About 8 miles

 

   Leave downtown along Wingina Avenue heading north or take the sidewalk along US Hwy. 64 heading north. You can access the paved bike path at the intersection of Mother Vineyard Road and US 64.

 

   Fort Raleigh National Historic Site is approximately 2 miles from Mother Vinyard Road, and the norther end of Roanoke Island is 1 mile farther. 

 

   In the parking lot of the Elizabethan Gardens at Fort Raleigh is a trailhead for a hidden, but not secret, wooded trail. You can off-road cycle this shaded trail to a Croatan Sound beach on the north end of the island. You can return to Elizabethan Gardens the way you came or hop on the multiuse path from the beach. Explore side streets and neighborhoods off the path if you'd like a longer ride.