Beach Treasures and Treasure Beaches

Looking for some hair-raising coastal fun this Halloween?  How about celebrating fright night, which seems to have morphed into a whole month of festivities, with a visit to a haunted lighthouse?

Many historic lighthouses are rumored to harbor ghosts. Coastal Living magazine has chosen the “Top 10 Haunted Lighthouses“  (US) for a spine-chilling fun time! From Maine to Florida, across the Great Lakes and spanning the Pacific Coast, there’s a lighthouse to trick you and to treat your senses.  And, even if you don’t catch sight of the resident spirits, you’ll still end up with an awesome view, a good story, and a wonderful day at the shore!

Here is a sampling of Coastal Living’s frightful collection of the Top 10 Haunted Lighthouses:

Looking down the spiral staircase. St. Augustine Light, Florida (Photo by S.W. Clyde/Wikimedia Commons)

St. Augustine Lighthouse, St. Augustine, Florida. This famous lighthouse, completed in 1874, has more than a couple of resident spirits.  The St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum offers a year-round after hours Dark of the Moon Tour: “Dark of the Moon is the only tour that gives guests the opportunity to climb the Lighthouse and tour the Keepers’ House at night. Enthusiastic guides share paranormal tales and experiences of people who have visited, lived, or worked at the Lighthouse.”

Point Sur Lightstation, Big Sur, California. Celebrating the 6th Annual Ghost Tour, the seasonal “tour” offered at Point Sur State Historic Park  sounds like a frighteningly fun holiday party!  Participants take in a Northern California sunset, enjoy a light buffet & dessert, hear ghost tales and meet a “paranormal investigator”.

Not all of the Top 10 Haunted Lighthouses offer tours. If an overnight stay is more to your liking than a seasonal tour, both the Big Bay Point Lighthouse, Big Bay, Michigan and the Heceta Head Lighthouse, Yachats, Oregonnow serve as bed and breakfast establishments.

Heceta Head Light, Oregon (Photo by HISE Studios,Howcheng/Wikimedia Commons)

Rounding out Coastal Living’s Top 10 Haunted Lighthouses are:

#1 – Owls Head Light, Owls Head, Maine Part of Owl’s Head Light State Park, the lighthouse and keepers quarters are not accessible. *The Maine Lighthouse Museum in nearby Rockland has the country’s largest  collection of Fresnel lighthouse lenses.

#2 -Port Boca Grande Lighthouse, Gasparilla Island, Florida Located on the Gulf of Mexico, near Fort Meyers. One ghost is believed to have been a Spanish princess who now wanders the sand.

#3 – St. Simons Lighthouse, St. Simons Island, Georgia Beachfront lighthouse with museums, exhibits and tours.

St. Simons Light, SGeoegia (Photo by Ebyabe/Wikimedia Commons)

#7 – Battery Point Lighthouse, Crescent City, California You’ll need to know the tide schedule for a visit to this lighthouse!

#9 – Point Lookout Lighthouse, Scotland, Maryland “Aficionados of the paranormal consider this the most haunted lighthouse in America.” (Coastal Living)

#10 – White River Light Station, Whitehall, Michigan One of the ghosts here likes to do housework!  Now that’s spooky!

You can check out more about the Top 10 Haunted Lighthouses and the find helpful links at CoastalLiving.com.

Enjoy the day, during any season, at one of America’s historic coastal beacons!