Tier 2
Punta Gorda Lighthouse
Punta Gorda Light Station
Petrolia · Humboldt County · North Coast
The Lost Coast's signature ruin, and proof that federal preservation funding still reaches remote California sites when someone advocates for it. The concrete tower and oil house remain in good condition after restoration.
Labels
- Tier 1–3
- Editorial browse cues for prominence and context—not circuits, checklists, or achievements.
- Active aid
- The light currently serves navigation. It does not mean the tower, grounds, or interior are open to visitors.
- Public / restricted access
- Some approved visitor access versus a legal viewpoint, special arrangement, or no ordinary public entry. Always check the official guidance.
- Flagship 12
- The curated statewide circuit. It is separate from the editorial tier labels.
Your lighthouse passport
Stamp my passport
Check in at Punta Gorda Lighthouse to collect your digital stamp. Add your name if you like.
Lighthouse Circuit is here to inspire real visits. To collect a location-verified stamp, you’ll need to be at the lighthouse with location access enabled. Need help adding past visits? Email us and we’ll be happy to add them manually.
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From the field
Visited recently? Share a condition update for the next visitor.
⚠ Verify before you drive
Tidal conditions affect trail access; check BLM and tide charts before visiting. Permit may be required for overnight camping.
Visit essentials
Access
Current hours
Tours
Fees
The light
Year first lit
Current structure built
Tower height
Focal plane
Optic
Light characteristic
Stewardship & location
Owner
Manager
Coordinates
The story
Built 1912 on California's Lost Coast after a string of shipwrecks. One of the most isolated and difficult-to-supply light stations in the lower 48. Decommissioned 1951. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 and restored most recently in 2022–2023 under the Great American Outdoors Act.
The visit
Hike-in only — about 3.5 miles each way from the Mattole River trailhead via the Lost Coast Trail. Mind tide tables; sections of the beach are impassable at high tide. No staffing, no facilities. BLM may require permits for overnight; verify before going.
Make a day of it
Base yourself in
Food / coffee
Stay nearby
Nearby lighthouses
Trinidad Head Lighthouse
★ Flagship 12Trinidad, North Coast
The active 1871 station pairs a dramatic North Coast setting with rare, limited interior access. The nearby Memorial Lighthouse preserves the station’s original coal-oil fourth-order Fresnel lens and 1898 bronze fog bell, while Trinidad Museum displays the later fifth-order lens used from 1947 to 2013.
Cape Mendocino Light
Shelter Cove, North Coast
One of the West Coast's great lighthouse preservation rescues. Volunteers saved the abandoned iron tower by moving it from the remote cape to Shelter Cove, where it now stands beside the Pacific as a public museum. The tower and its original first-order lens now tell separate afterlives — the lighthouse in California and the lens being restored for museum display in Oregon.
Help keep this guide accurate: report changed access, a broken link, or a factual correction.
Sources
- Officiallighthousefriends.com/light.asp
- Officialblm.gov/visit/punta-gorda-lighthouse
- Secondarysecretsanfrancisco.com/punta-gorda-lighthouse-abandoned-lost-coast-california
- Imagescommons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Punta_Gorda_Lighthouse.jpg
Image rights: Wikimedia Commons images available. BLM photos are public domain.
Research confidence: high · Last verified 2026-05-13