North of Corolla the pavement stops and the beach becomes the road — eleven miles of it, all the way to Virginia. The End of the Road is a self-guided hunt that drives it properly, on the history almost everybody drives straight past.
- WhereCorolla to the Virginia line
- VehicleFour-wheel drive, required
- DistanceAbout 11 miles of sand
- TimeA full day
$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 the 4x4 from Beach4x4? Every rental includes a free hunt pass, so pick this one and your total is $0.
Between the ramp and the state line the game keeps you working: GPS unlocks each stop as you reach it, photo challenges can only be finished standing in the right spot, and the questions are answered off the signs, the fence line and the dune itself — not off your phone.
The route
Where NC 12 ends
The game starts where the asphalt gives out at the north end of Corolla. Air down before you cross. The first mile and a half north of the ramp is a road, not a beach, so there is no parking on it, and the speed limit on the sand is 35 mph, dropping to 15 any time you are within 300 feet of a person.
The fence
A sound-to-sea fence crosses the island and runs down into the surf. It is there to keep the wild horse herd on its north side, and once you are through, you are in the part of Currituck County that has no paved road at all.
Penny’s Hill and the hunting clubs
Penny’s Hill is an enormous moving dune with a history of burying what stood in its way. Around it are Swan Beach and the northern hunting clubs that once owned most of this shoreline, from the years when this end of the banks was worth more for its birds than for its beach.
Carova
Carova Beach is where about two hundred people live year-round with no paved road, no store and no gas. The houses sit back in the dunes and the scrub forest, reached by tracks in the sand.
The Virginia line
At the top the driving ends, because False Cape State Park across the line has no public vehicle access. You park at the trailhead and walk west into the scrub to look for a concrete obelisk — a marker for the boundary survey William Byrd II ran in March 1728. There is no sign on it and nothing pointing to it, so the game tells you where to look, and what to do if you can’t find it.
What you need
- Vehicle: four-wheel drive, not optional. The sand is the road, and two-wheel drive does not make it off the ramp.
- Tires: air down to 18–20 PSI before you cross, and re-inflate to 38 PSI back on pavement. Tires come off the beach hot, so 38 settles to about the door-sticker pressure once they cool.
- Fuel: fill the tank in Corolla. There is no fuel north of it.
- Parking permit: you only need a Currituck County beach parking permit if you park on the beach in season. Driving the strand does not require one. Check the county’s current rules and dates before you go.
- On the sand: 35 mph, 15 within 300 feet of a person, and no parking for the first 1.5 miles north of the ramp.
- Driving safety: whoever is driving never works the game while the vehicle is moving. Hand the phone to a passenger, or stop somewhere safe first. Every stop will wait.
- No 4x4: Beach4x4, our rental company in Kill Devil Hills, rents them, and every rental includes a free hunt pass.
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 The End of the Road
A self-guided hunt of ours: $29 for the whole team, not per person, good any day for 90 days. Renting the 4x4 from Beach4x4? Every rental includes a free hunt pass — pick this one and your total is $0. The link comes with your booking confirmation.
Get the team pass · $29Questions people ask
Do we need a permit to drive the 4x4 beach north of Corolla?
Not to drive. Driving the strand needs no county permit. You need a Currituck County beach parking permit only if you park on the beach during the permit season.
Can we do it without four-wheel drive?
No. The sand is the road, and two-wheel drive does not make it off the ramp. Beach4x4 rents 4x4s, and every rental includes a free hunt pass.
How far is it to the Virginia line?
About eleven miles of beach from the ramp at the north end of Corolla.
Can we drive into Virginia?
No. False Cape State Park, across the line, has no public vehicle access. The hunt has you park and walk the last part.
How many people does one pass cover?
One team of up to six players, on one phone or each on their own. Two vehicles? Buy a pass for each team.
Checked against the sources
The beach rules — the 35 and 15 mph limits, the 1.5-mile no-parking zone and the beach parking permit, from Currituck County; Carova — about two hundred year-round residents, from Coastal Review; the boundary — William Byrd II’s dividing-line survey of March 1728, and False Cape State Park’s lack of public vehicle access.
Every question in the game was checked against the actual sign, fence line or dune 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.