Race Point Lighhouse

Location, location, location. Rustic. Loved it.

While Brian’s review is informational and entertaining, he makes the lighthouse out to be far more isolated than it really is. With a permit from the ranger and 4 wheel drive, you can drive right out to the lighthouse and out to the beach beyond. However, the trail does close occasionally for nesting shore birds.
When the trail is open, the lighthouse runs tours on the first and third Saturdays from June until October. Both the Keeper’s House and the Whistle House are a guest house that are available to rent.
I visited the Beach/​Lighthouse over 4^th of July weekend. The weather was great, but it wasn’t that crowded.

The
end
of
the
world
Race Point Lighthouse is a wild, wild place. It’s located on the very end of Cape Cod and is exposed to howling winds, blowing sand and unpredictable, sinister and malefic currents. The name race means a very strong and dangerous flow of water in old nautical terminology and whoever named it Race Point certainly knew what he was talking about.
Before the Cape Cod Canal was built all ships had to pass around the tip of Cape Cod and ship wrecks here were very common. The first lighthouse was established way back in 1816 but since it was only 20 feet tall and took a pounding from the hostile environment, it soon became apparently that something a bit stronger was needed. So in 1876 the present 40 foot tall cast iron tower was built. It had a fourth order Fresnel lens and is credited with saving hundreds of ships and lives.
The whole area around the lighthouse is now just sand dunes but at one time it was a busy fishing village called Helltown. Of course the name came from the harsh and unforgiving environment. The village started to disappear about a hundred years ago as people got tired of the hammering winds and waves and moved to more protected places in the area. Winds over 50 knots are common at the point and very little of Helltown is now visible.
It’s not particularly easy to get to Race Point Lighthouse. it’s about a two mile hike over some soft sand and wind is frequently blowing in your face. It’s an invigorating place to visit in the winter but you better be prepared for some serious wind chills. I’ve been out here in a Nor Eastern and the visibility is literally zero. The wind was blowing horizontally and one side of my body was covered in ice but the other side clean. Extremely cool weather.
I have heard that humpback whales are occasionally visible and just looking a the wild and uncivilized ocean is aways thrilling. Certainly not the easiest lighthouse to visit but always one of the wildest.