Bodie Island Lighthouse at Cape Hatteras National Seashore as seen from the nearby salt marsh

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See the Lighthouses web page for an interactive location map.

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CLIMBING BODIE ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE

Bodie Island Lighthouse is located at the end of Bodie Island Lighthouse Road (off of NC-12, about 6 miles from the entrance to Cape Hatteras National Seashore at Whalebone Junction). The lighthouse is typically open for climbing from mid-April through mid-October, 9 AM to 4:30 PM. For the exact April opening date and the latest fees, be sure to check the National Park Service’s Lighthouse Climbs web page for Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

Fee-based tickets are required and must be purchased at Recreation.gov on the actual day you climb the lighthouse (sales start at 7 AM). Therefore, you or someone in your group must have a cell phone or other Internet-connected device, not only to access the ticket website, but also to receive tickets electronically. If you don’t have a Recreation.gov account, you must create one to purchase tickets, so do that in advance if possible. Tickets are good for a particular time slot, and you must be at the base of the lighthouse no later than five minutes before your climb time.

Full Moon Climbs are also offered. Tickets are limited and must be purchased at Recreation. gov on the day of the tour. Dates are listed on the ticket website.

Bodie Island Visitor Center and Lighthouse at Cape Hatteras National Seashore

Tours are self-guided, and groups of up to eight people leave every 20 minutes. I spoke to a Ranger about climb times selling out and could not get any definitive answer. I was there on a Sunday in early June for one of the last climbs of the day and had no problem getting a ticket about ten minutes before the climb started. The best advice is to be online at 7 AM to purchase tickets.

Visitors climbing the Bodie Island Lighthouse most abide by the following rules:

• Each climber must be at least 42″ (107 cm) tall and capable of climbing all steps on his or her own.
• Children 11 years of age or younger must be accompanied by an adult who is 16 years of age or older.
• No person may be lifted or carried.
• Running, jumping, or stomping on stairs and landings is prohibited.
• Do not eat, drink (except water), smoke or chew tobacco.
• No pets allowed.
• Shoes required; no bare feet or heels over 1-½” (3.8 cm) high.
• Leave umbrellas, backpacks, tripods, coolers, beach bags, surfboards, fishing poles, and the like in your car.
• Throwing of any object off the lighthouse is unsafe and may get you in big trouble!
• Lighthouses may close at any time if weather conditions are unsafe.
• Each climber must weight less than 260 lbs. (118 kg).
• Only one person at a time is allowed on each flight of stairs—no climbing in pairs or groups.

There are 219 steps in the lighthouse. Fortunately for those who are older or out-of-shape, there are nine landings where you can rest. Of course this still doesn’t mean that everyone can make the climb, but if you are thinking you could make it to the top if only you could stop and rest a few times on the way, then your prayers have been answered.

Winding stairway to the top of Cape Hatteras National Seashore’s Bodie Island Lighthouse

From the top of the lighthouse there are good views of the Atlantic, the salt marshes below, and the Visitor Center.

View of the salt marsh and Atlantic Ocean from the top of Cape Hatteras National Seashore’s Bodie Island Lighthouse

Former Bodie Island Lighthouse Keeper’s Quarters, now the Visitor Center, at Cape Hatteras National Seashore

View from the window of Bodie Island Lighthouse at Cape Hatteras National Seashore

Once you are finished with the tour, there is a short boardwalk path that leads down to an observation deck overlooking the salt marsh. You can get some excellent photos of both the marsh and the lighthouse from here.

Observation platform at the salt marsh at Bodie Island in Cape Hatteras National Seashore

Salt marsh near Bodie Island Lighthouse at Cape Hatteras National Seashore

Cape Hatteras National Seashore’s Bodie Island Lighthouse as seen from the nearby salt marsh

Bodie Island Lighthouse at Cape Cod National Seashore

BODIE ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE HISTORY

The current Bodie Island Lighthouse was completed in 1872, though it is actually the third lighthouse on Bodie Island (pronounced “Body”). The first was built in 1847, but the incompetent project manager ordered the structure built on an unsupported brick foundation, and not long afterwards the tower began to lean. The timing of the light was controlled by weighted pulleys like on a grandfather clock, and once the lighthouse tilted beyond a certain degree, the pulley system no longer worked. By 1859, despite attempts to remedy the problem, the lighthouse was abandoned.

The next lighthouse was built the same year the old one was abandoned, but at another location nearby. When the Civil War came around, the Outer Banks were controlled by a sparse population of Confederate soldiers. The lighthouse made for a great observation tower…so great that when the Union army attacked the islands in late 1861 and eventually overran the Confederates soldiers, the Confederates blew it up before they retreated so the Union would not be able to use it as an observation tower or lighthouse.

After the war, the current lighthouse was built about a half mile from the shore so that it would be on more solid ground. The tower is 164 feet tall and its light can reach 19 miles out to sea. It signaled ships to move farther out to sea in order to avoid the treacherous stretch of coastline and sandbars that had sunk hundreds of ships throughout the years.

Inscription inside the Bodie Island Lighthouse at Cape Hatteras National Seashore

Bodie Island Lighthouse was wired for on-site generated electricity in 1932 and became fully automated in 1940. Commercial electricity was installed in 1953 when the National Park Service took over the property, though the U. S. Coast Guard retained ownership of the lighthouse and the land for 100 feet all around it. The lighthouse was not officially transferred to the National Park Service until July 13, 2000. Four years later it was closed due to poor condition. Restoration began in 2010, and it reopened once again to tourists for the 2013 season. Today, the light still works, but GPS navigation on ships has made working lighthouses around the country more of a tourist attraction than a navigational instrument.

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