The Town of Duck, NC, is located on the northern Outer Banks along N.C. Highway 12. It’s between Southern Shores and Corolla, and it’s incredibly easy to find.
Coming from the southern Outer Banks, head up to Milepost 1 in Kitty Hawk/Southern Shores and turn right on N.C. Highway 12 at the intersection of highways 158 and 12. If you’re coming in from the north through the Currituck mainland, turn left on N.C. Highway 12 at the intersection of highways 158 and 12. You’ll drive right into Duck. After you pass through Duck, you’ll head to Sanderling and up to Corolla.
While Duck is easy to find, if you’re coming in on a summer Saturday or Sunday, you should expect quite a long stop-and-start drive on N.C. Highway 12 leading through Southern Shores up to Duck. There are many hundreds of rental cottages that turn over on these days, so you can imagine that all the happy ingressing and less-happy egressing visitors create quite a collection of cars, all traveling on that two-lane road. Just relax and enjoy the views.
Here’s an important note on Duck information: In recent years, some visitors to Duck, NC, and areas north have begun cutting through neighborhoods in an attempt to avoid the traffic on N.C. 12. While we can’t legally regulate this activity, we do ask that in all good consciousness you not use these neighborhoods as your short cut. These roads are even narrower than N.C. 12 and are not designed for such traffic. And the increased traffic truly negatively impacts the safety and ambiance for the year-round residents whose homes border these streets. So, please only use N.C. Highway 12 to reach your rental cottage in Duck.
