The Outer Banks is storied with tales of progress, development and change. The weather, tourism and even the landscape ebb and flow like the tides. Amidst the shifting nature of these shores, the wild Banker horses of Corolla have remained a constant.
Descendants of Spanish mustangs, the horses were left behind on these shores by 16th-century Spanish explorers. With ample habitat, food and water and virtually no predators, the horses found the perfect home on the isolated, largely desolate North Carolina coast. Their population flourished, and they became a part of the ecosystem, evolving into a breed of their own known as Banker horses. A National Geographic article in May of 1926 reported that there were between 5,000 and 6,000 wild horses roaming the barrier islands of North Carolina, which meant for a time the horse population outnumbered the human population.
The increased human population and development of the Outer Banks of the 20th century brought problems for the Banker horses. Paving roads and building homes demolished their habitat and food sources. In 1984, when Highway 12 into Corolla was opened to the public, vehicles and horses began to collide. The horse population took a nosedive. To protect and rehabilitate the herd, a group of local citizens formed the Corolla Wild Horse Fund and moved the remaining horses north to the 4x4-only area north of Corolla. Today there are roughly 100 wild horses left in this area.
The Corolla wild horses embody nature's resilience and the spirit of survival, but they need our help. People are understandably curious to see them, but it’s extremely important to do so safely. That’s where Wild Horse Adventure Tours comes into play.
The folks at Wild Horse Adventure Tours know and understand the Corolla wild horses. They know where to find the horses and give onlookers a great view of them while at the same time keeping both the horses and the humans safe. Wild Horse Adventure Tours knows that once people witness the horses in the wild and learn their history, they will be inspired to keep the horses safe.
As you embark on a tour with Wild Horse Adventure Tours, the commercial landscape of Corolla falls away. In front of you stretches seemingly endless expanses of dunes and blue ocean. This is where the magic begins.
To give visitors the safest, most accessible way to view the horses, Wild Horse Adventure Tours offers its trips in custom-fitted, open-air, 13-passenger Hummers designed with safety and comfort at the forefront. Seatbelts, child restraints, windscreens and extra legroom make for the smoothest ride possible along the bumpy sand dunes.
Knowledgeable and deeply passionate tour guides take you safely through the rugged terrain, equipped with everything they need to find some of the untagged, untracked horses in their natural habitat. All the while, the guides delight you with morsels of Outer Banks history and lore.
An important aspect of Wild Horse Adventure Tours is education about the horses. You learn that it is crucial to keep your distance from the horses for your safety and theirs. It is illegal to come within 50 feet of the wild horses, even if they approach you first. It’s also illegal to feed the horses. Human food can be harmful and even toxic to the horses, and it’s important to suppress the urge to feed them, even a carrot or apple.
The guides are masters at imparting this information in an entertaining way for all ages.
“One of the most important aspects of our company, aside from educating the public, is training our tour guides and staff,” says Pete Cole, general manager of Wild Horse Adventure Tours. “We have really low turnover, and that's really important with a job like this; everybody is on board with the company's mission and with what we're trying to do. We have extensively trained tour guides to know how to respectfully navigate the area, know all of the laws and also provide a lot of really good information on the area and the history of the horses.”
Wild Horse Adventure Tours makes every effort to preserve the horses’ natural habitat and to reduce the impacts of its tours. They are committed to offsetting their own carbon footprint by making a substantial donation to American Forests, which has planted more than 4,000 trees in Wild Horse Adventure Tours’ name.
The company makes an annual donation to American Wild Horse Preservation and is one of the largest donors to Corolla Wild Horse Fund, which is wholly committed to, in their words, “protecting, conserving and responsibly managing the herd of Corolla wild horses roaming freely on the northernmost Currituck Outer Banks, and promoting the continued preservation of this land as a permanent sanctuary for horses."
With Wild Horse Adventure Tours, you’ll experience the landscape, wildlife and history of the northern Outer Banks and discover what makes the wild Corolla horses so special. Most importantly, you’ll do it with a company that cares about the conservation of the horses and their habitat.
(252) 489-2020
610 Currituck Clubhouse Rd.
Corolla, NC 27927
About the Author Leah Wingenroth
Leah was born and raised on the Outer Banks and is an alumnus of Appalachian State University and King's College. She currently resides in England, writing and managing content in the lifestyle, education, travel and literary publishing sectors.
