As I mentioned in an earlier thread, I'm going to Florida to photograph my sister's wedding. I'm going to be shooting Jupiter Inlet, Hillsborough, Cape Florida, and Cape Canaveral lighthouses as well. So, some questions have come up.

I heard that Hillsborough isn't accessible, and of course Cape Canaveral may not be part of the tour.

Anyone know the details?

You can see Hillsboro quite well from the little park right across the inlet where these pictures were taken.





This is the view from A1A (and I'm assuming this construction is done by now as the picture was taken two years ago.



You go across the drawbridge,



and the Hillsboro Inlet Park is on the ocean side of the road


According to the lighthouse website (954-942-2102). the next tour is Sat. Jan 24, 2008, 8:45 - 3:00
Tours (Saturdays)

* 2009, Jan. 24 - scheduled
* 2009, Mar. 21 - scheduled
* Also, May. 23, Jul 25,
* Sep. 26, Nov 28

On our first venture down the ICW, we went out through the Hillsboro Inlet bridge by mistake.

This is what I wrote at the time of that first trip.

The reason we were so afraid to actually go out this inlet is that the inlet has a well deserved reputation for chewing up boats and spitting them out on the rocks.

I didn't really give the lighthouse much of a glance - I was too busy looking at the rocks. And after that, the only time we saw this lighthouse was from out in the ocean as we went offshore from Miami to Fort Pierce

This is a closeup view of the water in the inlet



Tide going out against wind from the east

I knew the lighthouse was near Lighthouse Point. Hillsboro Inlet and also Hillsboro Lighthouse are in Pompano Beach

I knew where the inlet was on the charts, but I could not figure out from the internet exactly where I could go to see it. One of the sites gave places along the road to the south of the inlet where he said views could be had, but that area was completely built up. We drove down US A1A
and across the drawbridge and the whole length of the road and back without finding any place that looked like we could get to the coastline without going across someone's property.

On the way back we almost ran into Hillsboro Inlet Park

This park had free parking, playground equipment benches and people (and some birds) were fishing from beside the inlet, and it also had a really good view of the Hillsboro Inlet bridge The bridge tender gets her own parking space

I took a series of pictures which I took of a relatively large cruising sailboat after going through the bridge, approaching the inlet, in the inlet, and successfully outside the inlet.

We stayed at the park about an hour talking to an old man that was fishing and taking pictures. And also we used the bathrooms. Then we drove on down toward Miami to visit grandchildren.

I will be in Florida also in March. We can compare experiences when we return.

Cape Canaveral Light is not on any tour from the Kennedy Space Center unless things have changed. Cape Canaveral is owned by the Air Force, Kennedy by NASA. From what I remember reading, on some of the Space Center tours you could catch a distant glimpse of the light.

If you have a lot of lens, you can get a distant shot of the light from the fishing pier in town.

GrandmaR...what are the condos next to the lighthouse? Could I walk in to get a closeup? I'm actually going to get into town on the 21st of March, but late..but, the lighthouse trip was planned for a few days after. Should I avoid Hillsbourough all together? Or could I sneak in through those condos?

Those "Condo's" are in a gated community and the lighthouse itself is on Coast Guard property. One has to go through the gated community to get to the Coast Guard property. So no easy feat, especially since the Coast Guard property is used for R & R by officers.

As far as Cape Canaveral you might be able to get a distance view from Jetty Park. Also check with Kennedy Space center about the buses, they did have one that went near the lighthouse, but you could not get off to take pictures (unless you could get the driver to stop and not sure he is allowed, but if he does don't forget to give some tip money [it won't hurt to have the bill in your hand with someone other than Washington].)

I wouldn't skip Hillsboro - I thought that Hillsboro Inlet Park was a really good vantage Point.



From the base of the lighthouse, I find that the pictures are skewed.

Bill,

These pictures were taken in 2004. They predate our GPS, so I know I used instructions found in the Jeremy D'Entremont/Kenneth Kochel America's Atlantic Coast Lighthouses guide. The directions were:
"The best place from which to view and photograph the lighthouse is on the beach south of the inlet.
Public access to the beach is via NE 16th Street. NE 16th is 0.1 mile north of FL 844 (NE 14th Street) and 4.4 miles south of FL 810 (Hillsboro Bolevard).
From NE 16th Street's metered (one free handicapped space) parking lot, there is about a half-mile walk to the inlet.
If a parking space can be found on the one-way road that passes under the drawbridge, the lighthouse can be viewed and photographed from the bridge."









Sandy

Sandy, the trip is a week and a half away and I've looked into all options, including boat charters (too much $$$ for a 30 minute cruise) and I will be following your NE 16th street directions. Its the best option for me, and your pictures look great.