Castle Hill Lighthouse

The granite tower sitting at the end of Ocean Drive dates to 1890, built on a rocky headland where Narragansett Bay's East Passage opens toward the Atlantic. It remains an active Coast Guard navigation aid for vessels threading between Conanicut Island and Aquidneck Island — a working lighthouse, not a museum piece. The property around it belongs to Castle Hill Inn, while the lighthouse structure itself is owned by the U.S. Coast Guard, and the interior is closed to visitors.

Access is straightforward on foot: park at the Castle Hill Inn lot, cross to the footpaths on the inn's grounds, and follow the trail down to the rocky ledge where the tower meets the water. The grounds are open to the public, though parking can fill quickly on weekends and holidays. Picnicking on the property is not permitted. The tower's lower half is natural rusticated granite; the upper half has been painted white since 1899 to serve as a daymark. From the headland, open water is visible in multiple directions — the kind of pause that earns its ten minutes on foot.