| Alligator River | |
| Name Other: | Tributary to Albemarle Sound |
| Map Size: | 300 |
| Pushpin Map: | USA North Carolina#USA |
| Pushpin Map Size: | 300 |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of Alligator River mouth |
| Subdivision Type1: | Country |
| Subdivision Name1: | United States |
| Subdivision Type2: | State |
| Subdivision Name2: | North Carolina |
| Subdivision Type3: | Counties |
| Subdivision Name3: | Dare Hyde Tyrell |
| Length: | 47.37miles[1] |
| Discharge1 Location: | Albemarle Sound |
| Discharge1 Avg: | 619.03cuft/s at mouth with Albemarle Sound[2] |
| Source1: | divide between Pungo River, Lake Mattamuskeet and Alligator River |
| Source1 Location: | about 3 miles NW of Fairfield, North Carolina[3] |
| Source1 Coordinates: | 35.5664°N -75.9817°W[4] |
| Source1 Elevation: | 2feet[5] |
| Mouth: | Albemarle Sound |
| Mouth Location: | East Lake, North Carolina |
| Mouth Coordinates: | 35.9672°N -75.9817°W |
| Mouth Elevation: | 0feet |
| Progression: | North |
| River System: | Albemarle Sound |
| Basin Size: | [6] |
| Tributaries Left: | New Lake Fork Northwest Fork Gum Neck Creek Goose Creek Second Creek Little Alligator River |
| Tributaries Right: | Swan Creek Whipping Creek Milltail Creek |
Alligator River is a small river in eastern North Carolina, separating Dare County and Tyrrell County. It empties into Albemarle Sound. A 21-mile canal connects the Alligator River with Pungo River to its west. The Lindsey C. Warren Bridge of U.S. Route 64 crosses the river.
The Alligator River is protected as part of Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. Habitat bordering the Refuge includes many diverse types including high and low pocosin,[7] bogs, fresh and brackish water marshes, hardwood swamps, and Atlantic white cypress swamps. Plant species include pitcher plants and sun dews, low bush cranberries, redbay, Atlantic white cypress, pond pine, American sweetgum, red maple, and a wide variety of herbaceous and shrub species common to the East Coast. The refuge is one of the premier strongholds for American black bear[8] on the Eastern Seaboard. It also has concentrations of ducks, geese, and swans. The wildlife diversity includes wading birds, shorebirds, American woodcock, raptors, black bears, alligators, white-tailed deer, raccoons, cottontail rabbits, bobwhite quail, northern river otters, red wolves,[9] [10] red-cockaded woodpeckers,[11] and neotropical migrants.