Split Rock Lighthouse visiting guide

The lighthouse sits inside Split Rock Lighthouse State Park, which is run by a different agency, the Minnesota DNR, and charges its own fee. Most confusion about visiting comes from mixing up the two.

This guide covers hours, tickets, the permit rule, beacon lightings and the park around the lighthouse. Hours and prices come from MNHS, park facts from the Minnesota DNR.

Two places, two agencies

MNHS puts it plainly: "The State Park is managed by the Minnesota DNR and has separate admission from the historic site." The DNR's park page says the same from its side: the lighthouse "is not managed by the state park," and there is "a separate tour fee."

Hours and tickets by season

All prices and hours below are from MNHS. The current schedule is from the live Hours and Admission page. The earlier 2026 seasons are no longer on that page, so they come from archived copies of it (linked in the sources).

Summer general admission (summer 2026, per MNHS; 2027 prices not yet posted):

• Adult: $15
• Senior, college student or military: $12
• Kid or student, ages 5 to 17: $8
• Kids 4 and under, and MNHS members: free

General admission covers the lighthouse, fog signal building, keeper's house, oil house and visitor center, according to the MNHS ticket page.

Tours:

• Conquering the Cliff tours (summer 2026, per MNHS; 2027 prices not yet posted): $20 adult, $15 child, $15 MNHS member.
• Keeper's Tour: $25, with a 20% member discount. This season it runs Saturdays through November 22, 2026, per MNHS, and Friday to Sunday January 1 to 3, 2027, at 12:00, 1:00 and 2:30 p.m. Capacity is 10 people.
• Christmas at the Lighthouse: November 27 to December 27, at 10:30 a.m., 12:00 and 1:30 p.m., $20 or free for MNHS members. Capacity is 10 per tour.

The DNR's park page shows different dates. It says the historic site is open "May 15 - October 15, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.," and that from October 16 to May 14 the lighthouse and historic buildings are closed while the visitor center is open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Thursdays through Mondays. MNHS runs the site, so treat its page as the one to trust, and check it the week you go. 2027 hours and prices were not posted as of November 11, 2026.

Parking and the state park permit

From MNHS's directions page: "Free parking for Historic Site visitors during site hours only. A State Park vehicle permit is required during off hours."

What that means in practice:

• Visiting the lighthouse while it's open: park free in the historic site lot.
• Arriving before opening, staying after closing, or visiting on a Tuesday or Wednesday in the off-season: you need a state park vehicle permit.
• Going to Pebble Beach, Day Hill, the trail center or the campgrounds: those are state park areas. The DNR park map says "Permits required; purchase at park office."

The DNR permit page lists $7 for a one-day permit and $35 for a year-round permit. If the park's ranger station is closed, the DNR says you can buy a permit online, write the confirmation number on paper and display it on your dashboard.

The lot has five disability parking spaces, and the path to the visitor center is paved. A driver can drop off a passenger with limited mobility at the front of the visitor center.

The beacon lightings

The beacon guided ships from 1910 to 1969. MNHS says Coast Guard rules no longer allow it to be used for navigation, but it "still shines on special occasions and during maintenance."

• November 10, every year: the beacon is lit to remember the freighter SS Edmund Fitzgerald and all vessels lost on the Great Lakes. MNHS says this has happened "for over 40 years." The ceremony includes speakers, the Navy Hymn and the reading of the crew's names. MNHS sells tickets and livestreams it on its website, YouTube and Facebook.
• Other lightings: historically "around Memorial Day weekend" and "around July 31," the anniversary of the first lighting. MNHS says these usually go with a public event, so check the events calendar before planning around one.

What you'll see at the lighthouse

From MNHS:

• The lighthouse stands on a 130-foot cliff. The tower is 54 feet tall.
• The lens is a third-order Fresnel lens with 252 glass prisms, weighing about 1,500 pounds. The official range of the light was 22 miles.
• MNHS says the station was completed in 1910; the DNR says the fog signal building and lighthouse were completed in 1909 and commissioned a year later. Both tie it to a November 1905 storm: MNHS says that storm "damaged 29 ships," while the DNR says the gale claimed the Edenborn, the barge Madiera and five other ships within a dozen miles of the Split Rock River. It closed in 1969, the state took it over in 1971, and MNHS has run it since 1976. It became a National Historic Landmark in 2011.
• The visitor center shows a 13-minute film with captions.

Stairs and access, per MNHS's accessibility page:

• The observation deck is not accessible: 22 stairs up to it.
• 4 steps to enter the lighthouse, and 32 steps to the top of the tower.
• The fog signal building and keeper's house have ramps; the keeper's house second floor is up 15 steps.
• Paths around the visitor center and historic core are concrete and ADA accessible.
• The 0.29-mile gravel trail down to the lake has 108 feet of elevation gain coming back up.
• Manual wheelchairs and two Grit all-terrain wheelchairs are free to borrow at the visitor center.

Rules worth knowing: pets are not allowed on the historic site or in the visitor center. Leashed pets (six feet or shorter) can go in the parking lot, outside the visitor center, in the pet exercise area and on the trail to the lake. Food and drinks other than bottled water are not allowed on the historic site, but there are picnic tables near the parking lot. The DNR park map says drones are not permitted in the historic site or the park.

In the state park around it

The lighthouse is the reason most people come, but the state park is where you get the classic photo. The DNR suggests walking Pebble Beach to see Ellingsen Island and "snap a photo of the lighthouse." Short options from the DNR park map:

The park also has 46 electric sites in Shipwreck Creek Campground, 20 cart-in sites and 4 backpack sites. See Split Rock Lighthouse State Park camping for how those work.

Right now (November 7 to 22, 2026): the DNR is holding a special firearm deer hunt. Everything on the inland (west) side of Highway 61 is closed except to hunt permit holders and Shipwreck Creek campers. The lakeside, including the park office, trail center, Pebble Beach and Day Hill, stays open with no hunting. The DNR asks visitors to wear blaze orange or blaze pink.

Before you go

1. Check the MNHS hours page the week of your trip. Off-season days are Monday and Thursday through Sunday only.
2. Decide what you want inside. Off-season, the $8 grounds pass does not include the lighthouse or keeper's home. A Keeper's Tour does, and holds only 10 people.
3. Arrive during site hours if you want free parking. Otherwise buy a $7 state park permit.
4. Plan the stairs: 32 steps to the top of the tower, and the lake trail climbs 108 feet on the way back.
5. Add the park: Pebble Beach and Day Hill give the outside view of the lighthouse.

Split Rock is one stop on the Duluth to Grand Marais drive. Gooseberry Falls is the next state park south (8 miles by the Gitchi-Gami State Trail, per the DNR), and Palisade Head is a cliff-top overlook farther up the shore, in Tettegouche State Park.

Related guides: All North Shore guides · Minnesota state parks · North Shore state parks compared · Things to do in Two Harbors · Silver Bay and Beaver Bay

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Sources

• Minnesota Historical Society, Split Rock Lighthouse (home page, parking rule, events): https://www.mnhs.org/splitrock
• Minnesota Historical Society, Hours and Admission (current season): https://www.mnhs.org/splitrock/visit/hours
• Minnesota Historical Society, Hours and Admission, archived July 15, 2026 (May 1 to Oct. 19, 2026 season): http://web.archive.org/web/20260715134604/https://www.mnhs.org/splitrock/visit/hours
• Minnesota Historical Society, Hours and Admission, archived March 6, 2026 (January to April 2026 seasons): http://web.archive.org/web/20260306184307/https://www.mnhs.org/splitrock/visit/hours
• Minnesota Historical Society, Split Rock Lighthouse General Admission ticket page: https://www.mnhs.org/historical-tickets/49877830968
• Minnesota Historical Society, Directions and Parking: https://www.mnhs.org/splitrock/visit/directions
• Minnesota Historical Society, Amenities: https://www.mnhs.org/splitrock/visit/amenities
• Minnesota Historical Society, Accessibility: https://www.mnhs.org/splitrock/visit/accessibility
• Minnesota Historical Society, Pets: https://www.mnhs.org/splitrock/visit/pets
• Minnesota Historical Society, Split Rock's Beacon: https://www.mnhs.org/splitrock/activities/beacon
• Minnesota Historical Society, Edmund Fitzgerald: A Great Lakes Memorial: https://www.mnhs.org/splitrock/activities/edmund-fitzgerald
• Minnesota Historical Society, Lighthouse: https://www.mnhs.org/splitrock/activities/lighthouse
• Minnesota Historical Society, History of the Lighthouse: https://www.mnhs.org/splitrock/learn/history
• Minnesota Historical Society, Historic Buildings: https://www.mnhs.org/splitrock/activities/buildings
• Minnesota Historical Society, Visitor Center: https://www.mnhs.org/splitrock/activities/visitor-center
• Minnesota Historical Society, State Park and Trails: https://www.mnhs.org/splitrock/activities/park
• Minnesota DNR, Split Rock Lighthouse State Park (park data, alerts, campgrounds): https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state-parks/park.html?id=spk00266
• Minnesota DNR, Split Rock Lighthouse State Park summer map and guide (PDF): https://files.dnr.state.mn.us/maps/state_parks/spk00266_summer.pdf
• Minnesota DNR, Vehicle permits: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state-parks/permit.html