- Hours: You can see the lighthouse from the top of the stairway any time. Visitor center and lighthouse are open year round, Thursday through Monday. Closed December 25 and the stairs close when winds exceed 40 miles per hour
- Cost: No admission fee
- Location: West of California Hwy 1 north of San Francisco, see directions below
- Best Time to Visit: Any time, but least foggy in spring and fall
The Lighthouse Visitor Center, located on the west side of Point Reyes peninsula, gives information on the structure erected in 1870 and about the lifesaving services performed during the 125 years it was used as a navigational guide.
The original clockworks and first-order Fresnel lens manufactured in 1867 are on display during limited hours, weather permitting.
On the first and third Saturday of the month, April through December, the light is illuminated. There is no fee to attend the evening program. Call 415-669-1534 on the day of the program for reservations.
If you plan to walk to the lighthouse, more than 300 steps plunge in a steep descent equivalent to a 3-story building and the only way you can get out is the way you got in, by walking! Point Reyes is one of the foggiest spots to be found, so bring warm clothing even when it's warm inland.
To learn more about life at the lighthouse, you can read a year of Point Reyes lighthouse keeper's logs from 1888, detailing the almost-daily repairs required to keep the station in working condition.
Visiting Point Reyes Lighthouse
With over 2.6 million visitors annually, Point Reyes is a unique destination. Far more than a lighthouse situated on a Peninsula, Point Reyes is a distinctive park that was established by President John F. Kennedy in 1962.Additional information can be obtained from the Point Reyes National Seashore website.
Getting to Point Reyes Lighthouse
The long, scenic drive makes the lighthouse feel extremely distant from the San Francisco Bay. It is located at the end of Sir Francis Drake Blvd. You can get there via US 101 north of San Francisco, then west on Sir Francis Drake or by taking California Hwy 1 north to Olema. Once you get to the Point Reyes National Seashore entrance, it will take about an hour to drive out to the lighthouse.
So many people flock to Point Reyes in the winter to see the elephant seals and whale migrations that the park closes Sir Francis Drake Blvd. past South Beach on weekends when the weather is nice and runs a shuttle to the lighthouse. It usually operates from December through early April. You can catch it at the Drake's Beach parking lot and shuttle tickets are sold at the visitor center there.
