Rose Island Lighthouse / FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions - FAQs

Staying Overnight

In no particular order.....

No, you don’t need to bring dishes, but if you want to save water you could bring paper plates and paper towels. No Styrofoam anything, please! All you need to bring is food, ice, drinks, clothing, and sleeping bags for kids.
We provide bottled drinking water, extra coolers, kitchen and bed linens, towels, pillows, pots & pans, gas stovetop burner (inside) and gas barbecue grill (outside).
PACK IT IN AND PACK IT OUT means you always take your trash and recyclables back with you.
No, you can’t drive to Rose Island. Transportation is provided by the Jamestown Ferry (40 passengers) in the summer months (July & August), and the rest of the year by "Starfish", the Foundation's 32-ft lobster boat that takes up to 6 passengers.
Yes, you can stay while the museum is open from 10 AM to 4 PM—just hide your gear. The first floor lighthouse museum gets to be “yours” from 4 PM until 10 AM the next day.
How "Alone" will we be? Answer: If you're looking for seclusion, consider staying November to March. While the lighthouse is the only habitable building on Rose Island, our weekly keepers live in a separate apartment upstairs, and unless you reserved both museum bedrooms, you will be sharing the facilities (and responsibilities) with other overnight "keepers" like yourselves. The outside facilities are shared. We sometimes have a scout troop camping overnight near the barracks to do a service project.
How much room around the lighthouse is there to walk during the bird nesting season? Answer: Two acres around the lighthouse (about the size of 2 football fields), including two beaches and the barracks. See picture.
Coffee drinkers: Yes, we have a percolator and also a pour-through filter set up with plenty of filters, so you can bring ground coffee.
Yes, the lighthouse museum has electricity, just not a lot of it - a 20 amp wind-powered service, which runs the beacon and household lights. It can also handle small electronic equipment like battery chargers, sleep monitoring devices and such. Check the wattage of your device and call our office if in doubt.
Instead of candles or kerosene lamps, we prefer you to use our compact fluorescent lights. This is a historic building on an island after all, and THERE IS NO FIRE STATION!
We require a record of your valid Visa or MasterCard for all active reservations.
Until August 15 walking around the island is prohibited, however, you may use our 2-man kayak (at your own risk) to paddle around it, just don’t land on any beaches except at the lighthouse.
Yes, you may take shells and sea glass from the beach, but as Native American custom dictates, only take what you need. (Shiny glass MUST be thrown back into the water to be worn down for someone to find in the future.) Wear beach shoes (shells can be sharp) and bring beach towels. You are your own lifeguards. Don't swim alone.
Yes, you can fish! Bring your own salt-water rod(s) if you want to be sure of one that works. Fish for striped bass, bluefish and tautog (black fish) off the lighthouse rocks. (Recommended bait: squid, pogies & sea worms).
Yes, the mussels are edible! We also have lobster pots (check with the keepers). Your leftover meat and fish scraps are great for bait.
EMERGENCIES: Keepers can contact Castle Hill Coast Guard by marine radio on VHF ch.16, or by cell phone at 401-846-3675.
No, you can’t smoke inside any of the buildings. If you must smoke, go to the beach and field strip your filters to leave nothing behind – little filters are a BIG litter problem!
A very small campfire MAY BE allowed but only in the fire pit, and only if it's not too dry, and only if any wind is from the right direction. Do not assume you can build a fire in the fire pit just because it is there for that purpose. YOU MUST GET PERMISSION FIRST from RILF staff. Additional stand-by water buckets and fire extinguishers are REQUIRED.
If the fish aren't biting, try a clambake to go from Long Wharf Seafood located at the foot of the Newport Bridge exit. 48-hr notice is required. You pick it up and cook it in one of the lobster cook pots we have at the lighthouse. Call 401-846-6379 or 401-846-6320.
Yes, we have binoculars, but depending on how many times they’ve been dropped, you’ll probably do better if you bring your own.
Yes, there are toilets in the lighthouse, but they are seldom used. As in the old days, EVERYONE uses the outside bathroom (unless the weather is really bad or it’s the dead of winter and the outside toilets are frozen solid).