The 2025 Beaver Moon in a Nutshell

November 2025 is bringing a Moon with teeth.

Not just any full moon—the Beaver Moon. The one that rides up over bare trees and cold rivers while the last of the autumn air snaps at your fingers. The one that marked the season for shoring up shelters and setting beaver traps before wetlands froze. And in 2025, this Beaver Moon is the closest, brightest full moon of the year—a supermoon that demands a plan, not a glance. Live Science+2The Guardian+2

This is your Juxtaposed Tides | Beaver Moon 2025 field guide: part sky briefing, part adventure map, part love letter to standing outside in the cold for something beautiful.

When to Look: The 2025 Beaver Moon in a Nutshell

A serene illustration of a beaver under the radiant glow of November's Beaver Moon, framed by majestic pine trees and a tranquil lake, inviting viewers to capture nature's wonder.

The Beaver Moon reaches full phase on Wednesday, November 5, 2025 at 8:19 a.m. EST. It’s below the horizon at that moment for the Carolinas, so your best drama is at moonrise near sunset and moonset before dawn on the surrounding evenings. Expect it to look full for several nights, November 4–6. The Old Farmer's Almanac+1

This year’s Beaver Moon is the closest full moon of 2025—the year’s “big one” on the calendar. Most outlets classify it as a supermoon, with distance reported around 356,980 km (~221,818 miles), which is well inside typical supermoon thresholds. Translation for the field: big, bright, silver, and photogenic. Live Science+2The Guardian+2

It won’t be eclipsed, it won’t go blood-red, and it won’t turn the world upside down. It will simply be blindingly beautiful, washing marshes, ridges, and rooftops in white fire and begging to be framed against something that says “Carolina.”

Why “Beaver” Moon?

The name Beaver Moon comes from North American seasonal traditions: November was when beavers reinforced dams and lodges and when people set beaver traps before the freeze. You’ll also hear Frost/Freezing Moon, Digging Moon, or Deer Rutting Moon in different cultures. The names shift; the feeling doesn’t. This is the moon of getting ready—for cold, for dark, for whatever winter throws next. (Cultural naming notes summarized from museum and almanac references.)

How It Will Look (and Feel)

• The Moon will rise huge and low in the east, with the classic “moon illusion” making the first 30 minutes of moonrise the most jaw-dropping.

• Brightness will cast sharp shadows and mute fainter stars, turning clouds, water, branches, and buildings into high-contrast shapes.

• This isn’t a Milky Way night. It’s a night for clean silhouettes, reflections, big telephoto compression, and that theatrical silver light on water, fog, and roofs.

Shooting the Beaver Moon: Telephoto Playbook

If you shoot nothing else this month, shoot one dialed-in telephoto moonrise.

1) Gear baseline

• 200–600 mm, f/8–f/11, 1/125–1/250 s, ISO 100–400These are starting points, not handcuffs. As twilight deepens and the Moon climbs, nudge shutter/ISO to keep lunar detail from clipping.

2) Use a photo ephemeris, not guesswork

Drop pins on piers, lighthouses, ridgelines, silos/steeples, bridges, skylines. Then stand farther back than feels natural to make the Moon loom behind your subject. Shuffle your position until the app shows the moonrise path crossing your foreground at the time you want.

3) Timing windows (Carolinas & U.S. East Coast)

• Evenings of Nov 4, 5, 6: moonrise near local sunset = warm color, big scale.

• Pre-dawn those same dates: moonset over western horizons can be gold-on-silver magic. Arrive 45–60 minutes early to lock composition and watch the light evolve.

4) Bracket like you mean it

The dynamic range between a sunlit Moon and a dusky landscape is vicious. Bracket 3–5 frames at 1-stop steps. Ensure one exposure nails the lunar surface; blend later if needed.

Capture the wonders of Carolina's night skies this November with Juxtaposed Tides' special guide, featuring key celestial events and photography tips.

Wide-Angle Beaver Moon: Silver Nights

Once the Moon climbs, it becomes a giant studio light. That’s your cue for moonlit landscapes:

Wide-field start: 14–24 mm, f/2.8–f/4, 5–15 s, ISO 800–1600.Shorten exposures if the Moon is blazing or if clouds are racing—let the silver ride the scene while you hold texture.

Carolina-Focused Ideas (steal them anywhere)

Outer Banks & coast

• Pea Island, Coquina Beach, Ocracoke flats for minimal horizons and reflection bands at low tide.

• Cape Hatteras or Bodie Island Light with the Moon rising behind the tower.

• Fishing piers as leading lines straight into the disk.

Wet sand often throws a second moon back at you. Use it.

Blue Ridge & high country

• Parkway overlooks (Cowee, Rough Ridge) to layer the Moon over ridgeline stacks.

• Linville Gorge rim, Black Balsam balds for big sky + stark silhouettes.

• Try a 20–30 minute sequence: the Moon sliding notch to notch over a gap.

Thin, dry air at elevation makes lunar detail pop once it climbs out of horizon haze.

Piedmont & small towns

• Water towers, mills, church steeples, grain silos, stadium lights—any vertical landmark can be your Moon partner.

• Reservoir shorelines for easy access, clean reflections, and east/west options.

Scout in daylight. Mark spots. Come back when the Moon clocks in.

If You’re Not a Photographer (Yet)

No big lens? No problem.

• Find a clear eastern horizon.

• Bring a chair, blanket, thermos.

• Start watching 15–20 minutes after local sunset on Nov 4–6.

• Let your eyes adjust. Notice frost glitter, rooflines going silver, halos if thin cirrus drift through.

With a phone, brace it on a rail or rock (or best case, a tripod), use night mode or a manual app with a couple seconds’ exposure, and focus on the moonlit landscape, not just the Moon.

Fieldcraft that Keeps the Night Going

Dress like you’re staying. Hats, gloves, real layers—coast winds and ridge chill bite fast.

Beat dew early. Lens heater or a hand warmer + rubber band around the lens barrel.

Focus with intent. 10× live view on a bright edge (lunar limb works great). Re-check after temps drop.

Mind the terrain. Dunes hold footprints; gorge rims deserve your respect; piers and jetties demand attention to tide and wave run-up.

The Bigger November Picture

Mid-month brings the Leonid meteor shower (peak forecast around Nov 16–17 with a thin waning crescent—~9% illumination—great conditions if weather cooperates). Then the month’s finale is this Beaver Supermoon on Nov 5, the year’s closest full moon. Two very different looks, both worth your time. EarthSky+1

The Juxtaposed Tides Takeaway

You’ll see a hundred headlines about how many miles, how many percent brighter, whether it counts as “super.” Fine. Useful, even.

But out in the actual night, what matters is this: on November 5, 2025, the Beaver Supermoon rises over your piece of the Carolinas—closest and brightest of the year—lighting up rivers, rooftops, and ridges in a way you’ll remember if you step outside and meet it. Live Science+1

Scout a spot. Charge batteries. Or just bring a blanket and someone you like.The Beaver Moon is coming. Make it a night that feels like you, on purpose.