The name fits the place. Duck is named for what used to be here in numbers that are hard to picture now, and the town you walk through is what grew in the space they left. Duck, Duck, Goose Chase is a self-guided walking tour of Duck played on your phone: about two miles, most of it on the boardwalk along Currituck Sound, working out what happened to the ducks — and to the men who made a living shooting them.
- WhereDuck Town Park, 1200 Duck Road
- On footAbout 2 miles, mostly boardwalk
- Time1.5 to 2.5 hours
- CrossingNone. You never cross NC 12
$29 a team, not per person. Up to six players, on one phone or each on their own, any day within 90 days.
Get the team pass · $29Your team link arrives by email right after checkout. Renting a 4x4 from Beach4x4? Every rental includes a free hunt pass.
How a town ended up named Duck
Currituck Sound has had no opening to the ocean since 1828. With the inlet gone the water turned fresh, fresh water grows the grasses waterfowl feed on, and the birds came down in their thousands. Men shot them for a living and shipped them north to Norfolk by the barrel.
Federal protection ended the commercial bird trade in 1918, and what grew up in its place is the village under your feet. The hunt walks you through the turn from one to the other: a law that outlawed a shotgun too big to lift, the only hunting club ever built in Duck, the bombing range that kept the developers away, and the supermarket that turned a village into a town.
The route
Eight stops, all of them on the sound side of NC 12, so you never cross the highway. Park once at Duck Town Park, walk south to where the boardwalk runs out, then north along the whole length of it to the Waterfront Shops and the north boat slips.
Duck Town Park
The start is eleven acres of sound-side park with a public kayak and canoe launch, an amphitheater, a playground and restrooms. It is also where the thing that made this town is easiest to see: wide, flat, shallow water with marsh grass along its edge, the kind of water the ducks came for.
The boardwalk
Duck’s boardwalk runs nearly a mile along the sound, over marsh and behind the shops, and it carries most of the hunt. Walking it south first and then north means you cover the whole of it, and the stops come at you from both directions.
The village in the middle
Midway along, the stops leave the water for the village itself — a square, a cluster of shops, the water tower. Ordinary places, each holding a piece of the story. Nothing in the game asks you to buy anything or go inside a business, so it plays the same in January as it does in July.
The north end
The boardwalk finishes at the Waterfront Shops and the north boat slips. The walk back to your car is fifteen minutes down the same boardwalk, so have lunch at the north end first if you want to. Late in the day the sound faces straight into the sunset.
What you need
- Start: Duck Town Park, 1200 Duck Road. Park there — the shopping-center lots are for their customers, and the town does not allow parking along NC 12.
- Summer: in July and August get there before 10 a.m., because the lot is small.
- Walking: about two miles all in, mostly on boardwalk.
- Bring: a phone with location turned on, comfortable shoes and bug spray. That’s it.
- Restrooms: in the park.
- Dogs: welcome on the boardwalk, leashed.
How the game works
- Buy a team pass. Your team link arrives by email within a few minutes; if it hasn’t landed in 10 minutes, check spam and promotions.
- Go to the start any day within 90 days and open the link when you are ready. There is no booking, no guide and nobody to meet.
- Each stop unlocks by GPS when you get there. Then come photo challenges, questions you answer from what is actually in front of you, and points.
- If your phone won’t share its location, the game lets you place yourself on the map by hand, so nobody gets stuck.
Play Duck, Duck, Goose Chase
A self-guided hunt of ours: $29 for the whole team, not per person, good any day for 90 days. Renting a 4x4 from Beach4x4, our rental company in Kill Devil Hills? Every rental includes a free hunt pass, and the link comes with your booking confirmation.
Get the team pass · $29Questions people ask
Do we have to cross NC 12?
No. All eight stops are on the sound side of the highway, and most of the walk is on the boardwalk.
Where do we park?
At Duck Town Park, 1200 Duck Road. The shopping-center lots are for their customers and the town does not allow parking along NC 12. In July and August arrive before 10 a.m.
Can we bring the dog?
Yes. Dogs are welcome on the boardwalk on a leash.
Does it work in the off-season?
Yes. Nothing in the game needs a business to be open, so it plays the same all year.
How many people does one pass cover?
One team of up to six players, on one phone or each on their own. Bringing two teams? Buy two passes.
Checked against the sources
The history — the 1828 closing of Currituck Sound to the ocean, the end of the commercial bird trade in 1918 and the Navy bombing range; the park and boardwalk — size, length and amenities, from the Town of Duck.
Every question in the game was checked against the actual sign, marker or building on site.
Images on this page are illustrations of the kind of thing you will see, not photographs of the exact spots. The title art is the hunt’s own.
Last checked: September 2026.