Piedras Blancas

Piedras Blancas is a whaling station established near San Simeon in 1864. By the early 1870s, San Simeon Bay had become a substantial port, as lumber, farm produce, and Cinnabar, an ore mined for its mercury, were exported from California’s Central Coast. The Lighthouse Board was granted $70,000 for the construction of a tower to safely guide commerce into the bay, and to help light the otherwise dark coast that extended from Point Conception to Point Pinos. It first illuminated on February 15, 1875.

Travel Instructions:
To see the lighthouse: From the turnoff to Hearst’s Castle on Highway 1, proceed 5.7 miles north to a locked gate, from which a road leads 0.4 miles to the lighthouse. For information on public tours of the lighthouse, call (805) 927-6811.

To see the lens:
From the lighthouse, follow Highway 1 south to Cambria and turn left at the Moonstone Beach Drive/Main Street traffic light. Turn right to stay on Main Street, and the lens will be on your right after a few blocks. The lens is lit and actually rotates on Fridays between 2:00 and 4:00 p.m. and on Saturday evenings from 7:37 p.m. to 8:37 p.m.