Visiting Currituck Beach Lighthouse
This week come and join us as we take you on a visit to Currituck Beach Lighthouse located in beautiful Corrolla, NC.
Currituck Beach Lighthouse is one of my favorites that can be found along the outerbanks of North Carolina. My husband and I took our boys there for the first time this week. While it has been awhile since our last visit (2002), it was as beautiful as ever.
About Currituck Beach Lighthouse
Currituck Beach was one of the “dark spaces” on the North Carolina coast until December 1, 1875. To distinguish this lighthouse from all the other regional lighthouse, its exterior was left unpainted which allows you to get a sense of the amount of bricks used to construct the structure.
Like the other lighthouses on North Carolina’s Outerbanks, it still serves as an aid to navigation. The beacon comes on automatically every evening at dusk and ceases at dawn. With a 20-second flash cycle, the light can be seen for 18 nautical miles.
This lighthouse was the major brick lighthouse built on the OBX. After extensive restoration by OBC, it was opened to the public for the first time in 1990.
Fun Facts about Currituck Beach Light Station:
• It has 220 steps
• There is approx. 1,000,000 bricks
• The thickness of the wall at the base is 5’8″
• From top of the roof to the ground is 162′
• Focal plane of lens from sea level is 158′
Visiting the lighthouse
Arriving on the OBX, I knew that I wanted to take the boys on a trek to get in as many lighthouses as I could. Since we were staying in Kitty Hawk, NC it wasn’t too far out of the way for most lighthouses. While we obviously weren’t able to get them ALL in, we did manage to get in at least four.
My husband and I haven’t been to the OBX in around 15 years and I really have no answers on why it took us so long to get back. We took our daughters there when they were around the age the boys are now and they loved every minute of it. I will say that a lot has changed over the years, but it’s still beautiful.
When we arrived, the boys weren’t 100% sure if they wanted to go up to the top or not. One said he was fine looking at the outside and one was persistent that we go up the 220 steps to reach the top.
One thing I’ve always loved about walking up Currituck Beach Lighthouse is all the educational information that’s located on the different levels.
We have always enjoyed stopping and reading all the information, and it’s nice how they have how high you are on each window you arrive at.
Wind? What Wind?
While the view is breathtakingly beautiful, Luke was second guessing his decision of wanting to come to the top. We were currently under a tropical storm warning and were getting pretty strong winds on the ground. I really don’t think Luke realized how strong the winds would be that high until he walked out on the top. The wind was blowing his little body backwards, which basically meant that he had to scale the wall while on one side of the lighthouse.
Hours & Cost
For more information on Currituck Beach Lighthouse, you can visit them HERE. This is a great place to find out about upcoming events and their official opening and closing dates.
The closing day for 2017 will be Dec. 1, which so happens to also be their 142nd birthday! If you’re in the area on this day, you can visit between 11am-4pm and enjoy a free climb. Any other time, the cost to climb the lighthouse is $10 a person and children 7 and under are free.
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