound with the Atlantic Ocean and separates North Core Banks from South Core Banks....

, and now Old Drum Inlet, and Ophelia Inlet, separate the islands. They are now uninhabited, although Portsmouth

Portsmouth, North Carolina

Portsmouth was a fishing and shipping village located on the north end of the Core Banks on the Outer Banks in North Carolina. The site lies on Portsmouth Island in Carteret County, across Ocracoke Inlet from the village of Ocracoke. The town was established in 1753, and abandoned in 1971...

, at the north end of the Core Banks, was once a substantial port.

The islands are visited by sport fishermen, who reach the islands by two vehicle ferries. One ferry crosses Core Sound

Core Sound

The Core Sound is a large and shallow body of water in eastern North Carolina located between the mainland of Carteret County and Core Banks, part of the Outer Banks of North Carolina, located west of the Atlantic Ocean and north of Bogue Sound. Pamlico Sound is located to the north and east....

 from Atlantic

Atlantic, North Carolina

Atlantic is an unincorporated community in eastern Carteret County situated along the Core Sound, located in what was known to early settlers of the area as Hunting Quarters. It is the location of US 70's eastern terminus and the ferry terminal for journeys to North Core Banks in the Cape Lookout...

 to North Core Banks, and another crosses the sound from Davis to South Core Banks. There are no roads on the islands: vehicles use the beach and four wheel drive tracks. Passenger ferries also take tourists from Harkers Island to the Cape Lookout area at the south end of South Core Banks.

Portsmouth Island, on which Portsmouth Village stands, is a tidal island accessible from North Core Banks at most states of the tide.

The geography of the Core Banks has changed since the mid 19th century. At that time South Core Banks was connected to the Shackleford Banks

Shackleford Banks

Shackleford Banks is a barrier island system on the coast of Carteret County, North Carolina. It contains a herd of feral horses, scallop, crabs and various sea animals, including summer nesting by loggerhead turtles...

. Over the years inlets have closed and opened in the barrier islands. From north to south these inlets have been Whalebone Inlet, now closed, which separated Portsmouth Island from the Core Banks, Swash Inlet (closed), Old Drum Inlet (closed in 1971 and reopened by Hurricane Irene

Hurricane Irene (2011)

Hurricane Irene was a large and powerful Atlantic hurricane that left extensive flood and wind damage along its path through the Caribbean, the United States East Coast and as far north as Atlantic Canada in 2011...

 in 2011), New Drum Inlet (opened by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1971), Ophelia Inlet (opened by Hurricane Ophelia

Hurricane Ophelia (2005)

Hurricane Ophelia was the fifteenth named tropical cyclone and the eighth hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. It was a long-lived storm that was most remembered for its very erratic and extremely slow track off the East Coast of the United States, alternating several times between...

 in 2005), Cedar Inlet (closed) and Barden Inlet

Barden Inlet

Barden Inlet is the southernmost of the Outer Banks water inlets. Located just northwest of Cape Lookout in the U.S. state of North Carolina, the inlet connects Onslow Bay of the Atlantic Ocean with Core Sound. It separates the Shackleford Banks from the Core Banks.Barden Inlet was opened by the...

 (opened by a hurricane in 1933, separating Shackleford Banks from South Core Banks).