- The castle arose on Jockey’s Ridge in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
- The dunes are believed to be thousands of years old and are the deepest on the East Coast.
- The castle is the result of an attempted development on the dunes in the 1970s.
A mysterious castle has appeared on a North Carolina beach after being covered by a historic sand dune for several years.
North Carolina’s Outer Banks are a tourist destination every summer, and even inspired a Netflix series called ‘Outer Banks’ about treasure hunting in the region.
Jockey’s Ridge Dunes are the largest on the East Coast and a must-see for thousands of hang-gliding and snowboarding visitors each year, with plenty buried beneath more than 400 acres of sand.
As the dunes move due to sun, wind and other effects, things will often rise out of the sand, such as what looks like a sand castle by the summer of 2024.
However, it’s not exactly real and it’s not exactly sand, as it turns out to be the remains of a miniature golf course from decades past.
A mysterious castle appeared on a North Carolina beach after being covered by a sand dune for several years
The castle still stands, but erosion has done its work, with dead plants growing on it, pieces crumbling, and the colors fading.
It still stands, between eight and ten feet tall, having survived nearly 50 years in the dunes, as stated by a marker showing it was built in 1978.
So how did this castle and golf course get here?
Against the wishes of locals and environmentalists, developers attempted to begin construction on the dunes in the 1960s and 1970s, according to WRAL.
One such development was a miniature golf course to attract fun-seekers to stay in the dunes.
However, Mother Nature had her way and by the 1980s the field was completely covered by shifting sands.
The developers eventually gave up and sold the course to the state of North Carolina.
This year the castle hole was discovered, leading many to wonder what happened to the rest of the golf course.
The castle is part of a miniature golf course that opened around 1978 in the dunes.
Jockey’s Ridge Dunes are the largest on the East Coast and a must-see for thousands of hang-gliding and snowboarding visitors each year, with plenty buried beneath more than 400 acres of sand.
However, Mother Nature had her way, as by the 1980s the field was completely covered by shifting sands.
Photographs from the Library of Congress show that there was once a hole structured around a giant sea monster and others with a ship, a giant octopus and a cobra.
It is reportedly unknown whether these structures were demolished and their whereabouts remain a mystery.
The natural shifting sands of the Jockey’s Ridge dunes may one day reveal them, as they did the castle.
Since the dunes are believed to be thousands of years old, they are likely to determine what will emerge from their depths in the future.