Outer Banks Lighthouses
Hatteras Attractions > Lighthouses
Cape Hatteras Lighthouse
… it’s the most recognized, photographed, painted, read about, and admired lighthouse in North America. It is the signature of America's maritime history, and the symbol of the United States Lighthouse Service
Hatteras Lighthouse and Visitor's Center—
Hours: The public visitation season is from approximately the Friday before Easter Sunday to Columbus Day each year. Lighthouse tours begin at 9 a.m. daily and run every 10 minutes with a limit of 30 visitors per tour. The last tour starts at 4:40 p.m. From Memorial Day through Labor Day, the last tour starts at 5:40 p.m.
 Admission:
$6.00/climb, adults
$3.00/climb, child (12 and under)
$3.00/climb, 62 and older
The Lighthouse View Resort was originally established to accommodate visitors eager to visit the Cape Hatteras national seashore and get an up-close look at the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, the tallest in the nation and a famous symbol of North Carolina.
As the story goes, founding father Alexander Hamilton, the nation's first secretary of treasury, sailed around the pitch black cape during a storm as a child. He became so sick and afraid that he vowed, if he ever amounted to anything in our country, he would see to it that a lighthouse would be built on that very spot. Hamilton fulfilled his promise, and the first Cape Hatteras lighthouse was built in 1802. The present day lighthouse was first lit in 1870.
The beacon from the light can be seen almost 20 miles out to sea and has warned sailors for more than 100 years of the treacherous Diamond Shoals, the shallow sandbars that extend about 14 miles out into the ocean off Cape Hatteras.
It is said that the engineer who was originally assigned the task of painting North Carolina's lighthouses, got the plans mixed up. The diamond-shaped figures—suitable for warning traffic away from Diamond Shoals—went to Cape Lookout. The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, on the other hand, received the spiral striping, thereby gaining the nickname ''The Big Barber Pole.''
It was built with 1,250,000 bricks baked in kilns along the James River in Virginia and brought in scows into Cape Creek, where it was hauled by oxen one mile to the building site in Buxton. Its walls at the base are 14 feet of solid masonry and narrow to 8 feet at the top. Weighing 6,250 tons, the lighthouse was built with no pilings under it, just a foundation of heart pine. Towering 196 feet from the base to the top brick—plus an iron superstructure on the top—it became the tallest brick lighthouse on the American coast at 208 feet and at a cost of $155,000.
In the summer of 1999, as the ever-encroaching waters of the Atlantic Ocean threaten this stalwart structure, the Cape Hatteras Light was moved from its original location.
The lighthouse is open to the public from early April until mid-October, and visitors are welcome to climb the 268 steps for a spectacular view of the national seashore. Near the lighthouse, the frame buildings that served as quarters to the keepers of the light are still standing. One such building has been restored by the U.S. Park Service and has served as a visitors’ center and museum, with exhibits on the island's maritime history. It is open every day of the year except Christmas. Admission is nominal.
Not too far from the visitors’ center is a picnic area and a nature trail, winding through fresh water marshes and wooded dunes of Buxton Woods. In the summer months, the visitors’ center hosts an excellent program of activities ranging from history talks on storms and shipwrecks and pirates to discussions of the ecology, geology, and wildlife of the island. Participation programs such as snorkeling in the sound, bird walks, campfires and art activities for children are also offered.
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These Outer Banks lighthouses are within driving distance of the Lighthouse View:
Bodie Island Lighthouse
The 156-foot tall, horizontally-striped lighthouse was built in 1872. It is the third Bodie Island lighthouse: the first was unstable, and the second was destroyed by the confederate soldiers to that the union solders could not use it as an observation post.
A visitors’ center is located in the old keeper's quarters. It is open year-round and features exhibits as well as an Eastern National Bookstore. Self-guided nature trail.
Location: 8 miles south of US-158 and US-64 intersection and within the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
Distance from Lighthouse View Resort: About 45 minutes.
Hours: The lighthouse is not open for climbing. The visitors’ center is open from Memorial Day to Labor Day, daily 9 am to 6 pm; Labor Day to Thanksgiving, daily 9 am to 5 pm.
Admission: Free.
Contact Information: (252) 441-5711
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Currituck Beach Lighthouse
On December 1, 1875, the beacon of the Currituck Beach Lighthouse filled the remaining "dark spot" on the North Carolina coast between Cape Henry light to the north and Bodie Island to the south. The 175-foot lighthouse is open for climbing, and the light station includes a Victorian stick style-double keepers' house, cisterns, and museum shop. The site also has a “wild horse” enclosure.
Location: Located on Route 12 in Corolla, N.C.
Travel time from the Lighthouse View Resort: About 2 hours
Hours: The visitors’ center is open from 9 a.m.–6 p.m. in the summer; 9 a.m.–5 p.m. in the fall, winter, and spring
Admission: $7 to climb lighthouse (cash or checks accepted). Discounts available for groups. Call in advance for arrangements.
Contact Information: (252) 453-4939
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Ocracoke Lighthouse
Located in the fishing village of Ocracoke on Ocracoke Island, it is the oldest operating lighthouse in North Carolina and is equipped with a fourth-order Fresnel lens.
The 75-foot structure was built in 1822, and was the third lighthouse to grace the island. It was cemented and whitewashed in 1868, giving it the appearance it has today.
Originally fueled by whale oil, it is now lit by automatic electric power and shines 14 miles out to sea.
Location: Ocracoke Island, which can be accessed by the nearby Hatteras Island ferry, which is free.
Travel time from the Lighthouse View Resort: About 15 minutes to the ferry, a 45 minute ferry. and 20 minutes down Ocracoke Island.
Hours: Available daily for viewing. Not available for climbing.
Admission: Free. A visitors’ center is located near the ferry terminal.
Contact Information: (252) 928-4531.
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