The Currituck Beach Lighthouse will open for the 2021 climbing season on Saturday, March 20. The lighthouse will be open daily through December 1st, from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.
Visitors may climb 220 stairs to the top for a breathtaking view of the Atlantic Ocean, Currituck Sound, and the Outer Banks while learning from docents and museum-quality exhibits about the still-active aid to navigation, the local and national significance of the
tower, shipwrecks, the lives of lighthouse keepers, and the original first-order Fresnel lens.
The Currituck Beach Light Station is located in Historic Corolla Village next to the Historic Corolla Park, home to Whalehead and the Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education. Public beach and sound access are both within walking distance of the tower.
On December 1, 1875 the beacon of the Currituck Beach Lighthouse filled the remaining “dark space” on the coast between the Cape Henry Lighthouse in Virginia and Bodie Island Lighthouse (which is an architectural twin). To distinguish the 162’ tall lighthouse from others, its exterior was left unpainted which conveys a sense of the multitude of bricks used to build it.
The cost to climb the lighthouse is $10 for those aged 4 and older; children 0-3 may enter only if in a carrier. Masks are required while climbing the lighthouse, and anywhere on the grounds where social distancing of 6 ft. may not be maintained.
Hand sanitizer will be available for all climbers, and the Currituck Beach Lighthouse staff continue to employ robust cleaning protocols and ensure a maximum capacity in the tower.
Those who wish to climb the tower frequently or who want to bring their summer house guests may want to enquire about a season’s pass – good also at the Island Farm on Roanoke Island, which opens on April 6, 2021.
The Currituck Beach Lighthouse is owned and operated by Outer Banks Conservationists, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded in 1980 to protect natural, cultural, and historic resources along North Carolina’s Outer Banks through education and conservation of a sense of place. For more information, visit www.obcinc.org, email info@obcinc.org or call 252-473-4939.