The Lighthouse Circuit

Access, tours, hours, fees, and closures change often. Always verify with the official source before driving.

Tier 3 · Curiosities

Blunts Reef Lightship (WLV-605)

Lightship WLV-605 (Blunts Reef)

Eureka · Humboldt County · North Coast

Blunts Reef Lightship (WLV-605) is an inactive lighthouse on the North coast of California, first lit in 1950, owned by Humboldt Bay Maritime Museum.

InactivestandingPublic accesseasyHumboldt Bay Maritime Museum

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Museum ship at Humboldt Bay Maritime Museum, Eureka. Hours and access need verification.

Year first lit

1950

Current structure built

1950

Optic

Lightship

Light characteristic

Decommissioned

Owner

Humboldt Bay Maritime Museum

Manager

Humboldt Bay Maritime Museum

Coordinates

40.4400, -124.5600 Map

Current hours

Verify with Humboldt Bay Maritime Museum

Fees

Museum admission

History

Lightship Relief (WLV-605), built 1950, served as the Blunts Reef station off Cape Mendocino from 1960 to 1969 — the last active lightship on the U.S. West Coast. Decommissioned and preserved as a museum ship at the Humboldt Bay Maritime Museum in Eureka.

Why it matters

Lightships are the under-told half of U.S. navigational history. WLV-605 is California's last and one of the few preserved on the West Coast at all.

The visit

Drive-up to the Humboldt Bay Maritime Museum on the Eureka waterfront. Verify current hours and whether interior tours of the lightship are running.

Logistics

Recommended base

Eureka

Accessibility

Vessel on display at Humboldt Bay Maritime Museum. Not a lighthouse structure but a floating light station.

Nearby lighthouses

The Trinidad Head Memorial Lighthouse replica in town

Trinidad Head Lighthouse

★ Flagship 12

Trinidad, North Coast

Tier 1Active aidPublic accesseasy

Dramatic headland setting with views of Trinidad Bay and the Pacific. The compact white tower against the rocky headland is one of the most photogenic lighthouse scenes in Northern California. The town of Trinidad is a charming base.

Historic photograph of the original Cape Mendocino Light

Cape Mendocino Light

Ferndale, North Coast

Tier 2InactivePublic accesseasy

A short list of California lighthouses are still on their original sites; this one is not. The Ferndale display is the rare case where you can walk up to and around a relocated tower instead of squinting at a photograph in a museum.

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Sources

Image rights: Museum images may require permission.

Research confidence: high · Last verified 2026-05-13