Absecon Lighthouse

What a hidden gem in Atlantic City. Run by volunteers, this place is run amazingly well. We were greeted by Buddy at the top of the lighthouse, and he was extremely pleasant to talk to, he gave us a lot of information on the history of the lighthouse as well. If you’re in town, you should definitely stop by!

Must see spot in Atlantic City for the history buffs. Buy something in the gift shop to support them. The staff is very knowledgeable.

I have never been to light house so it was good 1 time experience plus short history lesson. It has 228 steps so it was kind of work out. Tickets are $ 7/​adult which I ticket is little too much but overall I enjoyed it.

For a small donation you can climb to the top of the Lighthouse. You have a nice view of the beach/​ocean, just try not to look at AC yuckiness.
The tourguide tells you information about the lighthouse.
I actually spent the night in the lighthouse, it was cold and drafty, but interesting.
Cute gift shop.

The workers were friendly and informative. It’s great exercise to climb up 228 spiral steps. But there are landings so you can catch your breath. We went during a very cold day so when we got to the top a man was there with tissue and a small space heater (so nice) lol. He gave us some of the history of the tower and some of the future plans for Atlantic City. Overall for $ 7 a person it was a great sight seeing experience.

Hidden gem in an unlikely place. I’ve lived in Jersey my whole life and hadn’t heard about this. The tallest lighthouse in NJ! Fun for kids or adults (there’s a lot of steps, sure, but also places to rest in case you get winded). The top is narrow but most people kindly shuffle around so you can see better. Looks like they opened a cool new park (picnic anyone?) across the street. Neat view from the top.

For a donation of $ 7, you’ll be able to climb to the top of the Absecon Lighthouse and get a great view of the south-​most casinos on the boardwalk from the back (as well as a panorama of beautiful, sprawling Atlantic City — sarcasm).
A tour guide at the top will be there to let you know the history of the lighthouse. This is one of the tower-​style lighthouses in NJ that won’t let you into the lens area at the very top, but you’ll be able to walk completely around the area just underneath it. It’s really interesting to read about the history of these structures, and how everything was basically hand made a long time ago, including those immensely heavy glass pieces.
The view from the top of this lighthouse would be tremendous at night. The tour guide mentioned that they do have a certain night in the summer where entry is allowed to the top — wish I had known about this a few months ago.
My only word of advice is for people who have heart conditions to NOT take the trek. These steps are very heavy to climb and I felt like my heart was going to pound out of my chest, and I’m not exactly old or in bad shape.

It’s 228 numbered steps (you’ll work off that pizza or cheesesteak you ate earlier) up a spiral staircase to the top of the tallest lighthouse in NJ and the third tallest in the nation. You get an excellent view of AC and the surrounding area from the top. They give you a signed card at the top to prove you really made it and be sure and talk to the keeper who knows more than you’d ever guess about lighthouses.
There is a small museum/​gift shop and the bottom so take a minute to check that out. Also, there is free parking on site.
Oh and if you’re like me and not a huge fan of heights, don’t look down while walking up/​down the steps. Trust me!
This is a short drive from the hotels/​casinos so be sure and check this out.

Very Cool! 228 Steps up, on each landing it gives it’s history on it! Very nice view when you reach the top, they will give you a you made it to the top Card

Great spot to visit outside the casinos. The lighthouse is one of the few relics of old Atlantic City. If you’re fit, I highly recommend spending $ 7 to climb the tower, as the views are beautiful. The staff could not have been more engaging and informative.

Great place to visit if you’re ever around the Absecon area going to Atlantic City!
Admission for adults is $ 7 each which is pretty affordable and reasonable. The profit they make goes to make sure the lighthouse is well maintained for future visitors to be able to come and see and climb. It’s very educational and it’s a great work out at the same time. It’s supposedly the tallest lighthouse in New Jersey!
Even thought it’s the tallest lighthouse in New Jersey, it’s a pretty quick climb. When you reach the top, you can see amazing views of Atlantic City and Absecon. You can see the boardwalk from the top and the water. It’s breathtaking. If you’re afraid of heights… don’t look down while climbing the stairs. After you see the view and decide to come back downstairts, you can browse the gift shop/​info shop and read articles written in the past regarding the lighthouse. It’s such a gem in Absecon!

This lighthouse is awesome. Tallest in NJ, say whaaaat. My manfriend and I went on a late weekday morning during the winter, so parking was ample (street parking and I’m pretty sure they have a lot). Admission for adults is $ 7.00, but I saw a little AAA sign and it’s a buck off per person. $ 12 to climb up a historical monument? NO PROBLEM. It’s a donation for a non-​profit, don’t be so stingy. They also have a coupon listed on their website for a dollar off.
Speaking of donations — while googling the lighthouse after we visited, I found out they classify their donors as keepers based on donorship level. How cute is that? For $ 40, you can call yourself a LIGHTKEEPER and have unlimited admission for four people for a year. Pretty sweet donor deal, if you ask me considering most orgs don’t come with any perks whatsoever. For $ 250-​$ 10k, you get a really boring name: Head/​Corporate Keeper.
You climb 228 steps, each step is numbered, and the stairwell itself is actually really beautiful. I’m normally not scared of heights, but there is something about climbing an open, circular stairwell that gives me the heebie jeebies. For those of you who have climbed to Lady Liberty’s crown, these stairs are a hundred times more spacious and less suffocating. I still held on to the railing for comfort. Plus there are platforms where you can take a break and read up on some history about the lighthouse.
A man waits at the top, give you a neat little business card that says you survived/didn’t die/​are still alive, tells you some facts about the lightouse, the lens and then opens the door to let you walk outside. He warned us it was icy, and it was, so nothing like the fear of death, but beautiful views nonetheless. WOOHOO! indeed.

One of the few worth while things to do in AC. The lighthouse could definitely use a fresh coat of paint but otherwise is pretty impressive. The neighborhood it’s located on is sketchy but on the plus side parking is free and abundant. The connecting house is now a gift shop and information center. The museum/​info center is pretty bare bones but has all the information you’d probably want to know and the gift shop is surprisingly impressive with all the little Absecon Lighthouse things you may want. The best part is you can climb to the top of the lighthouse for $ 7. The only reason I didn’t give them 5 stars is that you can’t actually go into the very top room with the Fresnel lens because they don’t want people hurting themselves on some of the sharp glass parts. You can look up the steps into the center of the lens though.
Here’s some stats on the lighthouse:
–Built in 1856
–Deactivated in 1933 (they still light it for a few hours each night)
–171 ft tall (tallest light house in NJ)
–3^rd tallest masonry light house in the US
–Uses a 1^st order Fresnel Lens (largest of all the Fresnel types)
–It’s 228 steps to the top (quite the work out), for the out of shape there are 6 landings with windows to stop and take a breath

Hold onto your hats!!! 228 steps up above Atlantic city, on top of old lighthouse, it gets quite windy!
The spiral staircase climb is fun and in a sense beautiful, there is something about the metal lace spinning below your feet as you circle up and up… Small view windows on landings let you take in views of the city and read up history of lighthouse posted on each landing.
Each step is numbered after one of fundraisers, so you don’t have to count (I always tempted!)
On very top, old lens still lights the night along with two 500 watt light bulbs — impressive contraption made by French.
Chat with lighthouse keeper for a bit, he knows a lot about this place. Than step outside and walk around. Enjoy wind, sunshine and panoramic views.

I am reluctant to heights but I love history and lighthouses so we walked over from the Showboat to climb, there was 228 steps and 6 landings during the duration of the climb, once you got up there there was a volunteer to tell you history then you can see the outside, it was a quick climb, and history tidbits all over the place, we went on a thursday and it was PERFECT I would not like to do this during the weekend in the summer when its super crowded! Nice gift shop as well!

Absecon Lighthouse is the tallest lighthouse in New Jersey, and the third tallest in the U.S.A. Shave $ 1 off the admission fee with a social media app like Foursquare (that’s what I did). I am keeping this review short because the others who have reviewed this site have already written what I would have said. Enjoy the photos for this location. I posted a few of them. :-)

We initially were going to do a night climb at Absecon as a way to end our first day of the ’13 Lighthouse Challenge but at the last minute got scared off by the number of people we heard talking about doing the same thing at Barnegate along with some light rain that was falling.
So instead, we opted to hit Absecon first thing Sunday morning and were rewarded with hardly anyone being there and we were the first of the day to climb.
Now the one controversial thing that Absecon does, along with Cape May and Hereford, is to charge you full regular admission price during the Challenge weekend.
I say controversial not because I had a problem paying the $ 7 but because over ¾ of the Lighthouses are «free» (donation requested) and if you do the entire challenge you will hear a fair amount of grumbling/​bitching from climbers and volunteers at the other free lighthouses that all locations should either be free or charge a reduced price for Challenge climbers as a way to induce more participation in both climbing along with buying memberships or sponsorships.
Que Sera, Sera
Two other pieces of useless trivia that I haven’t see covered yet:
* Ronald G. mentioned the beautiful seasonal garden that is on the grounds and it’s sponsors. He errored in that the garden is not sponsored by a utility company but by Atlanticare (a health care company) and by the Dave Matthews Band.
* Absecon is the only lighthouse in NJ with its original First Order Fresnel lens still in place.
(228 steps & 171 feet)

228 stairs to the top. Amazing views of the entire AC coast from the top section. a friendly keeper awaits you when you make it to the top. Also, you can read interesting historical bits about this (200 yr old ish?) light house on your way to the top and also see all the dedication donation plaques on each step along the way.
The keeper/​guide at the top is really friendly and the view up there is amazing. He and his wife bought the «halfway to the top» step at 114 which is pretty clever. Also the entry only costs about $ 6 (discount through AAA).
I’m just going to take a star off for the «museum» downstairs which is more like just a gift shop.
Also, the local electric company donated a really nice bedded vegetable garden right outside which I highly recommend checking out as well. Also there is free parking and bathroom outside.

As good as it gets for a light house!
There’s a small museum on the ground floor and you can climb the lighthouse as you please. Each flight had interesting facts and a small squared window to enjoy the view.
At the top the view was SOOO NICE! The lighthouse guide waits at the top and was pleasant to talk to and gave out some interesting facts.
If you’re a AAA member there’s a discount on the tickets: D

The Absecon Lighthouse is a nice piece of Atlantic City history and a unique experience. At over 150 years old the lighthouse is the tallest lighthouse in NJ (ascending 228 steps) and one of the oldest in the country. Admission to the Keeper’s House Museum, Exhibits and Grounds is FREE; however, if you wish to climb the lighthouse — which is well worth it — there is a modest fee.
Check in on a social networking site like Foursquare or Facebook to receive a dollar of the climbing admission. Oh, and check out steps in the 170−180s to see a unique marriage proposal!