Wright Brothers National Memorial

The first successful sustained powered flights in a heavier-than-air machine were made here by Wilbur and Orville Wright on December 17, 1903. A 60-foot granite monument dedicated in 1932, is perched atop 90-foot tall Kill Devil Hill commemorating the achievement of these two visionaries from Dayton, Ohio.

A visit should include touring the museum exhibits, participating in a ranger conducted program, touring the reconstructed camp buildings and first flight trail area, and a climb up Kill Devil Hill to view the memorial pylon.

Wright Brothers National Memorial
1401 National Park Drive
Manteo, NC 27954
252 441 7430 - Visitor Information
252 473 2111 - Headquarters

By Plane
Parking at the Airstrip is limited tie-down area is restricted to 24 consecutive hours or a total of 48 hours during any 30-day period. Pilots who wish to stay longer for other purposes may tie down at the Dare County Regional Airport, where fuel and rental cars are available.

By Car
The park is located on the Outer Banks of North Carolina in the town of Kill Devil Hills. The Visitor Center is 15 miles northeast of Manteo, NC on US-158.

Getting Around
Set aside from one to two hours to view exhibits and tour the grounds.

Winters are short, mild and breezy. Summers are generally hot and humid. Windy conditions make temperatures feel cooler than they actually are. Protect against sunburn, especially spring through fall. Sand spurs and prickly pear cactus are abundant on park grounds, proper footwear is recommended.

Here are some of the activities that are offered at Mount Rainier National Park.

• Auto Touring
• Educational Programs
• Bird Watching

Recommended Activities
We suggest that you stop first at the visitor center, where the story of the Wright Brothers is told through exhibits and full scaled reproductions of the 1902 glider and the 1903 flying machine.

A large granite boulder at the first flight area near the reconstructed 1903 camp buildings marks the spot where the first airplane left the ground. Numbered markers indicated the distance of each of the four flights made on December 17, 1903.

One of the 1903 camp buildings duplicates the one used by the brothers as a hangar for the 1903 Flyer. The other is similar to the one used as a workshop and living quarters in 1903. It is furnished with items much like those the Wrights used when they were there.

The Wright Memorial Shaft crowns Big Kill Devil Hill, a 90-foot dune of once-shifting sand that has been stabilized with grass. The 60-foot pylon, constructed of gray granite from Mount Airy, North Carolina, honors the Wright Brothers and marks the site of the hundreds of glider flights that preceded the first powered flight.

The 3,000-foot paved First Flight Airstrip was added to the park in 1963 to accommodate small planes. Parking at the airstrip is limited tie down area is restricted to 24 consecutive hours or a total of 48 hours during any 30-day period. Pilots who wish to stay longer for other purposes may tie down at the Dare County Regional Airport, where gas and rental cars are available.