In early May Janet Smith and Bob Laney drove to Oak Island, NC, for a day trip and e-bike tour. Before the trip we reviewed the Oak Island web site and found multiple references to about five bike paths around town, on the beach and at the nearby lighthouse. We saw that the references were text descriptions and maps. Unfortunately, none of the texts or maps had a street address nor any other information on how to actually drive to the trails. There was nothing describing specifically where the trails begin, traverse or end.
Upon arrival in Oak Island, we went to the Town Hall and ate our picnic lunch in a nice park next door under a beautiful, large live oak tree. For better biking information, a nearby town officer directed us to the Recreation Center building a couple miles away. There an employee gave us printed texts and paper maps; showed us more information on a computer screen and verbally described several trails. All of the biking information from every source was vague and unintelligible.
So, we started biking behind the Recreation Center where the employee said we could find a trail. For a few hundred yards, we followed a nice dirt path through a small patch of woods and on a wooden foot bridge over a creek and estuary. Then the trail ended. We were on a town street surrounded by beach cottages. There were no trail signs anywhere, in the whole town, on the beaches nor at the lighthouse.
We followed our nose down to the beach and had a fun time pedaling for several miles on the hard sand. Then we drove my Jeep to the lighthouse, but were not allowed to enter. There was no sign of an advertised trail. Eventually, we ate an early supper at the wonderful Koko Cabana restaurant situated overlooking the sand at the ocean front beach. They had a nice selection of wine and beer.
After arriving back home, I thoroughly hosed down the bikes to remove any salt deposits and sprayed the e-bike battery terminals with WD-40 silicone. We both liked Oak Island and will go back. But if you go, don’t expect to find bike trails.
