The physical cache container
IS NOT
at the posted coordinates

For the coordinates needed to locate the physical cache container just click the link below and provide the key word which is the name of the town:   Duck. You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.

Take one day or make several visits to the Town of Duck, NC, to walk or bicycle this Geocache series near a multi-use path

This Geocache is one of several containers of various sizes hidden near a multi-use path in the Town of Duck, NC. The Town of Duck does not allow public street parking which means a 4 to 5 hour walk or 50 minute bicycle ride along the 9 mile round trip is required to locate all 31.

The Town of Duck does not allow public street parking which means a 4 to 5 hour walk or about a 50 minute bicycle ride along the 9 mile round trip is required to locate all 31.

Parking coordinates are provided near the center of the cache series since The Town of Duck does not allow parking along any of its roads and Town Police enforce the "No Parking" policy. There may be places to park near several cache locations along the route depending on the time of day and the total local population but none are guaranteed and permission to park there has not been granted. Please at all times be alert to nearby traffic as several caches are in a downtown business area and some are close to a very busy roadway. You should also be alert for Muggles at virtually all hours.

Please remember to close container lids and replace each in its secured position. Also, stealth is of the utmost importance here all year long and is especially essential during the summer tourist season. Keep in mind that if your search activities are observed by any Muggles (and there will be many at all hours of the day) this cache is certain to wander off.

The Town of Duck is a small northeastern North Carolina coastal community nestled in between the Atlantic Ocean to the east with its 17,543,940,979,332,434 gallons of water and Currituck Sound (with a mean depth of 4.987 feet) on the west. As the northernmost community within Dare County, the Town of Duck stretches from the lower Currituck County line 7 miles south to the Southern Shores Town line. Covering 3.718 square miles of total area Duck has 2.4 square miles of land with 1.3 square miles (or 35.02%) water and boasts an average elevation of 6.562 feet.

The Town sits in the Eastern Time zone which is five hours behind Coordinated Universal Time, or four hours behind when observing daylight saving time during the Summer months. Town offices are located at 1200 Duck Road with office hours from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each Monday through Friday if you want to stop by and thank them for allowing the placement of these cache containers. Town staff can be reached by calling (252) 255-1234. Duck does not have its own zip code and shares 27949 with nearby Kitty Hawk, NC. The telephone area code is 252.

Named for the many ducks and waterfowl found here, the area just south of Currituck County was in fact once part of that northern county. After an initial settlement in the late 1600s Duck was relatively undiscovered for hundreds of years. With few residents providing little income to Currituck County Duck was transferred over to Dare County in the early days of the 20th century.

As the 20th century dawned the area was of little interest to anyone other than avid hunters or fishermen and few local residents here were concerned about the isolation. Interest in visiting the area increased, however, after the first controlled, powered, heavier-than-air vehicle flight at nearby Kill Devil Hill by the Wright Brothers on December 17, 1903. In those days getting here was no simple task since roads were were little more than dirt and sand trails. The trip also required a ferry or boat ride before the first bridges were built in the 1920s. It was not until the late 1970s and early 1980s when NC Highway 12 was paved (including 6.1 miles in Duck) that any significant development occurred.

A 1984 North Carolina General Assembly act establishing the area as a North Carolina Beautification District allowed an ad valorem tax to be levied to beautify the district and/or protect its citizens. Initially, a tax was levied to provide for underground power lines to avoid the need for 30-foot high concrete power poles along Duck Road.

From 1986 to 1988 community residents agreed to a two-year tax for construction costs of a seven-mile multiple use trail near where at least two dozen of the Geocaches in this series are hidden. A $30,000 Dare County Tourism Bureau grant covered some construction costs and the State Department of Transportation was also a major participant in trail installation.

In 1987 a nine-member Duck Civic Association Board of Directors was established to represent the community in public safety, land use, and other public interest matters. On July 18, 1994, Dare County Commissioners adopted a resolution to preserve a coastal village atmosphere in Duck.

In February 1999 a large grocery chain store submitted plans to build and operate a 31,000 square foot supermarket right in Duck Village. A petition objecting to the supermarket was circulated and in just two months, from June 15 to August 14, there were 3,311 signatures on it. A majority of full-time residents signed the petition as did 2,266 tourists from 32 states and the District of Columbia along with four different United Kingdom parties and residents of Norway, Poland and Russia. Corporate officials confirmed property ownership on September 27, 1999.

That event led the Duck Civic Association Board, from January 6 to February 7, 2000, to discuss and consider incorporating the community into a separate town as a way to control growth. Information was sent to all Duck property owners and registered voters with detailed financial projections and revenue projections based on making no tax changes from the current 17 cent per $100 valuation (11 cents for waste disposal/recycling, 4 cents for fire department, 1 cent for ocean rescue/lifeguards, and 1 cent for trail maintenance). The following April public responses showed 1,051 were overwhelmingly in favor of incorporation. Duck residents were 62% in favor and non-resident owners 74% in favor. That June a 10-person Incorporation Committee was formed.

In October a package was mailed to the Joint Legislative Commission on Municipal Incorporation about the same time corporate executives for the grocery store indicated willingness to sell its property at the price paid plus minor costs since the purchase. On January 30, 2001, an agreement was reached giving Duck Civic Association the right (until December 31) to buy the property for $4,100,645.30.

In February of 2001, the Duck incorporation petition was forwarded to the NC legislature and on March 28, 2001, Representative Bill Culpepper introduced the Duck Incorporation Bill in the House. It cleared the Senate on August 28 and the House on August 29, 2001.

On November 6, 2001, voters voted "for" incorporation and Duck was incorporated on May 1, 2002, as the newest Outer Banks town and the sixth municipality in Dare County. The five-member Town Council currently meets the first Wednesday each month.

When this cache was published there were 554 incorporated municipalities (cities, towns, and villages) in the state. A year round population hovering at a modest 379 put the village of Duck on the list of 258 small towns or villages in the state with a population of less than 1,000. However, during the peak vacation season (from Memorial Day to Labor Day) the population here swells to more than 20,000 on any given day. Both are but a drop in the bucket compared to the 2014 North Carolina population total of 9,943,964.

Because The Town of Duck does not allow public street parking, coordinates are provided for the sound-front Duck Town Park parking lot. A convenient starting point for hunting caches both north and south of the property which is located near the heart of Duck and open from dawn until dusk. The first parcel for this recreational facility was purchased in the fall of 2003 for $4.5 million from a large grocery chain and the second parcel was purchased in the summer of 2006 from a private family for $1.25 million.

Town Park has four distinct vegetative communities; a maritime deciduous forest, maritime evergreen forest, a willow swamp, and a marsh. There is also a picnic shelter covering 768 square feet of area, a gazebo/stage that is 841 square feet in area (the open area is 609 square feet and the storage area is 232 square feet), a public kayak/canoe launch, a 350 seat amphitheater (built at a cost just under $250,000) and a playground designed for use by children ages five through twelve. You will find 21 benches, 15 trash cans, five picnic tables, three bike racks, and three dogipots in the park. There is currently one water fountain, complete with a dog-friendly unit, located in the park near the playground.

Constructed with a pervious material surface that meets current accessibility standards 1,699 linear feet (0.32 miles) of trail winds through the 11 acre park.

The town has also built a boardwalk accessible from Town Park and other locations throughout the village that extends 0.78 miles (1.26 km) along Currituck Sound. Total cost of the boardwalk was $1,127,797 ($979,243 in construction costs; $126,630 for the solar lighting; and $26,924 for signage, benches, trash cans and other amenities). It has a total of 3,386 linear feet (4,149 linear feet including the northern boat pier and other access points). The boardwalk is ten feet wide and is held up by approximately 752 pilings embedded a minimum of eight feet into the ground. There are approximately 12,547 pickets in the boardwalk railings, 247 lights and 5 solar stations to power the lights.


Duck weather, generally mild with few if any extreme temperature variations, helps make this a pleasant Geocache destination. One reason is that the Gulf Stream, just 50 miles offshore, affects the climate. Its warm water eddies help keep winter air temperatures moderate. The result is lovely weather most of the year with wintertime highs reaching the mid-50s coupled with lows in the 30s or 40s. Summer temperatures exceeding the mid 80s do happen but are rare.

Average Monthly Duck Temperature in °F

If your visit to Duck includes more than hunting Geocaches, keep in mind that driving on the dunes is prohibited at all times and beach fires, fireworks, and bonfires are not permitted. While the sale of legal fireworks in Duck is permitted, the use of any fireworks (including sparklers) is prohibited and punishable by a $250 fine and requires a mandatory court appearance.

Other 2013 Duck, NC, Data:

Please take time to park only at designated parking locations. Town officials granted permission for this cache placement. If you enjoyed the hunt and have time it might not hurt to stop by Town Hall or the Police Department and thank them for allowing this placement.