New Jersey Lighthouse Road Trip: 8 Lights, About 8 Hours of Driving

8 stops317 milesabout 7 hr 44 min of drivingNew Jersey

This route links eight lighthouses across seven New Jersey counties, from Ocean County on Barnegat Bay to Cape May, along Delaware Bay and the Delaware River, and finally to Robbins Reef in Hudson County's stretch of Upper New York Bay. It covers 317 miles with about seven and three-quarter hours of driving, so plan on a long day or split it over two. The towers on the route date from 1849 to 1883, and three of them, Barnegat, Absecon and Cape May, credit George Meade as architect. Every stop is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Several were deactivated in the last century: Absecon in 1933, East Point in 1941, Barnegat in 1944 and Finn's Point in 1950. Start early, check access locally for each site before you set out, and expect cell coverage to be patchy in the rural stretches along the bay.

Route and drive times from OpenStreetMap routing (OSRM). Times are estimates without stops; roads to remote sites can be unpaved or seasonal.

1. 1. Barnegat Lighthouse

   Ocean County, New Jersey

   

   Start on Barnegat Bay. The 1835 date sometimes attached here belongs to an original 40-ft tower that fell into the inlet in 1857. George Meade's replacement was built from 1857 to 1859 and first lit on January 1, 1859. Sources put its height anywhere from 163 to 172 ft, and it was deactivated in 1944.

   Facts, map and sources for Barnegat Lighthouse →

2. ↓ 52.8 miles, about 1 hr 14 min

   2. Absecon Light

   Atlantic County, New Jersey

   

   About 74 minutes and 52.8 miles on, Absecon Light is New Jersey's tallest lighthouse at 171 ft, another George Meade design. Sources disagree on when construction began, giving 1854, 1855 or 1856, but it was first lit on January 15, 1857. It was decommissioned in 1933 and still has its original first-order Fresnel lens.

   Facts, map and sources for Absecon Light →

3. ↓ 51.7 miles, about 1 hr 10 min

   3. Cape May Lighthouse

   Cape May County, New Jersey · built 1859

   

   Another 70 minutes brings you to Cape May, where the current 157.5-ft tower is the third on the site. Its 1823 and 1847 predecessors were lost to erosion, and their sites are now underwater. This one, also credited to George Meade, was first lit in 1859 and stands on Delaware Bay, with a listed range of 24 nautical miles.

   Facts, map and sources for Cape May Lighthouse →

4. ↓ 14.6 miles, about 28 min

   4. Hereford Inlet Lighthouse

   Cape May County, New Jersey · built 1874

   

   Only about 28 minutes on, Hereford Inlet Lighthouse is a different kind of building, designed by Paul J. Pelz and dated 1874. After an August 1913 storm damaged its foundation, it was moved 150 ft west. The tower itself is 49.5 ft tall. The 57 ft figure you'll often see quoted is the light's height above sea level.

   Facts, map and sources for Hereford Inlet Lighthouse →

5. ↓ 27.8 miles, about 52 min

   5. East Point Light

   Cumberland County, New Jersey · built 1849

   

   Once known as Maurice River Light, East Point Light dates from 1849 and is New Jersey's second-oldest standing lighthouse. Its 40-ft tower sits on the roof of a Cape Cod-style house on Delaware Bay. It was deactivated in 1941, then relit in 1980 after restoration. Budget about 52 minutes for the drive from Hereford Inlet.

   Facts, map and sources for East Point Light →

6. ↓ 49.1 miles, about 1 hr 16 min

   6. Finn's Point Rear Range Light

   Salem County, New Jersey

   

   At 49.1 miles and about 76 minutes, this leg ends at a 115-ft wrought-iron skeleton range tower in Salem County. Finn's Point Rear Range Light was built in 1876 and 1877 and first lit in April 1877. It was turned off in 1950 and is now part of Supawna Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, so check access locally before you go.

   Facts, map and sources for Finn's Point Rear Range Light →

7. ↓ 24.2 miles, about 37 min

   7. Tinicum Island Rear Range Light

   Gloucester County, New Jersey · built 1880

   

   In Paulsboro, about 37 minutes on, Tinicum Island Rear Range Light is an 85-ft metal skeleton tower on the Delaware River. It was first lit on December 31, 1880, and it is still an active aid to navigation, showing a fixed red light with a focal height of 112 ft. The keeper's buildings are gone.

   Facts, map and sources for Tinicum Island Rear Range Light →

8. ↓ 97 miles, about 2 hr 7 min

   8. Robbins Reef Light

   Hudson County, New Jersey · built 1883

   

   Save some patience for the last leg, 97 miles and just over two hours to Hudson County. Robbins Reef Light, in Upper New York Bay, is a cast-iron 'sparkplug' tower from 1883 that replaced an 1839 granite tower, which is why the station date and tower date differ. Sources give its height as 45, 46 or 48 ft.

   Facts, map and sources for Robbins Reef Light →