Cape Lookout National Seashore | TOURING PORTSMOUTH VILLAGE

Arriving at the Portsmouth Village dock, Cape Lookout National Seashore

Arriving at the Portsmouth Village dock, Cape Lookout National Seashore


Portsmouth Village main page


Portsmouth Village at Cape Lookout National Seashore is usually open from April through October. Tours of the village are conducted from June through September, but you can still walk around the village on your own if you can’t catch a tour. The guided tour does not cover all of the village, so if you want to see everything, plan to do some touring on your own anyway. I opted to skip the tour since I wanted to take photos and didn’t want to be rushed from building to building. I am sure that a guided tour would give a more in-depth view of the village’s history, but for those who opt to see the village on their own, there are wayside exhibits at each building and cemetery, and some of the main buildings are part of a Cell Phone Audio Tour (though cell service is not great). A sign gives a phone number to call, and when you punch in your stop number you can listen to a narrative about the building’s history.

Wayside exhibits are at the buildings on Portsmouth Island, and some buildings are part of a Cell Phone Audio Tour

Wayside exhibits are at the buildings on Portsmouth Island, and some buildings are part of a Cell Phone Audio Tour

To see all of the buildings and cemeteries, expect to walk 2 to 3 miles and spend at least three hours in the village. Add another hour if you plan to join a guided tour and then walk around to the buildings not covered on the tour.

The summer months at Portsmouth are notorious for insects, mainly biting flies and mosquitoes. The volunteers who live there wear hats with mosquito netting to cover their faces. I was there the first week in June when the temperatures were still in the low 70s and had run-ins with the flies (no mosquitoes), but I wouldn’t say they ruined my trip. However, I wouldn’t want to be there much later in the summer season without a head net, long pants, and long sleeve shirt. The flies seem to dominate the grassy areas more than the dirt roads or the areas around the buildings. If the wind is blowing, there won’t be as many bugs as when there is no breeze at all. When I asked a Ranger how the former residents coped with all of the bugs, I was told that back when the village was active that bugs were not as big a problem because there was not as much vegetation. The villagers raised cows and other grazing animals, and much of the vegetation was eaten—so much so that sand dunes gradually encroached on the village.

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Last updated on March 26, 2024
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