Counting today, Thursday, November 12, the Currituck Beach Lighthouse has 18 climbing days left in its 2026 season. The schedule from Outer Banks Conservationists runs March 21 through November 30, daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. when the weather allows, with Thanksgiving off. One more day comes after that. On Tuesday, December 1, 2026, the tower at 1101 Corolla Village Road opens again from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and admission is free.
It's no accident that the free day falls the morning after the season ends. December 1 is the lighthouse's birthday. The U.S. Coast Guard's history of the station records that the beacon was first lit on December 1, 1875. That makes this year's climb the 151st anniversary. The climbing season follows a visitor schedule, while the light has been on its own clock since 1875. December 1 is when the two line up.
Two Calendars on One Tower
From March to November, the lighthouse works like any ticketed attraction. In spring 2026, the Outer Banks Voice reported that climbing admission is $13 for everyone age 4 and up. On December 1 that drops to nothing, and OBC asks for donations toward the tower's upkeep.
The light itself doesn't keep a season. The Coast Guard lists the Currituck Beach Light as operational, with a 20-second cycle of 3 seconds on and 17 seconds off. At that rate it flashes three times a minute, 180 times an hour, through every night the gate is locked. So from the Whalehead lawn in January or the village road in February, the light is doing the same job it did the night before the first climber of 2026 went up.
Its daytime identity doesn't change with the seasons either. The Coast Guard's record describes the tower as natural red brick with a black lantern. OBC explains that the unpainted brick is the daymark, the feature that told mariners which tower they were looking at. The other lighthouses on this coast got painted patterns. Currituck's daymark is the brick, and it has gone unpainted since 1875.
Who Keeps the Second Calendar
The climbing season belongs to Outer Banks Conservationists. According to OBC's history of the lighthouse, the nonprofit received the deed in 2003. It keeps the compound open to the public during the season and maintains the tower and the buildings around it. Those buildings are part of why the property feels like a small village. The main Keepers' Dwelling is an 1876 duplex that housed more than two dozen keeper families. The separate Little Keeper's House is now the museum shop.
The dwelling went up in 1876, a year after the light was first lit. The keepers' calendar was the anniversary calendar. Their families lived on the property every month of the year because the light ran every month of the year. The 9-to-5, March-to-November schedule came much later, when the compound began serving visitors.
What December 1 Has Looked Like Before
The birthday climb has happened before. In 2023, OBC held a December 1 free climb that it billed as the lighthouse's 148th birthday celebration. In 2025, the 150th anniversary got a much bigger event. OBC scheduled a 150th Illumination Celebration from November 12 through December 1, 2025, with free climbs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and a 4 p.m. anniversary program of speeches, sparklers, cake and a champagne toast. Before that celebration, Outer Banks This Week described nearly three weeks of planned programs, including keepers' house tours, craft and holiday markets, history and nature events, and free climbs.
The 2026 version is a single day. OBC's events calendar lists the Tuesday free climb as its only December 2026 event at the lighthouse. The 151st keeps the same 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. hours as last year's free climbs, charges no admission, and asks for donations.
The Birthday Lands at the End of Corolla's Holiday Week
This year, December 1 falls on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. That puts the anniversary right at the end of Historic Corolla Park's opening holiday weekend, within walking distance of everything else on the schedule. The Christmas in Corolla calendar from the Currituck County visitors bureau sets out the stretch.
| Date | Event | Where | Hours | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thu., Nov. 26 | Thanksgiving, lighthouse closed | Currituck Beach Lighthouse | Closed | None |
| Fri., Nov. 27 | 11th Annual Christmas Craft Village | Whalehead, Historic Corolla Park | 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. | Free |
| Fri., Nov. 27 and Sat., Nov. 28 | Corolla Village Christmas | Historic Corolla Village | 4 to 8 p.m. | Free |
| Fridays and Saturdays, Nov. 27 to Dec. 19 | Whalehead Christmas Candlelight Tours | Whalehead, 1100 Club Rd. | 5 to 6:30 p.m. | $20, reservations required |
| Mon., Nov. 30 | Last day of the 2026 climbing season | Currituck Beach Lighthouse | 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. | $13, ages 4 and up |
| Tue., Dec. 1 | Free Climb Day, 151st anniversary | Currituck Beach Lighthouse | 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. | Free, donations welcome |
Corolla Village Christmas runs two evenings with local artists, music, food vendors and Santa, all free. The Craft Village takes over Whalehead for the Friday afternoon after Thanksgiving. The Candlelight Tours show the 1920s décor of Edward Collings Knight Jr. and his wife, and each tour includes a live performance on the custom Steinway piano built for Mrs. Knight. The visitors bureau page now marks every tour date as sold out.
Laid out by date, the week follows a pattern. Everything over the holiday weekend draws on the Knights and the village. The Tuesday that follows belongs to the lighthouse alone. By then the long-weekend traffic has thinned, and the free climb comes on a weekday when most visitors to Historic Corolla Park are people who live within driving distance.
Before You Climb on the First
The free day waives the fee. As far as OBC's posted rules show, nothing else about climbing changes. Its visitor page sets these standing conditions:
- Climbers must be at least 4 years old.
- Children ages 0 to 3 may go up only in a carrier.
- Every climber signs a liability waiver.
- Climbing depends on the weather, so a windy or stormy December 1 can affect access.
The climb itself is 220 steps to the top of a 162-foot tower. In December the view covers the same Currituck Sound and Atlantic shoreline as it does in July, with a lot less summer haze between you and the horizon. The free day ends at 4 p.m. On December 1 sunset comes early, so the last climbers will be coming down not long before the light's evening work begins.
If you live in Corolla year-round, the anniversary fits alongside the off-season routines in our guide to Corolla's quiet shoulder seasons. It's also one more local calendar that runs separately from the main one, like the one we followed in Corolla's wild horses after Labor Day. For more on the village around the tower, our Corolla neighborhood page gathers it in one place.
The paid season closes at 5 p.m. on Monday, November 30. The tower opens again for free at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, December 1, 2026, the light's 151st anniversary.
If you're thinking about a home within sight of that flash, whether it's a year-round place near Historic Corolla Park or a second home for holidays like these, Jessica Evans can tell you which streets and sightlines put the Currituck Beach Light in your evening view. Schedule a consultation and we'll talk through Corolla, one neighborhood at a time.
