Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse
Get a workout climbing Florida’s tallest lighthouse. Even the fittest athletes were huffing and puffing as they worked their way up all 203 steps in the Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse, a feat accomplished only if you have no tendency towards vertigo. Completed in 1887, the beacon soars 175 feet high, tapering to just 12 feet at the top. Take it slow; once you get there the view is unsurpassed, and you’ll want to enjoy it as you walk around the narrow exterior deck and see Daytona Beach, New Smyrna Beach, and the sweep of the coastlines along both the Atlantic Ocean and the Halifax River in one amazing panorama. The extensive complex also warrants equal attention, from the original lighthouse keeper’s dwelling to a museum featuring pirates’ treasures and teacups from many of the ships passing through the area. Nature trails meander through coastal habitats, where you’ll run across a cemetery of the light keeper’s cats. The lens exhibit houses a magnificent, fully restored Fresnel lens that was used at Cape Canaveral until 1993.
Open daily 10–5, until 9 in summer. Fee.
Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse
4931 S Peninsula Dr
Ponce Inlet, FL
386-761-1821
www.ponceinlet.org
