Cabrillo National Monument, CA – Two for the Price of One
Leave a commentApril 8, 2013 by Deborah W. Trotter
With water on three sides, the views alone make a visit to Cabrillo National Monument in San Diego, California, worth the trip. On the most southwesterly land in the continental United States, the Monument covers much of the tip of Point Loma, whose beaches are lapped by the waves of San Diego Bay and the Pacific Ocean.
Named for explorer Juan Cabrillo, believed to be the first non-native to set foot on shore (in 1542) in what became San Diego, the Monument embraces birds and wildlife and more than 300 species of plants. Its oceanside location also protects tide pools and their denizens and provides an ideal place to spot gray whales offshore during their annual, 12,000-mile roundtrip migration between the Arctic and Baja California. (Best viewing is in January and February.)
But…let’s be real here. There are also TWO LIGHTHOUSES on Point Loma! (For those of you who haven’t read my earlier posts, I will repeat my confession: I love lighthouses!)

Assistant keeper’s quarters and Old Point Loma Lighthouse

Lantern room, Old Point Loma Lighthouse
Unfortunately, it soon became apparent that its location at the crest of Point Loma’s headland was not ideal. Too often, thick fog and low clouds obscured its light and made it ineffective as a navigational aid. Thirty-six years after it was first lit, Old Point Loma was boarded up in 1891, and keeper Robert Israel moved his family to a new light station lower down, near the tip of the point.

Keepers’ quarters and “new” Point Loma Lighthouse
While the “new” Point Loma Lighthouse is not open to the public, fortunately for us lighthouse lovers, the National Park Service restored Old Point Loma Lighthouse with period furnishings and artifacts. Visitors may enter the structure and retreat to the 19th century for a time, imagining the life of a West Coast lighthouse keeper more than 100 years ago.

View from inside Old Point Loma Lighthouse
Category: National Monuments | Tags: 12000-mile roundtrip migration, Arctic, Baja California, beaches, birds and wildlife, Cabrillo National Monument, California, continental United States, France, Fresnel lens, gray whales, James P. Keating, January and February, Juan Cabrillo, lighthouse lovers, lighthouses, mariners, most southwesterly land, National Park Service, nature, navigational aid, Old Point Loma Lighthouse, outdoors, Pacific Ocean, plants, Point Loma, Robert Israel, sailors, San Diego, San Diego Bay, thick fog, waves, West Coast lighthouse keeper