Tier 2 · Notable

Lime Point Light

Lime Point Light Station

Sausalito · Marin County · Bay Area

Lime Point Light is an active lighthouse on the Bay Area coast of California, first lit in 1900, owned by National Park Service / U.S. Coast Guard.

Active aidstandingPublic accessmoderateNational Park Service / U.S. Coast Guard

Lime Point Lighthouse beneath the north anchorage of the Golden Gate Bridge — Photo: Radomianin· Public domain· Wikimedia Commons

Year first lit

1900

Current structure built

1900

Tower height

20 ft

Focal plane

15 ft

Optic

Automated fog signal and light

Light characteristic

Fl W 5s (flashing white every 5 seconds)

Owner

National Park Service / U.S. Coast Guard

Manager

NPS – Golden Gate National Recreation Area

Coordinates

37.8273, -122.4779 Map

Current hours

Trail accessible during daylight hours. Lighthouse exterior only.

Fees

Free

History

Built 1900 at the north anchorage of the Golden Gate, directly beneath what is now the north tower of the Golden Gate Bridge. A small fog signal station rather than a tall tower — the focal plane is only 15 feet — built to mark a hazardous rock for ships threading the strait.

Why it matters

One of the most photographed lighthouse positions in California by accident: it sits squarely under the Golden Gate Bridge. An active aid to navigation still doing the original 1900s job, automated. The light characteristic is Fl W 5s — flashing white every five seconds.

The visit

Reachable on foot from the Marin Headlands via the Lime Point or Battery Spencer trails. Exterior only. Best at low tide and on weekdays — weekend parking near the headlands fills early.

Logistics

Recommended base

Sausalito or San Francisco

Accessibility

Accessible via Marin Headlands trail. Exterior only. No interior access.

Nearby lighthouses

Point Bonita Lighthouse

★ Flagship 12

Sausalito, Bay Area

Tier 1Active aidPublic accessmoderate⚠ Verify

The guardian of the Golden Gate. One of the most dramatic lighthouse settings in the United States — perched on a rocky point, accessed by a suspension bridge over crashing surf. The very limited access (one Saturday per month) makes planning essential.

Fort Point Light

San Francisco, Bay Area

Tier 3DemolishedPublic accesseasy

Lighthouse-meets-bridge-construction story is the entry. The original navigational role was made redundant by the very structure that erased the building.

Visited this light? Leave a note for the next driver.

Add your note

Spot something wrong on this page? Closure changed, broken link, a detail that no longer matches reality?

Sources

Officialnps.gov/goga
Secondarylighthousefriends.com/light.asp
Secondaryen.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lime_Point_Light
Imagescommons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lime_Point_Light.jpg

Image rights: NPS images generally public domain. Wikimedia Commons has CC-licensed images.

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