Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

About this place

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse stands on Hatteras Island in the Outer Banks barrier islands, in the town of Buxton, North Carolina, about 2 km in a straight line east of the town centre. It is part of Cape Hatteras National Seashore and, at 64 m from base to tip, the tallest lighthouse in the United States. The first lighthouse here was established in 1802, the present one was completed in 1870, and it was moved once, in 1999, because of coastal erosion. It warns ships off Diamond Shoals, just offshore, where the warm Gulf Stream meets the cold Labrador Current, creating powerful storms and swells; so many ships ran aground here that the area became known as the «Graveyard of the Atlantic». The tower, with its distinctive black-and-white spiral, rises from a red brick base amid green lawns and coastal scrub near the dunes and beach. From its upper gallery the view takes in the ocean, the islands and the marshes, and at sunset the lighthouse is mirrored in the small pools around it. Walking around the lighthouse is free; climbing the 257 steps to the gallery is paid and available only in season, and not for those afraid of heights. Outer Banks weather is changeable, and hurricane season runs from June to November.