Shackleford Banks Map

Description: This map shows beaches, hills, waterways, and islands on Shackleford Banks.

Description: This map shows where Shackleford Banks is located on the North Carolina Map.

Shackleford Banks is a barrier island located in Carteret County, North Carolina, United States. It forms the southernmost part of Cape Lookout National Seashore, administered by the National Park Service.

The island stretches approximately 9 miles (14 km) in an east–west orientation — an unusual alignment for barrier islands along the Atlantic coast. It separates Core Sound to the north from the Atlantic Ocean to the south and covers roughly 3,000 acres of land. The island has no road access and can only be reached by ferry or private boat.

Shackleford Banks is perhaps best known for its population of feral horses, referred to as Banker horses. The herd, numbering approximately 100–130 individuals, is widely believed to descend from Spanish mustangs introduced to the Outer Banks as early as the 16th century. The horses are protected under the Shackleford Banks Wild Horses Protection Act of 1998.

The island was once home to a permanent settlement known as Diamond City, a community built largely around the whaling industry. Following the devastating San Ciriaco hurricane of 1899, the population relocated to the mainland, and the island has remained uninhabited ever since.

The landscape consists of maritime shrub thickets, salt marshes, tidal flats, and open grasslands.