Old Baldy Lighthouse and Smith Island Museum

Old Baldy Lighthouse is absolutely beautiful and full of charm. Even though we didn’t climb to the top, just seeing it up close was special. It’s the oldest lighthouse in North Carolina and a must-visit for anyone coming to Bald Head Island. The grounds are peaceful and well-kept—perfect for soaking in a bit of history and coastal beauty.

Fun light house, lots of stairs to walk but gorgeous view in the top. It becomes a ladder on the top to get to the light house top viewing area. Skinny people only... it was hard to fit up tue ladder and was very tight for a medium size person.

The kids and I thoroughly enjoyed visiting the island, seeing the lighthouse, and riding around exploring! We had an amazing lunch, and the ferry ride was extremely enjoyable!

The lighthouse was awesome. Very neat. I was not able to go to the top cause the ladder but very neat and historical.

Slowly making our way to all the NC lighthouses. This was a favorite! Wooden style spiral stairs all the way to the top. Gotta buy tickets in person. No wait. Keep in mind you will need to ride the ferry over to bald head island and you can’t bring your car so either you’re walking which I don’t recommend so to save yourself the trouble buy the ferry tickets first! then rent the golf cart to get around the island.

If you want a good view of the island it is worth the admission. However to get to the top, there are over 110 stairs. And to get into the top, it can be a tight squeeze. Watch your head.

Great short stop! The view from the top is worth the effort. Claustrophobia could kick in, but we all had a blast!

Old Baldy (the oldest lighthouse on the North Carolina coast) is located on Bald Head Island - a 20-minute ferry ride from the mainland. The island was tranquil and not very crowded at all, and there are bathrooms readily available on either side of the ferry terminals and behind the lighthouse shop/museum. There are 108 steps to the top, including a traditional ladder as the last hurdle before being in the top with the light. With the window open at the top, we had a nice cool breeze on an 80-degree day. On each level, there's information about the lighthouse history and other light stations in the area. Before leaving, make sure to check out the shop and the museum if you didn't before going up the lighthouse.

Old Baldy is North Carolina's oldest standing lighthouse. Admission for adults is $8 and gives you access to the lighthouse and Smith Island Museum of History. To reach the top of the lighthouse you have to go up 108 stairs and 5 landings. It could be considered challenging for some. The views at the top are worth it and were beautiful. If you are on BHI a trip to Old Baldy is a must.

A must do & see during your visit to BHI! You can walk up to the top of the lighthouse and take in the beautiful views all around...a fun experience for the entire family.

$6 for admission to Old Baldy? Hell yeah. This attraction is run by a non-profit, and I suspect they do a pretty solid job of not making so much of a profit. I'd like to come back during peak season sometime to get the fully-fledged 2-hour history tour, but even without doing that, you'll get plenty out of just visiting the lighthouse and its one-room history museum. The lighthouse itself is rad. The view is fabulous. The setting can't be beat. A no-brainer if it's your first visit to the island. (And if it's open.)

The Old Baldy Lighthouse is the oldest lighthouse (that still exists) in NC. It was built in 1817, and is located on Bald Head Island so a ferry is needed to get across as cars are not allowed. The lighthouse has 108 stairs to the top and is 110 feet tall. Old Baldy is octagonal and made from bricks from the original lighthouse and new bricks too. Old Baldy's lantern was from the old lighthouse as well and used whale oil lamps and reflectors. But that didn't work well so a Fresnel lens is used now. The lantern room is off centered as it sits on a tower support beam and also because the Fresnel lens is used now rather than the 15 lamps that were previously used. Stucco was put over the bricks and it was white washed every two years. When the lighthouse was abandoned and the white washing stopped; parts of stucco came off and when repaired by patching, the same colors weren't used for the patching so the lighthouse is many colors. Besides the lighthouse you can visit a small museum and gift shop.

Before you plan a visit to Old Baldy, consider the following: - $12 parking fee at the Deep Point Marina parking lot, with a long walk to the ferry terminal - $23 ferry ticket to Bald Island, with hourly departures to Bald Island (max capacity is 150 passengers, so you may have to wait 1 hour for the next ferry) - $8 ticket to climb Old Baldy, on a creaky wooden staircase, with a steep wooden ladder through a small opening to reach the observation deck - If you miss your ferry back to Deep Point Marina, your will have to wait another hour for the next ferry. Just saying.

10/10 must see lighthouse in NC! I live in Wilmington and sometimes drive to Southport and take the ferry over just to walk around and see Old Baldy. Brings back the best memories.

This is a midsize lighthouse to climb up. The $8.00 admission price is fair and the place is beautiful. There are different levels that you can take a break on. The toughest part of the top where there is a ladder and a small opening. When you get to the top it's breathtaking! The Gift shop is small but cute and there are restrooms and a picnic table, too.

Old Baldy is the oldest standing lighthouse in North Carolina. It was built in 1817 of brick covered with stucco. It was built to mark the Cape Fear River entrance for the sailors. This is a great place to visit for local flavor and to appreciate it's historical significance. There is a museum on the grounds as well. In addition to individual and group tours, the lighthouse can also be rented for private events such as weddings.

I really was looking forward to climbing the lighthouse but we got carried away driving our rented go cart around the island. Keep an eye on a clock because the lighthouse closes at 4pm. My advice is check it out before doing other things. It's close to ferry terminal and really beautiful spot.

Worth the $6 entry fee. Nice to do it in the off season when it's not stifling hot! Gift shop is small/cozy with plenty of souvenirs. The lighthouse itself is a historical treasure if you ask me. Staff is very friendly and kept our bags for us so we wouldn't have to drag them around with us through the small museum and lighthouse grounds. Even on a cool day, with the sun beating through the glass and with poor ventilation, it was hot and stuffy at the top.

A visit to Old Baldy is a great way to spend an hour or so and get a great view of the island. You purchase your $6 ticket ($3 for kids) in the gift shop and then enter a side door into the little museum. Your sticker is good for admission for the entire day, so if you wanted to make the climb again, you could. The museum is one small room with an assortment of prints and items that show a little bit of what a keeper's life would be like. You leave the nicely air conditioned museum to make the climb to the top of the light house. There is a guided cell phone tour with various places to learn information, but unfortunately, my cell phone did not have enough signal to do the cell phone tour. I like that the steps are broken up into five landings. It gives you plenty of space if you need to take a rest during the climb up. To get into the lantern room, you have to go up a ship's ladder through a narrow opening. It can feel quite confining, but it is worth the trek if you can make it. Make sure you take a look around the little souvenier shop. For a small shop, there is a nice selection of souvenier items and even a side room that had a lot of children's items. This is a must see if you are visiting the island.

I went on a tour of Old Baldy, and have to complain about the tour guide Jake. For a place called Old Baldy, he had extremely too much hair. For that reason can only give a 4/5.

Nice experience of history, inside needs some TLC. The light house is beautiful. Able to climb . Is not a working light house . The island it sit on is beautiful

You can actually climb to the top of this relatively small (108 steps to the top) lighthouse, the oldest in North Carolina, built in 1817. The cost is $6 to visit the museum, and climb to the top of the lighthouse if you chose. It is not the toughest climb in the world, and the view is nice, especially of the Fishing Creek area.

Worth the $6 price of admission just so you can get a sticker that says "I support Old Baldy," then bike home and stick it on your father with an encouraging smile. I guess the lighthouse is OK too. Built in 1917, it's the oldest in the state. At the top of the 108-stair climb -- enough to make you feel like a fitness boss without killing you -- there's a lovely view of the island, particularly the alligator-infested swamp on the west side. The climb is not air conditioned, but it smells woodsy and musty in that nice 19th-century way. The museum is an "authentic recreation of an 1850's house," whatever that means. Posted on the walls inside, you'll find lots more authentic recreations (i.e. printouts) of...articles from the internet about lighthouses. If you're after actual authentic memorabilia, this is probably not the right place for you. But if you reframe your expectations to think of it as a museum in tribute to a resort community's can-do attitude and love for maritime knickknacks, it's a fun way to spend an hour.

wonderful piece of North Carolina history. pay the $3. climb to the top. look around and count yourself blessed to see such a wonderful part of world. bill powers #ilovebhi

Happy 200th Birthday Baldy. I couldn't have picked a better place to celebrate. Being the first climbers on you special day was such a blessing as we were greeted by a Red Tailed Hawk. After a morning devotion about being "the Light" and a prayer for our birthday's we enjoyed shopping in the gift shop. There are some of the best gifts and souvenirs I have ever seen to select from. I am enjoying my turquoise mug memory. Keep on shining that spiritual light Old Baldy. We love you. xoxo

A family tradition- climbing to the top - for 13 years. It's a wonderful place to visit and never gets old (so to speak). Support Old Baldy!!

Wouldn't recommend the climb for older folks or anyone who has trouble with stairs, but once you get to the top it is absolutely worth the climb and the $3. It's views are beautiful and the museum and store are really cool. Definitely recommend doing this while on the island. It's a little warm but you so have to do it while here!!