Sunset/Full Moon Walk to Point Bonita Lighthouse

Watch the setting sun and greet the rising moon at this wild edge of the continent.
Better than the Point Sur Lighthouse Tour because this one is free! Somehow I'd never heard of this lighthouse till a friend showed me a video of every dang lighthouse in the state.

The half-mile trail is steep in places. Dress warmly and bring a flashlight.

Limited to 40 people by the park services; I've managed to snag us six spots. If you miss signing up here, you can try to make required reservations by calling (415) 331-1540.

We'll plan to do another hike or walk in the same area earlier and have a picnic supper, for interested parties who want to make the drive up there more worthwhile. Details later -- suggestions for walks in the area appreciated, as I'm not familiar with it.

Click here for the lighthouse's web site and specific driving directions. (https://www.nps.gov/goga/pobo.htm)

Sunset Magazine's Amy Wolf prepared this great description: Click here for a great photo. (https://www.sunset.com/travel/california/experience-point-bonita-lighthouse-after-dark-00400000015268/)

Click for another incredible photo here (https://www.flickr.com/photos/52148551@N00/3348099157/)
The journey to Point Bonita Lighthouse, just northwest of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge, is not for the faint of heart. On a windy evening ― and most evenings out on the craggy Marin Headlands are windy ― the short suspension bridge that leads to the lighthouse sways, and you have to force yourself not to look down at the waves battering the cliffs about 100 feet beneath you.

You might turn around if it weren't for the welcoming light on the other side and the promises of stories of shipwrecks, terror, and heroism told on Bonita's evening tours.

"They went through several lighthouse keepers out here; the job was just too hard," says ranger Suzanne Pegas as she leads the way through a cavelike tunnel dug into the hillside.

The tunnel didn't exist when the lighthouse was built in the 1850s; to get to work, the keepers had to scale the perimeter of the cliff just above aptly named Shipwreck Cove. Even worse, on murky nights keepers were expected to blow a foghorn every 30 minutes day and night, sometimes for three nights at a time.

You won't feel such hardships on an evening tour of Point Bonita. The tours last about 45 minutes, not three nights. But if you feel a little heroic for making the trip, no one will mind ― after all, you had to walk twice across that scary bridge.