California has more than 45 lighthouses, most built during the Gold Rush at the rugged coast’s most treacherous points in order to increase the argonauts’ chances of surviving the journey to San Francisco to launch their search for untold fortune. The hardy souls who toiled around the clock to keep the lights shining are history now, replaced by automated beacons.
The Coast Guard has transferred many light stations to preservation groups and state parks, creating a trove of irreplaceable California history. Northern California is doubly blessed, with five light stations that have been converted to lodging. Coast-trippers can experience the rugged scenery, dramatic ocean views and seclusion that the light keepers of old knew, without having to crank a huge weight up the tower’s shaft to keep the clockwork mechanism turning and scale the stairway to replenish the lamp’s oil.
Point Cabrillo Light Station — This classic Victorian, built after the 1906 earthquake, is the heart of Point Cabrillo Light Station State Historic Park. A short trail leads to Frolic Cove, where a shipwreck spilled its load of Chinese silk, lacquer and housewares in 1850. The ship sank before salvagers got there, but they managed to shrug off the loss when they spotted extensive stands of redwood and fir nearby. They promptly set about establishing a mill, launching California’s timber industry. With 12 of its original 15 buildings, this is one of the country’s most intact light stations. The four-bedroom keeper’s house, meticulously restored to historic standards, and two one-bedroom cottages are available for vacation rentals.
INFO: 13800 Point Cabrillo Drive, Mendocino, 4 miles north of town.
Lightkeeper’s House (two-night minimum), $833-$1,030 for two nights. Cottages, $144; daily rates drop with additional nights. www.mendocinolighthouse.pointcabrillo.org
Point Arena Lighthouse — Poised at the tip of the continental United States’ closest point to Hawaii, which is lashed on three sides by Pacific waves, Point Arena boasts one of the country’s tallest lighthouses (115 feet). A smokestack manufacturer made the tower in 1908 to replace the original 1870 brick structure destroyed by the 1906 earthquake. Lodging is in former keepers’ quarters built by the Coast Guard in the 1940s: Three-bedroom assistant keeper’s houses and the one-bedroom head keeper’s quarters, all with fireplaces and large kitchens. Renovated outbuildings provide a studio apartment and a single room with sitting area. The tower continues to beam its light, now generated by an electric lamp, out to sea.
INFO: 45500 Lighthouse Road, Point Arena, about 35 miles south of Mendocino. $125-$225 (two-night minimum on weekends). www.pointarenalighthouse.com
Point Arena Lighthouse — Poised at the tip of the continental United States’ closest point to Hawaii, which is lashed on three sides by Pacific waves, Point Arena boasts one of the country’s tallest lighthouses (115 feet). A smokestack manufacturer made the tower in 1908 to replace the original 1870 brick structure destroyed by the 1906 earthquake. Lodging is in former keepers’ quarters built by the Coast Guard in the 1940s: Three-bedroom assistant keeper’s houses and the one-bedroom head keeper’s quarters, all with fireplaces and large kitchens. Renovated outbuildings provide a studio apartment and a single room with sitting area. The tower continues to beam its light, now generated by an electric lamp, out to sea.
INFO: 45500 Lighthouse Road, Point Arena, about 35 miles south of Mendocino. $125-$225 (two-night minimum on weekends). www.pointarenalighthouse.com
Point Montara Lighthouse Hostel — Hostelling International restored this light station on a 5-acre parcel of State Park property, close by the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve and Half Moon Bay, in 1980. It began as a fog signal building built in 1875 after several ships foundered on the rocks. In 1928 the 30-foot cast-iron tower, built on the East Coast in 1881, was shipped from Cape Cod to house the crystal lens. Automated in 1970, it still serves the Coast Guard today. Common areas include several lounges, a dining room and ocean-view kitchen. The grounds offer native plant gardens and a secluded beach in a cove with tide pools. Dorms of varying sizes occupy the main house, while a foghouse annex offers private rooms.
INFO: Highway 1 and 16th Street, Montara, 25 miles south of San Francisco. Dorm beds $27, private rooms $74 double, $101 triple. norcalhostels.org/montara
Pigeon Point Lighthouse Hostel — Another hostel occupies the Pigeon Point Light Station State Historic Park, whose 115-foot brick tower began service in 1872. It lays claim to the California coast’s most famous hot tub, planted on the edge of a cliff with ocean views that turn sunset into nirvana. The point is named for the clipper ship Carrier Pigeon, which met its end on rocks 500 feet offshore on a foggy night just before completing its maiden voyage from Boston to San Francisco in 1853. The four large keepers’ houses, similar to those at Point Arena, have been converted to dorms and a few private rooms. In addition to large common areas and kitchens, the hostel offers a fire pit near the tip of the point, a boardwalk along the bluff and a trail to a small, south-facing cove beach. Movies are shown every night in the fog signal building.
INFO: 210 Pigeon Point Road, Pescadero. Dorm beds $25.50-$27, private rooms $74 (double) to $162 (family room). norcalhostels.org/pigeon
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