The Point Arena Lighthouse

I’ll admit it, I didn’t pay to see the Point Arena Lighthouse.  I’m sure it cool, but I didn’t feel like shelling out $25 (or $7.50/person) to drive in, walk around, maybe climb the tower, and leave.  It wasn’t worth it to me.

So I stopped at the overlook right outside the fee gate and got a view of the tower.  No fee, and the views were great!

The lighthouse from the overlook

I went to the overlook right after hiking the Point Arena-Stornetta National Monument Trail.  The trail begins at Bend in the Road Footpath Access, and the lighthouse overlook is about a mile up the road from the Footpath Access.

From the parking area, all you have to do is walk over to the edge.  Done & with views of the lighthouse!

Rocks along the coastline

Of course, you could always pay the fee to go in.  Then you could have a tour of the lighthouse as well as wandering the grounds and getting some good views of the coastline.

Fees: None if you just go to the overlook.  To enter the grounds, admission is $5/per person (no tower tour) or $7.50/per person (with the tower tour) (children 5-11 are $1 regardless of tour; under 5 are free).  Vehicles with 4 to 8 people are $25 (including tower tour).  Active military and veterans are $6/per person (includes tower tour).

Hours: 10am to 4:30pm Memorial Day through Labor Day; 10am to 3:30pm from the day after Labor Day to Memorial Day weekend.  Last tower tour is 15 minutes before closing time.  The lighthouse closes early on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve (10am to 1pm).

Trail

Road

Signs

Scenery

Would I go 100 miles out of my way for this?

Overall Rating:

Cliffs below the lighthouse

Key GPS Coordinates for the Point Arena Lighthouse Overlook

Point Arena Lighthouse Overlook: 38.951033, -123.737432 (38°57.06198′, -123°44.24592′ / 38°57’03.7188″, -123°44’14.7552″)

Getting to the Point Arena Lighthouse Overlook

Follow CA-1 north or south to get to Lighthouse Road, which is about 1.7 miles north of Point Arena, and about 22 miles south of where CA-128 connects to CA-1.  Turn onto Lighthouse Road, following signs for the Point Arena Lighthouse.  After 2.3 miles, just before the road goes through a picket fence and by a fee booth, turn into the pulloff on one side or the other of the road.  The views are on the ocean side of the road.

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More Related Posts:

Early Morning at the Mt. Shasta Horse Camp Hiking the Virginia Lakes to K19 Viewpoint Hiking Point Arena-Stornetta National Monument Visiting Sea Glass at Glass Beach The “Hard” Trail from Glass Beach Point Reyes – Lighthouse Trail and Chimney Rock