Cape May Lighthouse

Cape May Lighthouse At A Glance...

• It is built out of the lighthouse that stood here before it. The 1847 tower was dismantled as the sea closed in, and its bricks went into the 1859 one you climb today.
• Three lighthouses have stood on this spot. The first went up in 1823. The sea took the first two. The third is still working.
• It is not a museum piece. The light is an active aid to navigation and still does the job it was built for.
• The spiral stairway inside is the original cast iron one. You are climbing the 1859 staircase, not a modern replacement.
• More than 2.5 million people have climbed to the top since it opened to the public in 1988.
• You can climb it in the dark. Cape May MAC runs evening climbs twice a month through the warm season: once around the full moon, and once around the new moon, when the sky is dark enough for the stars to carry the view instead.
• For the night climbs you buy your ticket from the Lighthouse Keeper, on the night, at the tower. No app, no advance booking.
• Binoculars are allowed on the star climbs, as long as they are securely worn the whole way up.
• On Independence Day there has been a fireworks climb, watching the display from the watch gallery at the top.
• The watch gallery puts you nearly 156 feet above the Delaware Bay and the Atlantic Ocean at the same time.
• The interpretive panels are spread along the climb, at the landings. The exhibit is paced to the places you stop for breath.
• Every October it is a stop on the Lighthouse Challenge of New Jersey.
• Todays Sunrise: 6:56 am,   Sunset: 6:41 pm  
• New Jersey Southern Shore Region Cape May County
• Cape May Lighthouse is part of  Cape May Point State Park

• Activities:

  • Walking

  Amenities:

  • Parking Lot(s)
  • Lighthouse

  Park Type:

  • Historic Area

  Attractions:

  • Lighthouse

  Rules/Regulations:

  • Entrance Fee Required

Contact / Location

A Brief History

The current tower is the third lighthouse on this site.

The first known lighthouse at Cape May was built in 1823.

By 1847 a new lighthouse had been erected on a high bluff. It did not last either: between the encroaching sea and poor building design, it was eventually dismantled.

The lighthouse you climb today was built in 1859, and it was built out of the original bricks of the 1847 lighthouse. The sea took two towers here before the third one held, and the third one is partly made of the second.

The cast iron spiral stairway inside is the original one. Interpretive panels on the grounds, at the base and at the landings on the way up tell the story of the keepers and of how the light worked then and works now.

Things to See & Do

Climb it. That is the reason to come. 199 steps up the original cast iron spiral stairway, with landings to stop at on the way, and a watch gallery at the top looking out over the Delaware Bay, the Atlantic Ocean, Cape May Point and the state park.

Read the panels. They are on the grounds, at the base and at the landings, so the climb doubles as the exhibit. This is a better arrangement than a museum room, because you stop and read when you need the breather anyway.

The Oil House on the grounds holds a fully accessible visitors' orientation center and a museum shop. If somebody in your group is not climbing, this is where they wait, and it is worth going in either way.

Make a morning of it. The lighthouse sits inside Cape May Point State Park, so the trails, the ponds, the hawk watch platform and the World War II gun battery on the beach are all a short flat walk from the base of the tower.

Special / Seasonal Events

The Lighthouse Challenge of New Jersey comes through every October, and Cape May is one of its stops. If you are doing the Challenge, this is one of the towers you climb.

Full Moon Climbs. Cape May MAC opens the tower on selected evenings around each full moon through the warmer half of the year. Roughly two hours after dark, $20 for adults and $10 for children aged 3 to 12.

Stairway to the Stars. The same idea on the new moon, when the sky is dark enough for the stars to carry the view instead of the moon. Same hours and same price. Binoculars are allowed if they are securely worn the whole way up.

For both evening climbs you buy the ticket from the Lighthouse Keeper on the night.

Independence Day. MAC has run a fireworks climb, watching the display from the watch gallery. Limited, and it needs advance reservations.

Dates move from year to year. Check Cape May MAC before planning a trip around any of these.

Admission & Guidelines

Climbing costs:

$12 for adults, and $8 for children aged 3 to 12. Veterans pay $8, active military climb free, and it is free for Cape May MAC members.

Combination ticket with the World War II Lookout Tower: $18 for adults and $12 for children aged 3 to 12.

The last climb is 15 minutes before closing. Turn up with more time than that, because it is a long way to come to be told no.

The climb closes for lightning and severe weather. That is not a formality on an exposed point where the weather comes off two bodies of water.

The admission above is for the lighthouse only and is Cape May MAC's charge, not the state's. It is separate from anything the surrounding Cape May Point State Park does or does not charge.