Piedras Blancas Light Station

LoginSave

Of the many lighthouses on California’s coast, few have such an evocative natural setting as this 1875 light station – one of the tallest on the West Coast – 6 miles north of Hearst Castle. Its jutting, windblown grounds have been replanted with native flora and look much the way as they did when the first lighthouse keepers helped ships find safe harbor at the whaling station in San Simeon Bay. Learn more on a two-hour guided tour, best booked online.

Tours meet at the old Piedras Blancas Motel, 1.5 miles north of the lighthouse gate on Hwy 1.

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

  • San Simeon, California / USA - May 12, 2018: Exterior view of Hearst Castle, William Randolph Hearst's extravagant coastal hilltop estate designed by architect Julia Morgan over 28 years.; Shutterstock ID 1297759909; your: Meghan O'Dea; gl: 65050; netsuite: Online Editorial; full: POI

    Hearst Castle

    5.62 MILES

    Perched high on a hill, Hearst Castle is a wondrous, historic, over-the-top homage to material excess. From the 1920s into the '40s, Hearst and Marion…

  • Mission San Antonio De Padua

    Mission San Antonio De Padua

    24.18 MILES

    Remote and evocative, this historical mission sits in the Valley of the Oaks, once part of the sprawling Hearst Ranch landholdings and now inside the…

  • Jade Cove

    Jade Cove

    20.7 MILES

    In the waters of Jade Cove in 1971, local divers recovered a 9000lb jade boulder that measured 8ft long and was valued at $180,000. People still comb the…

  • Sand Dollar Beach

    Sand Dollar Beach

    20.51 MILES

    The tortuously winding 40-mile stretch of Hwy 1 south of Lucia to Hearst Castle is sparsely populated, rugged and remote, mostly running through national…

  • Ragged Point

    Ragged Point

    11.23 MILES

    Your last – or first – taste of Big Sur’s rocky grandeur comes at this craggy cliff outcropping with fabulous views of the coastline in both directions,…

  • Salmon Creek Falls

    Salmon Creek Falls

    11.15 MILES

    Take a short hike to splash around in the pools at the base of this double-drop waterfall, tucked uphill in a forested canyon. The falls usually run from…

  • Harmony Headlands State Park

    Harmony Headlands State Park

    20.08 MILES

    Just south of Harmony, a 4.5-mile round-trip hiking trail winds out to coastal bluffs with inspiring sea views.

View more attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Hearst Castle

5.62 MILES

Perched high on a hill, Hearst Castle is a wondrous, historic, over-the-top homage to material excess. From the 1920s into the '40s, Hearst and Marion…

2. Coastal Discovery Center

5.65 MILES

Educational displays include a talking artificial tide pool that kids can touch and videos of deep-sea diving and a WWII-era shipwreck just offshore.

4. Salmon Creek Falls

11.15 MILES

Take a short hike to splash around in the pools at the base of this double-drop waterfall, tucked uphill in a forested canyon. The falls usually run from…

5. Ragged Point

11.23 MILES

Your last – or first – taste of Big Sur’s rocky grandeur comes at this craggy cliff outcropping with fabulous views of the coastline in both directions,…

7. Sand Dollar Beach

20.51 MILES

The tortuously winding 40-mile stretch of Hwy 1 south of Lucia to Hearst Castle is sparsely populated, rugged and remote, mostly running through national…

8. Jade Cove

20.7 MILES

In the waters of Jade Cove in 1971, local divers recovered a 9000lb jade boulder that measured 8ft long and was valued at $180,000. People still comb the…