Sandy Hook Lighthouse

Sandy Hook Lighthouse At A Glance...

• First lit in 1764, it still works: a third order Fresnel lens shows a fixed white light that can be seen 19 miles out.
• In 1764 the lighthouse stood just 500 feet from the tip of Sandy Hook. Sand has built the peninsula out so far that the tower is now about one and a half miles from the northern end.
• Patriot artillery fired on it for an hour in 1776 and could not damage the walls.
• Todays Sunrise: ,   Sunset:  
• New Jersey Shore Region Monmouth County
• Sandy Hook Lighthouse is part of  Sandy Hook

• Activities:

  • Walking

  Amenities:

  • Lighthouse

  Park Type:

  • Historic Area

  Attractions:

  • Lighthouse

  Rules/Regulations:

  • Alcohol Not Permitted

Contact / Location

A Brief History

After a string of wrecks on the sandbars around Sandy Hook, a group of New York merchants asked the colonial assembly for a lighthouse, and a lottery raised the money. Four acres were bought from the Hartshorne family in 1762 for 750 pounds. The tower, eight sided and nine stories tall, was lit for the first time on June 11, 1764.

In the Revolution the tower became a military target. Patriots removed the lamps and whale oil in March 1776, and in June Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Tupper's artillery fired for an hour and could make no impression on the walls. The British then had loyalists fortify it, and it stayed in British hands as the Lighthouse Fort, or Refugees Tower, for most of the war. It was the only lighthouse standing in New Jersey during the Revolution.

A first order Fresnel lens shipped from France in 1840 was too big for the lantern room, so it went to Twin Lights instead. Sandy Hook got its present third order Fresnel lens in 1857, when the iron lantern was added to the tower. The tower was declared a National Historic Landmark on June 11, 1964, exactly 200 years after it was first lit.

Special / Seasonal Events

The lighthouse is a stop on the Lighthouse Challenge of New Jersey, held the third weekend of October. The 2026 Challenge honors Sandy Hook Lighthouse as part of the celebration of the country's 250th birthday, because it was the only New Jersey lighthouse standing during the Revolution. Registration is $10 at your first stop, and the 2026 souvenir is a book of Revolutionary War stories with a sticker to collect at each site.

Admission & Guidelines

Lighthouse tours are free. Children must be at least 48 inches tall to climb the tower, and a park ranger goes with you. Sign up in person at the Sandy Hook Visitor Center on the day of the tour. A tour takes about 30 minutes.

Parking at Fort Hancock is always free. A $20 per day beach parking fee applies from the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day, collected from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm at toll booths that take credit, debit and contactless payment only.

Hours / Season of Operation

Lighthouse tours

Friday to Monday, 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm, first come, first served. Tours run on a seasonal basis, so call the Sandy Hook Visitor Center at 732-872-5970 for tour times and seasonal closures.

Lighthouse Keepers Quarters and Visitor Center

Friday to Monday, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. Rangers can answer questions about the natural and cultural resources of the park and sell Senior and Access passes. Interpretive exhibits and a gift shop are available.

A video in the adjacent barn is always open.

The Sandy Hook Unit of the park is open daily, 6:00 am to 9:00 pm.

Directions

The park's GPS address is 128 South Hartshorne Drive, Highlands, NJ 07732. From Route 36 East, cross the Highlands Bridge and stay right to enter the park. The lighthouse is in the Fort Hancock area.

Ships were meant to tell this tower and Twin Lights apart. Twin Lights, a little over five miles south on the Navesink Highlands in Highlands, had two lights where Sandy Hook had one, and you can visit both in a day. The lighthouse stands in Sandy Hook, which also has beaches and the Fort Hancock historic area.

Here are 10 places near Sandy Hook Lighthouse