Pigeon Point Lighthouse: The tallest lighthouse in California
Pigeon Point Lighthouse is a State Historic Park and an incredible place to visit on the scenic California coast. The park is on California Highway 1 between San Francisco and Santa Cruz.
I visited on a chilly early winter morning with only a few distant clouds and scattered birds in the sky. About a mile before the park’s entrance, I stopped for a great view of the ocean and lighthouse. After taking it in for a few minutes, I headed off.
Once I arrived, I was not the only car in the parking lot. To my surprise, it was about half full. There is a hostel on the grounds, so many of the cars were likely staying the night. As I walked around the lighthouse area, which is very close to the parking lot, hardly anyone else was around.
Pigeon Point Light Station is an impressive site. It’s massive; in fact, at 115 feet high, it’s the tallest lighthouse on the West Coast and a National Historic Landmark. It was constructed with 500,000 locally made bricks and has 136 iron steps to the top.
Pigeon Point Lighthouse History
Originally, the area was known as Whale Point, or Punta de las Ballenas. In 1853 the ship Carrier Pigeon wrecked on her maiden voyage. Over the following years, several more shipwrecks and the loss of many lives prompted the construction of a lighthouse to help guide mariners along the rugged and hazardous coastline. In 1872 the Pigeon Point Light Station was lit. It was renamed to honor the lost ship two decades prior.
For the next century, lighthouse keepers and their families maintained the station until it was automated in the 1970s. For 100 years, every ten seconds, a white flash helped keep sailors safe. First, it is powered by lard oil, then kerosene, and finally, electricity. The powerful light could be seen up to 24 miles at sea. To this day, the lighthouse’s signature beam flashes every ten seconds.
The lighthouse’s history is certainly a star attraction of a visit to the park, but don’t forget to take in the scenery. The lighthouse sits on a 50-foot bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Several benches and picnic tables offer a great chance to relax and enjoy the surroundings.
Whale Watching at Pigeon Point Lighthouse
Given that it used to be named Whale Point, it only makes sense that whale watching is a popular activity in the park. Gray whales often migrate north in the winter and early spring, especially in the cove south of the point. Humpback and blue whales are generally spotted further out. I was not lucky enough to see any whales on my visit, but I made sure to bring binoculars.
If you are in the area, stopping at the Pigeon Point Lightstation State Historic Park is worth your time!
“Steadfast, serene, immovable, the same, Year after year, through all the silent night Burns on forevermore, that quenchless flame, Shines on that inextinguishable light!”
The Lighthouse, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
