Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge

One of the coolest experiences I've ever had. I wish I'd had more time to stay and next time I'll probably stay all day. We saw 8 wild black bears in under an hour, just chilling, minding their own business. If you do go please be QUIET, KIND, AND KEEP YOUR DISTANCE from the wildlife. One truck full of folks was zooming around trying to get close photos for Instagram and they were stressing one particular bear quite a bit.

Go early, drive slowly and keep a keen eye out. We have been twice and have not been disappointed. We saw both alligators and bears!! Such a peaceful, quiet, lovely dose of Mother Nature at dawn.

Absolutely love this wildlife refuge! As someone who travels often and tries to visit every national park, spotting wildlife is my favorite thing- and I’ve never seen more bears anywhere else. In just one day, we saw 20+ bears by driving slowly in the early morning, and we returned before sunset to see even more- it was incredible! Heads-up: the visitor center is not at the refuge-you need to go to Manteo to check it out. If you’re coming for alligators, you might be disappointed (we only saw one), but the bears made the visit unforgettable. I don’t understand the bad reviews- seeing wildlife really comes down to timing and patience. This place is amazing!

Pretty serene and unique wildlife refuge where you get to see an abundance of wildlife from Black bears, birds, and if you're lucky alligators. There are two spots to launch your Kayak, a wildlife drive, and plenty of trails to hike or bike on. Bring bug spray. If you are a little adventurous I would do the scenery trail on a bike. Lots of more opportunities for seeing wildlife without scaring them off. Defiantly will be back to visit.

Was great driving around looking for animals. We got there at dawn. Saw our first animal a horned owl at 8am. Saw so many bear. Saw the very shy red wolf. Alligators and heard so many different birds. . Went kayaking which was cool. All I would say is there are not many places for bathroom breaks and bring bug spray.

I came in the morning for bear viewing. Sunrise and my arrivale was around 6. I saw a blue heron and barred owl. Didn't see any bears until around 730, than I was lucky enough to see 4 of them. There was some overcast that morning, so perhaps that helped? 3 of the bears were out in the crop fields along miltail & long curve rd. Having binoculars was extremely helpful - I could see better with them than the pictures my camera took with zoom. 1 bear I saw on the side of the road along bear rd - has a lot of brush instead of marsh-like water so I think that was why. Overall a very cool experience and I would recommend a drive!

We have lived in Eastern NC for 5 years now and I have been wanting to go so when we had visitors from Wisconsin we went. OH MY GOSH!!! What an amazing place. Be prepared to take it slow and take it all in. I can't remember exactly which roads we took through the refuge but our time paid off! We saw a huge alligator as well as a BEAR! He looked like a tree stump from a distance but then it started moving. We watched it for a long time. Now I can't wait to go back.

Time of year definitely matters. We've been out many times in the spring and fall with few sightings of bears, wolves, deer and small wildlife. This is our first time during the summer months and we've seen over a dozen black bears, all various sizes... including the tank pictured, and one gator. Highly recommend taking the drive at dusk, fantastic experience.