Visiting the Assateague Lighthouse

If your heading to northern Virginia, specifically Chincoteague Island or Assateague Island, you'll find to visit the beautiful Assateague Lighthouse, or Assateague Light for short. It was built in 1867 and stands 142 feet tall. It's owned by the Fish & Wildlife Service and is operated by the U.S. Coast Guard.

One of the things I absolutely love about this particular lighthouse is that its a working one that still helps aid the ships and boats as they come ashore or go out to sea. It's conical shaped and painted in a dark shade of red and white (striping pattern) with a solid black top. It's powered by an electronically controlled beacon (light).

If you want to take a tour of the inside of this gorgeous lighthouse, you'll have to plan your visit during the summertime. You can only tour it during the weekends, from April through November. Admission to tour the inside of the lighthouse is free, but they do appreciate donations which are used to keep the lighthouse running and looking nice for visitors.

You can walk around the Assateague Lighthouse grounds and get some beautiful views of the surrounding area. In addition, you'll find many shorebirds nesting here or playing here, in their natural habitat. On the day that we visited, we also spotted two large turtles nearby. If you're into general birdwatching, you can do that here too.

My husband and I love visiting lighthouses and to-date, this one is one of our favorites! We've blogged many times about the one's that we've visited and posted photographs of them right here on our blog. If you're heading to Chincoteague and/or Assateague Island, a visit to the Assateague Lighthouse needs to be on your agenda! It's a must-see in our book!

Note: All photos used in this travel feature are clickable. Click on each picture and it will open up in a new browsing window & in an enlarged size. This will allow you to see the smaller details up close and personal.