Point Cabrillo Light Station and Preserve

This a very popular lighthouse located in Mendocino – it’s been around since 1909 and sits on a piece of beautiful coastal land! What actually drew me to this lighthouse was the fact that it had an aquarium – let’s just clear that up right away. The «aquarium» is a small room with a fish tank in it that only has Sea Anemones. It did make me smile walking in and seeing the «aquarium.» Maybe they have big plans for it in the future! I will give them the benefit of the doubt. I did a full review with lots of pictures on my blog if you want to see.
Below is the Museum – which I really enjoyed! The doors are unlocked and visitors are free to take a self guided tour-​these were the homes of the «Keepers.» The upstairs were marked off and said «employee’s only” – so you know exactly where I wanted to go right away! However, I controlled myself! Bathrooms were located just behind the museum.
Down the path were more houses and a couple of cottages – all are available to rent out. For more information on renting E-​mail
. I believe the the houses go for $ 750 a night.
The parking lot is quite a ways walk to the light house – if you have handicapped people (who have trouble walking) with you or the elderly I would recommend a wheel chair. It is flat land with no hills to climb though. Parking free and there is no admission fee’s but they do request donations of at least $ 5 a person.

The walk from the parking lot to the lighthouse is about a half-​mile.
We saw a few deer along the way, which was nice.
After reading all the reviews on here, I was stoked to check the lighthouse out, but I have to say, I wasn’t blown away, hah. It’s small and it costs like $ 5 (I think) to go inside, which is where the gift shop is, I believe.
I went around 11am, but I’m sure it’s prettier around sunrise or sunset. Overall, I think this landmark is just OK.

A nice ¼ walk down on main path, you can drive to drop off elderly or handicapped but parking is up hill. The Lighthouse itself is both the museum and gift shop. It was very interesting to learn the history and about the shipwrecks nearby. There are cottages to rent there as well… they were the lighthouse keeper’s family homes. You are encouraged to either make a donation or buy something that the monies will go for the preservations of this site. The ranger there was very informative and answered any questions we had. He also suggested an alternative walk back in a path with wonderful ocean views and up through a meadow. There is a little aquariums shed to pop into for the kiddies. We enjoyed this place and glad we stopped by for a couple of hours.

Make sure to check out the assistant gatekeeper’s house. Kind of interesting. Also, it’s about a half mile walk from the parking area — unless of course you have a vacation rental on the premises.

Highly recommend a visit to this peaceful coastal treasure. We rented a house «Carole’s Cove» in South Caspar, just steps away from the entrance to the preserve and an easy walk along the beautiful, dramatic coastline to the Point Cabrillo Lighthouse. It was a short distance to Ft. Bragg or Mendocino where we enjoyed dining and shopping.

My friends and I visited this beautiful light house this past summer. I really enjoyed the whole property. I love how well preserved the entire place is. I love how beautiful the light house’s crystal lens is. I loved the walk through the vintage home that was there on the property. I enjoyed looking at all the antiques, and things they had kept inside this home. It really is a spectacular place to visit. I would definitely go back to visit next time I am on the North Coast.
I highly recommend checking this place out if you are visiting the Mendocino /​Fort Bragg, North Coast area…

Cute little lighthouse. Cool views of the coast and of this cliff pool area. Seen a seal poking his head up outta the water. You Gotta park a half mile away and then walk down. Kinda worth it I guess… Seen more impressive lighthouses than this one though…

The Point Cabrillo Lighthouse is located just 3 miles north of Mendocino. Watch for the turnoff from Highway 1 and follow the signs to the free parking lot. Getting to the lighthouse from the parking lot requires a ¾-​mile walk down a gradually sloped access road. Those with disabilities can drive directly to the lighthouse along this road.
As we walked down the road, we noticed that it’s still operational with an original lens. The old lightkeeper’s homes are along the way and are available as vacation rentals. Just before the lighthouse is the old fog horn building which now houses a science center with educational items and an unimpressive aquarium. The Point Cabrillo Lighthouse is a shorter lighthouse mounted on top of what resembles an old schoolhouse. Inside is a museum and gift shop. We found the docent to be very knowledgeable and taught us about why there are different frequencies of lighthouse beacons and why some are tall and others short. Outside the lighthouse are picnic tables and hiking trails that branch out over the bluffs along rugged and picturesque headlands.
Take a jacket and bottle of water. It’s much cooler at the lighthouse than the parking lot and you may want to explore the trails. The Point Cabrillo Lighthouse is not as impressive as the Point Arena Lighthouse farther south, but the vacation home rentals are much nicer and more conveniently located to popular attractions.

Point Cabrillo Light station is one of my most favorite places in California. I was first introduced to this place when my now husband took me to Mendocino for my birthday one year. After that trip, I was hooked on Mendocino for sure.
I love how quiet and scenic this place is. The walk from the parking lot to the lighthouse is beautiful, and it gets better once you actually get there. The light house itself is near the edge of the ocean and the red painted roof makes it that more appealing.
This is an amazing spot to photograph. My now husband actually proposed to me at Cypress Grove and we came here to take our engagement pictures after the proposal. I have seen many wedding pictures taken here. I do believe you can get married on the bluff overlooking the light house. What an amazing view for that special day.
I LOVE coming here everytime I visit Mendocino. Picnic place for a picnic or just to hang out. They actually have vacation houses here that you can rent. You see these houses as you walk towards the light house. There is also a small museum that you can visit as well.
I know there are so many lighthouses out there and I have visited some in Hawaii but Point Cabrillo is still my favorite. If you ever get to visit this wonderful and charming town, a visit to Point Cabrillo light house is a MUST!

Beautiful spot for photography! We love heading for the coast where it’s so nice and cool, and we LOVE looking at lighthouses. Actually, hubby LOVES taking pics of lighthouses, and the Mendocino area has both Point Cabrillo and Point Arena.
First of all, apparently they’re called Light Stations now. Blech, me no likey… a lighthouse is a lighthouse, and that’s what I’m gonna call ‘em, despite what they’re «officially» named.
Second, for Point Cabrillo, unless you’re handicapped, you have to park up by the visitor center and walk a half-​mile down to the lighthouse. Boooo! Me no likey, but it is what it is. Actually, the walk TO the lighthouse is not bad, because it’s all downhill… it’s the walk back UPHILL that me no likey.
However, the walk is worth it because the view and the lighthouse are so pretty. Especially at sunset. I couldn’t believe we were the ONLY ones there almost the entire time. It was breathtaking, and the golden light hitting the white paint of the lighthouse with its red roof was awesome. It was beautiful and calm and serene, and luckily for us, NOT fogged in on this night.
If you’re in the Mendocino/​Fort Bragg area, you have to go. So lovely!

Although this wasn’t high on my list and the half-​mile walk was a drag, we really enjoyed our visit to the Pt. Cabrillo Lighthouse. In addition to the lighthouse, you can tour the assistant keeper’s quarters and get a feel for how the families lived back in the day. Two of these houses have been rehabbed, and the head keeper’s house is available for vacation rental It looked pretty nice.
There is a nice little museum and gift shop inside the lighthouse and a pretty spacious area to walk up and down the coast.

What:
— Point Cabrillo Lighthouse
— View of Pacific Ocean
— Hiking trails along the coast (North Trail and South Trail)
— Seals
— Deer
— Frolic Cove (place of the 1850 Frolic shipwreck)
More Info:
— Free parking
— Free admission
— Museum is opened from 10am to 4pm
— 0.5 mile walk from parking lot to the lighthouse
— Free maps inside the lighthouse museum
— Restrooms near the lighthouse
— Gift shop inside the lighthouse
— Vacation rentals close to the lighthouse
— Lighthouse grounds open all the time
While driving on CA1, we tried hard to peek at the Point Cabrillo lighthouse that we had only seen in pictures, but in vain. A detour from CA1 took us to the Point Cabrillo Light Station. There are several parking lots next to each other, so I cannot imagine a time when somebody would need to hunt high and low for a parking space.
We took the paved Lighthouse Road and walked for about half a mile to reach the Point Cabrillo lighthouse. Only authorized vehicles and vehicles displaying disabled placards are permitted to drive all the way till the lighthouse. All along the way on the Lighthouse Road, we saw several small posters that offered fun facts about whales.
Point Cabrillo Lighthouse —
Soon, we saw the beautiful lighthouse against the unusually harmonious Pacific waters. We went inside the lighthouse to take a look at the souvenirs and also grabbed a free map from the gift shop. In addition, the gift shop has several placards that offer a ton of information about the history of the lighthouse. The lighthouse is actually over a century old! The construction of the lighthouse started within a year or two after the 1906 devastating earthquake in San Francisco.
Hula dance performance —
Within the lighthouse grounds, there were a few scenic viewpoints where one can capture a picturesque shot of the lighthouse against the ocean. It is also an excellent viewpoint to see the migrating whales.
View of Frolic Cove to the far right end —
There are also a couple of trails that commence here; North Trail takes one to the north all the way till the Frolic Cove, which is the exact spot of the 1850 Frolic shipwreck. While majestically travelling to San Francisco from China, the Frolic clipper hit the rocky Pacific shore and wrecked here.
Seals basking on the rocks off the shore —
Exhausted us, we took the shorter South Trail. It was nice simply walking along the coastal trail and looking behind every now and then to see the lighthouse. We even noticed several harbor seals basking on the rocks just off the shore, hence climbed down on the rocks nearby to get a closer view of the seals. We even noticed deer hopping off into the fields.
View of the lighthouse from South Trail —
Tips:
— Excellent vantage point to see whales
— Excellent viewpoint for sunset
— Although the lighthouse itself is opened only from 10am to 4pm, the lighthouse grounds are always accessible

Looking for a nice stroll on a cold foggy day & what better jaunt to take than over to Point Cabrillo Light Station to see light in action!
The walk seemed to take forever to get there as we were led through a field & toward the water
Finally come upon the lighthouse to find it was only an extremely small gift shop /​museum w/​lots of ads for Whale Watching excursions
Looking in through the windows, we didn’t think paying the admission would gain us anything special so we relegated ourselves to enjoying the building from the outside, gazing upon the foggy surrounding bluffs
It was pretty amazing to see how 1 little lighthouse can put out such a signal & given the foggy day, it was the perfect atmosphere
We found the «road» to get back to the car park — for some reason, it had been closed off so more than a few of us were making the trek down the gravelly path, lined by fences & trees peeking out of the foggy tendrils… spooky & right out of a Stephen King novel

A nice way to kill an hour between Fort Bragg and Mendocino is making the proverbial pit-​stop at Point Cabrillo. What is it about lighthouses that’s so comforting? Is it the vigilante light that saves sailors from going into harm’s way on the rocky shore? Or perhaps it’s the fact that you can climb up them like you’re in a womb and find an orgasmic flash of light at the top. Oh my, I do believe I’m getting the vapors.
No such luck at Point Cabrillo since you can’t go into the lighthouse proper, but you can go inside the combo museum-​and-​gift shop and buy your souvenir magnet, all the while listening to the building’s detailed history from an enthusiastic docent. Interesting enough to browse for sure, but it’s really the gorgeous views that surround it that make the half-​mile hike from the parking lot worth the effort.
Nearby are a series of vintage houses available for vacation rentals, including the former home of the head lighthouse keeper. The visitors’ center at the parking lot looked like it’s been closed for a while, probably the victim of state budget cuts. The restrooms also weren’t in working order, so if nature calls, you will indeed respond in nature if you don’t plan ahead. Regardless, just enjoy the rather squatty lighthouse for its quaintness and vista views (see photos).

A lighthouse well worth the easy 0.5 mile walk. It was re-​painted in September 2014 and looks spectacular. If you’re a fan of the Point Reyes lighthouse, you’ll be sure to love this one. And vice versa!