Lighthouse Info
The Summersville Lake Lighthouse was erected overlooking Summersville Lake in Mount Nebo, West Virginia on October 17, 2012. Standing 104 feet tall with a top elevation of 2,164 feet above sea level, the 77,000 lb. structure was a cylindrical tower constructed entirely of 1/2 inch thick steel. With a base diameter of 12 feet receding to 8 feet at the top, visitors can climb 122 steps to reach a 360 degree gallery deck offering unparalled views of Summersville Lake and the Gauley River National Recreation Area. Visit our Facebook Page at Summersville Lake Lighthouse.
OPEN Daily - April thru October By Reservation - November thru March
All Lighthouse Tours are weather permitting and is subject to change without notice. Summersville Lake Lighthouse tokens are available at the Gift Shop. Open 9am-6pm Admissions: $7 – Adults and Children 12 years & older, $5 – Children ages 3 years to 11 years & Seniors 65+, $20 – Family (2 adults & up to 3 children) GRoup rates available. Sunset Tours - $15 per person and Fireworks Tour - $20 per person (Limit to 12 people only) Watch the video of the day the cranes lifted the Lighthouse into place at the Summersville Lake Retreat.
If you ever played with an erector set as a kid, you may enjoy this footage that was taken the day that we lifted the Lighthouse. On October 20th, 2012 All-Crane of St. Albans, West Virginia used a 230 ton header crane and 150 ton tail crane to do the erection....check it out....then come climb the 122 steps to the top....
Honestly, it all started over a joke. Back in 2009, an interesting fellow from Ontario, Canada by the name of Rick Butler had spent the summer as one of our guests here at the Summersville Lake Retreat while working as part of the crew erecting wind towers at Beech Ridge, a wind farm project in neighboring Greenbrier County, West Virginia. As luck would have it, we were located near the transportation route that the tower components traveled to reach their destination. On more than one occasion, we had marveled at their size as they passed by, just one blade stretched over half the length of a football field! Because of our unique location above the cliffs overlooking Summersville Lake, one evening we offhandedly ribbed Rick that if he would be kind enough to divert one of the tower sections in our direction, that we would keep it and disguise it as a Lighthouse, to which he replied with a classic deadpan expression on his face, “Funny that you say that Mate, we just lost one over the hill.” As it turned out, torrential rains had recently undermined the crib blocks supporting one of the newly delivered tower sections, and it had indeed rolled 75’ down an adjacent hillside, (leveling several medium sized trees in the process), deeming it unsuitable for wind production.
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