Lighthouse Challenge of NJ 2026: 16 Sites, One Weekend (Oct 17 and 18)

Once a year, every lighthouse site on the New Jersey coast opens on the same weekend and dares you to see them all. The Lighthouse Challenge of New Jersey is Saturday and Sunday, October 17 and 18, 2026: 11 lighthouse sites, 4 lifesaving stations and 1 museum, from Sandy Hook down the Atlantic coast to Cape May, then up the Delaware Bay and River to Paulsboro. It is 16 sites but only 15 stops, because one stop covers two lighthouse sites.

This year the Challenge celebrates the country's 250th birthday and honors the Sandy Hook Lighthouse, the only New Jersey lighthouse that was standing during the Revolution. Everything below was read on the organizer's own site, lighthousechallengenj.com, on October 12. Check it before you go.

How the Challenge works

When: Saturday, Oct 17 and Sunday, Oct 18. Every site is open 8 am to 6 pm both days.
Night climbs: Saturday only, 6 to 8 pm, at Navesink Twin Lights, Tucker's Island Light at Tuckerton Seaport and Tinicum Rear Range Light. The organizer says to arrive by 7:30 at the latest if you want to climb.
Cost: $10 to register. There is no pre-registration: you sign up at whichever site you start at, and you can start and finish anywhere.
The souvenir: this year it is a book of stories from the American Revolution that happened at or near the Challenge sites. You pick up a sticker at each stop to fill in its page.
Climbing: not required, you only have to visit each site. Some lighthouses charge to climb, and kids 11 and under climb free with an adult.
Finishing: at your last stop, tell the volunteers you have done them all. Finishers get a completion award and go into a drawing for three prize baskets, the top one worth more than $500.

The 16 sites, north to south

Every stop is on the NJ Lighthouse Map, which is the easiest way to see how far apart they really are before you plan a route.

Sandy Hook and the Highlands

Sandy Hook Lighthouse - first lit in 1764, the oldest standing and oldest operating lighthouse in the United States, and this year's guest of honor.
Spermaceti Cove Life Saving Station - also on Sandy Hook, on Hartshorne Drive between Lots D and E. One of the four lifesaving stations on the Challenge.
Navesink Twin Lights - 200 feet above sea level in Highlands, looking out over Sandy Hook, the bay and the New York skyline. The current lighthouse dates to 1862. Night climb site.

Monmouth and Ocean shore

Sea Girt Lighthouse - at Ocean Avenue and Beacon Boulevard in Sea Girt.
Squan Beach Lifesaving Station - at Ocean and 2nd Avenue in Manasquan, a few minutes from Sea Girt.

Long Beach Island and Tuckerton

Barnegat Lighthouse - relit on January 1, 2009, 150 years to the day after it was first lit in 1859.
Barnegat Light Museum - in Barnegat Light's old one-room schoolhouse (1903 to 1951), home of the lighthouse's original first-order Fresnel lens, taken out of the tower in 1927 and returned to the town in 1957. The only museum on the Challenge.
Tucker's Island Light - at Tuckerton Seaport. Night climb site.

Atlantic City to Cape May

Absecon Lighthouse - New Jersey's tallest lighthouse, 228 steps up to the original first-order Fresnel lens, first lit in 1857.
U.S. Life Saving Station 30 - at 801 Fourth Street in Ocean City.
Tatham Lifesaving Station - at 117th Street and Second Avenue in Stone Harbor.
Cape May Lighthouse - in Cape May Point State Park, the third documented lighthouse at New Jersey's southern tip.

Delaware Bay and River

East Point Lighthouse and the Delaware Bay Lights - the one stop that counts as two sites. East Point, built in 1849, is the second oldest lighthouse standing in New Jersey and the last one left on the Jersey side of the bay. The Delaware Bay Lights are the eight lighthouses out in the bay that you can only reach by boat, shown as a picture tour. Note: the organizer lists this stop at Leechester Hall, 548 Main Street in Leesburg, so check the address before you drive.
Finns Point Rear Range Light - a 115-foot black iron tower from 1877, in Supawna Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Pennsville.
Tinicum Rear Range Light - in Paulsboro, the far end of the route. Night climb site.

Planning a route

Doing all 15 stops in a weekend is a real drive: Sandy Hook to Paulsboro the long way around is most of the state. One way to split it: the northern loop (Sandy Hook, Twin Lights, Sea Girt, Manasquan, then down to LBI and Tuckerton) is an easy Saturday, and a Saturday finish at Twin Lights or Tuckerton gets you a night climb. The southern loop (Atlantic City, Ocean City, Stone Harbor, Cape May, then across to the Delaware Bay sites) fills a Sunday. The organizer's Eat and Stay page lists places to sleep along the way if you want to do it all.

Going with kids? The organizer's Family Fun page has printable coloring pages for every site and a parent's tips that actually work: keep a running count of the steps you climb, pack trunk snacks for between stops, and let the kids navigate.

Make a day of it

Several stops sit inside bigger places worth the time on their own: Sandy Hook's beaches and Fort Hancock, Cape May Point State Park around the Cape May Lighthouse, and Tuckerton Seaport & Baymen's Museum around Tucker's Island Light. Check each site's own page for climbing fees and any changes before you go.

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Atlantic County, Cape May County, Cumberland County, Gloucester County, Monmouth County, Ocean County, Salem County

Atlantic County

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Absecon Lighthouse

Climb 228 steps up New Jersey's tallest lighthouse for views of the Atlantic City skyline, then stand next to the original first-order Fresnel lens at the top. The restored two-acre site has a Keeper's House museum, a gift shop, a Fresnel lens exhibit in the old Oil House and a community garden. Kids can join the free Wacky Wednesdays crafts all summer, and the lens is lit every evening.

Address: 31 South Rhode Island Avenue,, Atlantic City, New Jersey 08401
Phone: 609-449-1360
Website: http://www.abseconlighthouse.org
Events Calendar: https://abseconlighthouse.org/events/event/

Cape May County

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Cape May Lighthouse

The 157-foot Cape May Lighthouse, built in 1859 and still an active aid to navigation, stands inside Cape May Point State Park at the southern tip of New Jersey. Climb the 199 steps of the original cast iron stairway for a panoramic view of the peninsula, the Delaware Bay and the Atlantic.

Address: 215 Lighthouse Avenue,, Cape May Point, New Jersey 08212

Cape May Point State Park

Located on the southern tip of New Jersey, Cape May Point State Park is a key site on the NJ Coastal Heritage Trail, with an environmental center that houses a classroom for interpretive programs and a museum about the park.

Address: P O Box 107,, Cape May Point, New Jersey 08212
Phone: (609) 884-2159
Website: http://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/capemay.html

Tatham Life Saving Station and Museum

Climb the tower of an 1895 U.S. Life-Saving Service station for views of southern Stone Harbor, the ocean, Hereford Inlet and the back bays. Free guided tours take in a life-saving museum with a restored surfboat on the first floor and a military museum on the second. The station is the oldest building in Stone Harbor.

Address: 11617 Second Avenue,, Stone Harbor, New Jersey 08247
Phone: (609) 368-2294
Website: https://stephencludlampost331.org/museum/
Events Calendar: https://stephencludlampost331.org/events/

Cumberland County

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East Point Lighthouse

Wander the grounds and the bay beach at the mouth of the Maurice River, where the red-roofed 1849 lighthouse makes a classic photograph, especially at sunset. Birders come for shorebirds feeding on horseshoe crab eggs in spring and for raptors and songbirds after fall cold fronts. Anglers fish for stripers and weakfish here in spring. In July, diamondback terrapins come ashore to lay eggs on the beach.

Address: Lighthouse Road,, Heislerville, New Jersey 08324
Website: http://eastpointlight.com/

Gloucester County

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Tinicum Rear Range

Climb the 112 step spiral staircase inside an 85 foot lighthouse tower for a view of the Delaware River, the Philadelphia skyline and the airport. The tower stands in the middle of a baseball complex in Billingsport, and the Tinicum Rear Range Lighthouse Society leads the climbs on scheduled days. It is one of the stops on the Lighthouse Challenge of New Jersey every October.

Address: 70 Second Street,, Paulsboro, New Jersey 08066
Phone: 856-423-1554
Website: https://paulsboronj.org/boards-groups/tinicum-rear-range-lighthouse-society-at-paulsboro-inc/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/609424585755202/

Monmouth County

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Sandy Hook Lighthouse

Climb 95 steps and a nine-rung ladder with a park ranger to the top of the oldest operating lighthouse in the country, still guiding ships into New York Harbor. Tours are free and first come, first served, and the Keepers Quarters next door is the Sandy Hook Visitor Center. Children need to be 48 inches tall to climb. Parking at Fort Hancock is free.

Address: 26 Hudson Road,, Highlands, New Jersey 07732
Phone: 732-872-5970
Website: https://www.nps.gov/gate/planyourvisit/sandy-hook.htm
Website: https://www.nps.gov/gate/index.htm
Website: https://www.lighthousechallengenj.com/

Sea Girt Lighthouse

Tour the keeper's house, from the parlor up to the lantern room, at the last live-in lighthouse built on the Atlantic Coast. Exhibits include a rare Fresnel lens, a 1903 keeper's logbook and two lifejackets from the 1934 Morro Castle fire. Guided tours run Sundays from mid-April to late November, and the Lighthouse Challenge of New Jersey stops here in October.

Address: 9 Ocean Avenue,, Sea Girt, New Jersey 08750
Phone: 732-974-0514
Website: https://lighthousechallengenj.com/

Twin Lights Historic Site

Climb the two stone towers of this 1862 brownstone lighthouse station for views over Sandy Hook, Raritan Bay and the New York skyline. The museum and grounds are free, with picnic tables on site, and the north tower is free to climb in the off-season. Guided tours with a historian are available on request. The station looks more like a castle than a lighthouse.

Address: 2 Lighthouse Road,, Highlands, New Jersey 07732
Phone: 732-872-1814
Website: https://www.twinlightslighthouse.org/
Website: https://dep.nj.gov/parksandforests/state-park/twin-lights/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/twinlightslighthouse/
Website: https://www.lighthousechallengenj.com/

Ocean County

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Barnegat Light House

Take the short Maritime Forest Trail, then follow the inlet-side paths over the dunes to the beach and out along the south jetty walkway. Picnic tables sit along Barnegat Inlet, and anglers cast from the bulkhead for striped bass and bluefish. The big draw is the lighthouse: climb 217 steps to the top of the 169 foot tower for views of the bay, the inlet and the ocean. Parking and entry are free.

Address: 208 Broadway,, Barnegat Light, New Jersey 08006
Phone: (609) 494-2016
Website: https://dep.nj.gov/parksandforests/state-park/barnegat-lighthouse-state-park/
Website: https://www.friendsofbarnegatlighthouse.org/
Events Calendar: https://friendsofbarnegatlighthouse.org/events
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/friendsofbarnegatlighthouse/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/friendsofbarnegatlighthouse/
Website: https://lighthousechallengenj.com/

Tuckers Island Lighthouse Replica

Climb the tower of this replica lighthouse for a view of the Seaport, Tuckerton Creek and Lake Pohatcong. Inside are exhibits on New Jersey maritime history, shipwrecks, lighthouse keepers and the U.S. Lifesaving Service, plus an upstairs Tuckerton Railroad exhibit with a working model train. The lighthouse is the entrance to Tuckerton Seaport, and it still lights at night.

Address: 120 West Main Street,, Tuckerton, New Jersey 08087
Phone: 609- 296-8868
Website: https://tuckertonseaport.org/visit/
Website: https://lighthousechallengenj.com/

Tuckerton Seaport & Baymen's Museum

The Tuckerton Seaport, a working maritime village, is located along the Tuckerton Creek. This one-of-a-kind attraction, in the heart of historic Tuckerton NJ, brings the Jersey Shore's maritime traditions of the past and present to life through peopl

Business: 120 West Main Street, Tuckerton, New Jersey
Home: 609-296-8868
tuckertonseaport.org: http://www.tuckertonseaport.org

Salem County

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Finns Point Rear Range Light

Hike the Grassland Trail from the lot on Lighthouse Road, then look up at a 115 foot black wrought iron range light that came from Buffalo by train and mule wagon. The refuge around it has a second trail through forest and busy spring and fall bird migrations. Climb about 130 steps to the lantern room on the days the tower opens. Fort Mott State Park's old gun emplacements are a short drive away.