Bodie Island Light Station Review

The Bodie Island Light Station is a nice place to stop as you are exploring the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. At the light station, you'll be able to walk around the grounds, browse through several exhibits in the visitors center, take in the view of the light station and get plenty of information about the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

Located on Bodie Island in the Cape Hatteras National Seashore off of Route 12, the light station is about ten to fifteen minutes south of Kitty Hawk and the intersection of Highway 64 and Route 12.

At this time, the actual light station isn't open to the public so you won't really get any expansive views of the Outer Banks or the ocean. Instead, you'll be down at ground level looking up at the station and being able to see how the light keeper and his family lived in the home next to the station. There are also some trails that leave from the parking area should you want to get out and explore the natural areas of the island. There's also a visitor center that's housed inside the former home of the light keeper.

We stopped at the Bodie Island Light Station on our way down to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and spent about a half an hour wandering around the area. The visitors center was nice because it gave us our first real introduction to the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. I had thought you would be able to go up the light station, but it is closed to the public. We didn't really have the time to explore the nature trails that headed out from the parking lot.

My Take

I wouldn't go to the Outer Banks to visit the Bodie Island Light Station, but since we were already there, I'm glad we stopped. The tower was interesting to look at and the visitors center has lots of information on the entire seashore area. Plus it was interesting to see how the light keepers lived and maintained these lighthouses.