Knotts Island Ferry

The Currituck-Knotts Island ferry is a free, state-run vehicle ferry operated by the NCDOT Ferry Division across Currituck Sound, linking the mainland community of Currituck with Knotts Island, a landmass that has no bridge or causeway to the rest of North Carolina. Cars leaving Knotts Island for anywhere else in the state either take this 30-minute crossing or drive north through Virginia and back down US 168, a detour of well over an hour. NCDOT's own Ferry Division history describes this as the longest free ferry route in the world, created in 1962 specifically to shorten the trip for Knotts Island's school-age children, who still cross daily: an NCDOT video shows the Currituck County school bus itself boarding the boat rather than looping around through Virginia. The route runs a single year-round schedule, five sailings a day in each direction, with the first boat leaving Currituck at 6:30 a.m. and the last leaving Knotts Island at 5 p.m. There's no reservation system; vehicles and walk-on passengers queue at the small terminal on Ferry Dock Road (NC 615) and board first-come, first-served. Unlike NCDOT's tourist-heavy Outer Banks routes, this crossing carries mostly local traffic: residents, commuters, school transport, and the occasional visitor headed to the Mackay Island National Wildlife Refuge on the island. Because Knotts Island is so isolated, NCDOT and Currituck County treat this ferry as essential infrastructure rather than a scenic ride, and the boat runs 365 days a year barring weather or mechanical trouble. That's set to change in one respect: under a state mandate, NCDOT must begin charging tolls on this and several other currently free routes starting Jan. 1, 2027, though fare amounts had not been published as of this research date. As of Sept. 18, 2026, NCDOT's Current Conditions board listed the crossing under Normal Operations, with no active weather or mechanical alert.