I will be in California for a few days with "nothing" to do and would like to seek suggestions for others as to what lighthouses I could get to in my short stay. I will be arriving on Saturday the 20th in San Francisco (late unfortunately), but will have all day Sunday and Monday in the area, as well as half day on Tuesday. At around noon my wife (attending a conference) and I will leave for San Diego. We will stay Tuesday at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Opispo and use all day Wendnesday to go to to San Diego. We will then be in the San Diego area till Saturday when we fly back.

Could any of you veteran California lighthouse experts offer suggestions of what lighthouses would be the best use of our time to visit, given this schddule. Also if there are nifty stops (including restaurants) to see I would appreciate it. So far we have been able to catch 2-4 great lighthouses on every trip to the coasts, and I would hate to ruin our record. Thanks for any help to make this a memorable adventure.

There are several lights that are within a days' ride of San Francisco. My wife and I had a chance to visit there two years ago.

North of San Francisco is Point Reyes Lighthouse, on the grounds of the Point Reyes National Seashore. Also on the north side of the Golden Gate Bridge is Point Bonita Lighthouse. It's within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

There are two samll lights under the Golden Gate bridge, one on each shore.

Driving south along the coast highway you'll pass Point Montara and Pigeon Point and then Santa Cruz. The lighthouse at Santa Cruz is used as a surfers museum. On the other (south) sise of the bay at Santa Cruz is Point Pinos.

Good luck, enjoy the trip.

Rick

First check the access to Point Bonita. It would be WELL worth it and easy to get to over the Golden Gate. Point Reyes may be too far a stretch north given your time limits.

How about East Brother Island? Been to Montara - nice, a hostel now.

Point Pinos I missed, but it would be an easy swing from Montara and Pinos. Don't miss the town of Carmel.

If you travel down the coast to San Louis Obismo, then a stop at Point Sur is a good one.

This is kind of obvious but don't forget Alcatraz.

I took a similar trip this past summer and agree with all the others on the ones you may be able to see.

John is right, Point Reyes is way-y-y out. But the view is spectacular. Point Pinos was such a nice setting as well.

I did a lot of research before my trip. The major source was a book by Bruce Roberts of the western lighthouses. It gives directions to all. That was a special help as I had never been to those lights before.

We were at East Brother for a Saturday. You can get a shot on the road down to the marina where you catch a boat out. I would suggest finding the web page for the bed and breakfast and getting them to send you directions.

Although the coast highway is gorgeous, it will slow you down. Check the CA highway department web page for any areas that may have work being done on the roads because of slides during this past winter. We had some delays because of this problem.

Derith Bennett