Visit The Outer Banks

Visit Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

Use current hours, ticket information, and historical context to plan a trip to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse on The Outer Banks.

The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse carries an outsized reputation. It is the most recognized, most represented beacon in art and photography in the world. Rising 198 feet, it was designed to send a broad signal visible for more than sixteen miles in all directions. By daylight and after dark, its purpose has been to alert mariners to the Diamond Shoals, hidden just beneath the Atlantic.

The lighthouse standing today was officially completed & lit in December 1870, and it is the second of three lighthouses built in Buxton. The first Cape Hatteras Lighthouse went up in 1803. That earlier sandstone tower measured 90 feet and produced a weak beam through Argand lamps and reflectors. In 1854, the structure reached a new height of 150 feet, and a first order Fresnel lens, the strongest available at the time, was added. During the Civil War in 1861, Confederate soldiers retreating from the area removed the Fresnel lamp so Union forces could not take it. Wartime shell damage & worsening structural condition led to the 1870 replacement lighthouse visitors know today. The original lighthouse came down in 1871.

By the 1880’s, kerosene had taken the place of whale oil, & by 1934, electricity powered the beam. In 1935, erosion along the beach endangered the lighthouse base, which led to a third lighthouse being built farther away in the Buxton Woods. That structure was a steel skeleton tower fitted with an airport beacon. After 15 years, changing erosion patterns allowed the 1870 lighthouse to return to service. While the older lighthouse sat unused in the 1940’s, the Fresnel lens was vandalized. Today, two active 1000-watt lamps provide a light visible for more than 20 miles. In 1999 the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was moved a half mile inland to protect it from the advancing Atlantic.

Climbing Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

Climbing the historic Cape Hatteras Lighthouse offers a memorable way to experience the site. Visitors move at their own pace and take in views from the tallest brick lighthouse in North America.

The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse usually welcomes climbers from the third Friday in April through Columbus Day in October. Daily climbing hours run from 9 am to 4:30 pm. Visitors must have tickets to climb.

Climbing tickets cost $8 for adults and $4 for senior citizens (62 or older), children (11 and under, and at least 42" tall), and the disabled. Tickets are sold on a first come, first served basis and are available only in person at the site on the same day as the climb. Regular climbs do not offer advance ticket sales.

Sales open at 9:00 am, with climbs starting at 9 am and departing every 10 minutes. Each climb is limited to 30 visitors. Ticket sales end at 4:25 pm. People with tickets should be at the lighthouse base five minutes before their scheduled climb time.

Other OBX Lighthouses & Lifesaving Stations

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