We visited the Cape May Lighthouse in early October 2025 while staying at the nearby Thousand Trails Lake & Shore RV Park in Ocean View, New Jersey.
Located in Cape May Point State Park, the Cape May lighthouse tour cost $12 and was well worth the fee. We learned a lot about the history of the lighthouse and the area from John, the lighthouse keeper who we met at the top of the lighthouse. We climbed the 199 steps up the original, cast iron spiral stairway to the top of the 1859 lighthouse where we got to enjoy spectacular views of the Delaware Bay and Atlantic Ocean from the very windy outside platform. The Cape May Lighthouse is the third beacon at this location.
Still an active aid to navigation, it was restored and is maintained by Cape May MAC (Museums+Arts+Culture). Since Cape May MAC opened it to the public in 1988, more than 2.5 million visitors have climbed to the top. The Cape May Lighthouse is listed in the State and National Registers of Historic Places.
After touring the lighthouse, we walked down to the beach which forms the north side of the entrance to the Delaware Bay. We were interested to see the fairly intact remails of Battery 223 that was built as part of the Harbor Defense Project of 1942. This gun emplacement was once 900 feet inland, surrounded by earth and covered by sod, making it look as if it were a hill when viewed from the sea or air. Periods of severe coastal erosion and storms have washed away much of the sand resulting in the gun emplacement now sitting on the beach close to the water. At low tide the gun turrets at the front are visible. Battery 223 was later converted to a Sound Surveillance System station during the early days of the Cold War (1955-1962), but storm damage forced it to be relocated to Fort Miles in Delaware.
As we walked back into the park, we passed by a large birdwatching platform overlooking an area of ponds, meadows, and dunes where we learned that the annual “Hawk Watch” was in progress. Cape May is viewed by many as the premier hawk migration route of North America. In the fall, hundreds of hawks are counted as they pass the narrow corridor of land along the Cape May peninsula heading south.
