Lodging at Point Arena Lighthouse

We stayed overnight and had both the lightkeeper’s apartment and the larger family apartment (there were 7 of us all together). Very comfortable — clearly they have thought of everything in terms of necessities in the kitchen, etc. It also appears as though the units are getting an overhaul — the lightkeepers apartment has nice new appliance, countertops, etc. Hopefully the family apartment is next, although it’s very comfortable as is.
As others have said, the views are amazing here. It’s so beautiful and peaceful. We saw seals and tons of different birds. As part of your hotel fee, you get to go on the lighthouse tour if you’d like and it was well worth it. The innkeepers/​museum are super friendly and knowledgeable.
The closest grocery store is a few miles away — we went to Point Arena for groceries but had we had more room in our car we would have brought them with us from home.
Highly recommend.

Came here for a girls only weekend with 4 other lovely ladies. The views are fantastic. The houses do need an upgrade but still very comfortable. The beds are comfortable, loved the fireplace and the stocked kitchen utensils & cooking pans. They now Wifi.

Beautiful place. Nature at its best. Stayed here for 3 days with Dog. Lovely experience.
Its surrounded by ocean from 3 sides, all windows in the lodge facing the water. You can sit all day looking at the waves: D
Lighthouse staff is very helpful.

View was beautiful, room was fine. Honestly the experience, tour and view made up for any imperfection of the room
Watched sunset on a bench by the gazebo. Drank champagne while watching it. Quiet, remote and just plain awesome
Do it! Experience the hwy 1 experience and make sure this overnight is on your trip

Great location, comfortable cabins, almost clean rooms and dishes. It’s for a good cause to support lighthouse maintenance.
However 2 of 4 smoke alarms not working, one stove burner not working, heater in bedroom not working. FYI, Bring: Squeege to wash salt spray off windows — otherwise the view looks like impressionist painting. Bring serving bowl, pizza or baking sheet, collander if you anticipate needing them. (No problem with soup ladels, there were 4 of them, also 4 pasta grabbers.) They ask to save water but the showers are full force Niagara Falls. VCRs in room but no VCR player, only a DVD player but no DVDs. Conclusion: A bit more attention to details would make this a better place to stay. No operable wi-​fi.

Had a lovely time staying at the lighthouse. I think it largely depends on what you are looking for. It is quiet, secluded, peaceful and beautiful. They do have cable/​HBO but we also brought our Apple TV, great call! We watched House of Cards in the late evenings but first, got to enjoy the fantastic sunsets out front our apartment.
The Lightkeeper’s Apartment was perfect for a couple. The water-​pressure in the shower was great, but the dark mold (?) in the bottom was quite off-​putting. There are pots, pans, knives, small cutting board, dishes, a fireplace and flat screen tv. We had everything we needed, though we did bring our own casserole dish and bought olive oil. The apartment comes with salt, pepper, bottled water,
This would be a great getaway for a writer, artist, or just anyone looking for beautiful solitude. Loved our stay and watching the lighthouse documentaries provided.

Have always loved this place. Went back recently and love it more! Amazing, peaceful views. Tallest lighthouse you can walk to the top of. Whale sightings. Cozy quarters to stay in. The keepers’ quarters have everything you need inside — even coffee. A little slice of heaven.

What an interesting experience! We stayed in the Keeper’s Room (the smallest room, without a full kitchen). I highly recommend that room – it is on the edge of the buildings toward the lighthouse, and has a great view of the lighthouse and the coast. The room was not particularly fancy, but very cozy, and the bed was very comfortable.
The overall experience was a bit odd, but overall great. We arrived after the office closed (it closes at 3:30 pm), and luckily, we had pulled up the email with arrival instructions while we still had phone coverage. When we arrived at dusk, with blowing fog and no one around, we felt a little bit like we were in a Stephen King novel. You let yourself in the gate, find your room key, and let yourself in. There was literally no one on the premises other than us – maybe a tiny bit creepy. But after turning on the gas fireplace and opening the complimentary bottle of wine, everything was great, and looking out at the tundra-​like landscape and the ocean, we felt like we were alone on an Aleutian island (in a good way).
This place is a little funky (the buildings are basically government housing from the 1960’s, but nicely updated), and probably not for those used to staying at resorts. But highly recommended for anyone up for a bit of adventure! Truly unique.

Tiny cabins /​trailers but very clean and cozy. Had fun touring the quaint coastline cities and both eating out and cooking indoors in our own kitchen. Fun staycation that was just far enough from home without feeling homesick.

My only regret about booking this accommodation is I only stayed for one night. When we arrived we were greeted by a lovely bottle from a local vineyard and a view unlike any other I’ve seen in Northern CA.
This place is magical and well maintained. We stayed in one of the cabins. Three bedrooms, two baths, and all the stuff you need to prepare a 3 course dinner are waiting for you in the kitchen. My family and I entertained ourselves watching Star Trek on VHS by firelight. They have a dvd player and a flat screen television and a small selection of dvds but the VHS was too nostalgic to pass up.
The staff is a little particular about how things are run for check in and check out but otherwise they were nice.
The museum and lighthouse are something that everyone who lives in CA should visit at least once because it played a part is the unique gold rush history of the state.

I’m surprised that this great coast side lodging opportunity has not been Unilocaled about. The Point Arena Lighthouse is destination on the coast between Gualala and Mendocino. It has lots of history, beautiful shoreline, and is the tallest lighthouse you can climb on the west coast. Aside from that, you can stay near the lighthouse, enjoy peace and quiet, and all the coastal views your eyes can absorb by renting one of the lodging choices at the lighthouse. What you say? Lodging at the lighthouse? Yes.
The Point Arena Lighthouse has 5 lodging choices to choose from including three Assistant Keeper’s Quarters (3 bd/​2bath), one Keeper’s Quarters, one Keeper’s Apartment, and one Keeper’s Room. We rented one of the Assistant Keeper’s Quarters at $ 225 a night (2-​night min on weekends), it’s a great deal. The house had a full kitchen with oven/​range, microwave, toaster, dishes, pots/​pans, refrigerator, bottled water, wood burning stove, gas fireplace, TV, etc. The house was comfortable with unobstructed views of the coast. It’s a great deal for such exclusive access to the coast.
If you don’t feel like cooking, Rollerville Café is only 2 miles away with great food. We’d highly recommend shopping for necessities at the market/​hardware at Manchester. That place has everything you might need.
Stay here, enjoy yourselves, and support the lighthouse.

I wanted to surprise my wife with a special ‘getaway weekend’. I had heard about this lighthouse and the ability to rent rooms on a cable travel channel and after reading many online reviews thought it sounded like something we would enjoy as a couple.
I booked the ‘Keeper’s Room’ directly through the lighthouse website which was really fast and easy. I chose the Keeper’s Room for two reasons. The first is that its the only room you can rent there for just one night. The other available rentals are actual houses and they require a minimum 2 night stay. The second reason was financial. The Keepers room is obviously the smallest so it’s also the most affordable. At $ 129 for one night it was perfect. The other house rentals were around $ 250 and required a 2 night stay.
Check in is a bit confusing. Just go to the end of the road and check in with the cashier at the museum. It was quite simple and fast but no where on their website or in the information sent via email to confirm your reservation did it say this. So we spun our wheels a bit trying to figure out where to go to get the key.
The room was small but no different from a 1 room hotel rental. It had a queen size bed with a Tempurpedic mattress (yes you read that right) that was very comfortable, private full bathroom, gas fireplace, microwave, mini fridge, DVD player, cable TV, and free wireless wifi that worked flawlesslyi! The houses that are rented are the houses that the lighthouse staff and their families lived in when the lighthouse was functioning so they are well over 80 years old but to their credit, they don’t feel or look that old. The house rentals have full kitchens and wood burning fireplaces. Cell phone reception was horrible if not non-​existent.
As paying guests, you have full access to the museum and the lighthouse during business hours at no additional cost. The lighthouse climb is about 90 steps, equivalent of 5 flights of stairs. It wasn’t a hard climb at all but it did make us short of breath. The staircase is NARROW but there are landings about every 20 steps for you to rest at or allow the people going the opposite way to pass you. The view from the top was amazing! We were lucky enough to have clear blue skies and were not disappointed. There was a very nice museum docent (employee) staged at the top of the lighthouse who was there to answer all of the questions of the history of the lighthouse and surrounding area. He had no problem taking a picture of my wife and I while we were up there. The museum located 20 yards form the lighthouse is small but VERY informative and included the history of the roughly 130 year existence of the lighthouse and how it operated back in the day. The original fresnel lense has been moved out of the top of the lighthouse and into the museum. I have never seen a lighthouse lense up close before so this was really cool to be able to see. It is extremely large and actually quite pretty. It was handmade and the craftsmanship is impressive.
Finally, the rental houses are located on quite a large bit of acreage which is closed to the public after business hours but remains open and available to explore around the clock for house guests. A short 100 yard walk takes you to the edge of the cliffs where you can sit on any number of benches and watch the waves crash and the birds fly around. We also saw about 10 harbor seals down below just swimming around.
You wanna hear my one complaint? The keeper’s room only had one single window and it DID NOT HAVE A SCREEN ON IT… Are you kidding me? We wanted to open the window at night and listen to the waves, but bugs kept flying in. VERY DISAPPOINTING! How difficult or costly can it be to install a screen on the only window in the place? The next morning we walked around the other rental houses and 90% of their windows were also missing screens. I think I counted only 3 or 4 windows on all of the houses combined that had a screen on it. Whatever, it wasn’t a deal breaker but seems so easy to fix so that people could enjoy the fresh air and the sounds of the ocean.
Overall, it was a very enjoyable stay at an affordable rate and we couldn’t have been happier. If you are looking for a quiet relaxing time away or a romantic getaway then you got to give this a try. I know we will be back! And I’m bringing my screen building kit with me… LOL

We have a membership at this light house, so we receive a 10% discount on the total bill of our stay.
We love staying here to catch the sunsets and sunrises.
The interior isn’t anything fancy, but it does the job.
They provide movies and books for your stay.
Bring your own food and do not forget the red wine!
Dogs are welcome here, beware there are territorial spots marked in many of the houses so make sure you bring the cage.
When you stay at the light house, you also get free admission to tour the light house.
Only complaint is that when you call to make reservations, the phone seems to keep ringing and you have to leave a message, the women who answer aren’t always the most friendly, but it doesn’t keep me from staying here.
The stay is about $ 259/​night slightly pricey since the houses are not updated, and every time we see something «new» in the houses, they seem to be hand-​me-​downs or from the good will.
Still our favorite place to get away from the bay area.
don’t forget to take the Skunk train through the woods, about an our drive to Fort Bragg.

Super-​beautiful day at the tallest lighthouse in CA
The Point Arena tower is the only Pacific West coast lighthouse of significant height (115 feet) that you can climb to the top!
This lighthouse is hellandgone from any major highway so get mentally prepared to LOVE the PCH.
Choosing this little detour was very costly… took us 7 hrs to get back to SF from Mendocino as Point Arena is smackdab in the middle of any «real» highway access. Lots of twisty-​turny Hwy 1 action going on
Better yet, just stay at their lightkeepers’ quarters — we would definitely do this if we were back in the area! Peaceful surroundings, affordable rates & getting a break from PCH — it’s a win-​win!

Must see Lighthouse here in California! You actually get to walk up to the top of this lighthouse…
This is not run by the State of California Park System nor the Coast Guard, it is run by a Non-​Profit Organization which is pretty amazing that they are able to keep this place open. I’m glad they are because it’s absolutely beautiful! Once you turn off of Highway 1 and take the very long road to the lighthouse, you are in owe that the presence of this lighthouse has sitting out there on this bluff right next to the ocean. It’s as if you are driving away from civilization and entering into another world, it was peaceful.
When we finally made it to the lighthouse, parked, and got out, the lighthouse, is huge. It makes you feel very small standing next to it. The grounds are very well kept, it’s not taken care of by the state, which says a lot, and the people who work/​volunteer there are very pleasant and helpful, again says a lot, you can tell they truly love being there. We paid our monies and waited for the next tour to go up into the lighthouse. We walked around the museum section where they actually had the lens from the original lighthouse, which is just magnificent to see up close and read about the history of the lighthouse.
About 20 minutes later we got to go up into the lighthouse, it was worth the wait! We walked up the spiral staircase with the rest of the folks waiting, all cheering each other on as we came to each landing. (Man that was a ways up) We all made it to the top to be greeted by a very nice gentlemen who knew everything there was to know about the lighthouse AND all the whales that where migrating south! We got lucky as it just so happen to be whale migrating season. Let me tell you ahead of time, we were in the best spot possible to watch the whales migrate. It was spectacular to watch them from atop of the lighthouse!
The views from the top of the lighthouse are amazing. It’s peaceful, beautiful, and just priceless. Something that everyone should experience just once. I recommend going during whale migration season too, you’ll get a 2 for one experience!
While we where there we also notice there are places to rent on the grounds of the Lighthouse. You can stay overnight right at the Lighthouse, again, how amazing would that be! It helps pay for the upkeep of the grounds and helps keep this place open! I think I’ll be adding that to my bucket list!

I loved it here. I spent 3 nights here recently with my two dogs over Christmas. It was heavenly. We were the only ones out there for the first two nights and finally Monday night the place was full. 10 feet outside the front door is the beautiful ocean, and right out the back door, and all around the property. It was so remote and peaceful. The sky at night was so pretty and you could see every star in the sky for the only light came from the lighthouse. This place has a cool history, and staying here supports the lighthouse, so stay here.
There is a lot of land to walk your dogs, and they are very pet friendly. I stayed in the lighthouse keepers apt, which is a one bedroom. I had a fireplace, kitchen, living room, bedroom and bathroom. Tempurpedic mattress! It is not too far from other towns up and down the coast, and Bowling Ball Beach is close, Gualala, etc. We bought groceries and cooked. They have wifi access just in case you cannot live without your computer, cell phone signal was spotty, but ok. They also provide a VCR and dvd player, and satellite tv.
I would definitely go back. I have only been back for 2 days now and I miss it. It is a very peaceful place to go and relax. It was super fun, and we saw whales!

I have been to many Californian lighthouses, with each and every one of them being unique and beautiful in their own ways, but I think my favorite lighthouse to visit may be Point Arena. Because the Fresnel lens was removed from the lens room, they allow patrons to climb the gorgeous 19^th Century cast iron stairs up to the very top, which offers a stunning view of the coastline. You are also allowed out onto the balcony (weather permitting, I’d assume) to catch that view while feeling the wind against your face. When I reached the top, I didn’t want to leave. I just wanted to sit in that lens room for hours, learning more about the history of the lighthouse and experiencing the stunning view that keepers and assistant keepers got to see every day while they tended the light. Seeing the lens in the fog signal building/​museum is a wonderful experience as well. It is massive and gorgeous. The fee for visiting the grounds is not a problem for me. I even donate extra into their donation boxes, because our Californian lighthouses should be preserved so the people of future generations may have a chance to climb those gorgeous stairs up to that gorgeous lens room.

Great fun for the family, and some awesome views, I’ll will be doing this again.

My 7 year old son Jacob has not previously shown interest in lighthouses, but frankly, who doesn’t like lighthouses? The Point Arena lighthouse has a number of advantages, but the biggest attraction was climbing 125 stairs to the top of the 115 foot concrete cylinder. Jacob scrambled up the stairs like a mountain goat, reaching the top before all of the adults (many of whom huffed and puffed their way up). Note that the staircase is pretty narrow, so we had to stop a number of times to let opposite-​direction traffic pass.
The old Fresnel lens is now on display in the small museum, so it’s possible to get a good look at it too. Now, all of the work is done by a tiny light on the lighthouse top’s exterior. At the top, a docent provided some good color commentary; we then got to walk along the catwalk (I think he called it the «gallery») right below the lighthouse room for some excellent unobstructed views of the coastline. (The lighthouse room has the same views, but the windows were dirty). From the top, we watched a sea lion rookery just offshore and birds of prey (mostly turkey vultures) riding the wind currents over a nearby punchbowl. Overall, the tour within the lighthouse column took about 20 – 30 minutes, perfect for curious boys with typical attention spans of 7 year olds. We also poked around the museum a bit and the grounds as well. As a bonus, from the cliffs I easily spotted a whale within a few hundred yards of shore!
Admission was a little high for adults ($ 7.50 per) and a bargain for kids ($ 1 per). For the two of us, the $ 8.50 admission was an excellent value. For a larger group with multiple adults, the economics may be less favorable. Their hours aren’t entirely predictable. Their website said they close at 3:30, but they were open to 4:30 on a weekday in July.
Overall, the lighthouse was a big hit. Jacob ranked this as one of his «highlights» of the trip.

Well crap. Here we are in this absolutely beautiful place, came up all these steps on this glorious day, the waves are crashing way down below, the birds are flying, and after four pictures my digital SLR shuts down. Dead battery, no charger.
Dude, spend the 5 bucks. Take the tour. It’s not about getting «your money’s worth». It’s about seeing a part of California history that is slowly disappearing. and the $ 5 goes to helping preserve it. And if you can’t afford the $ 5, then your shouldn’t have spent the $ 40 in gas it took you to get here.
The light house is interesting. And when I did the tour the guy at the top of the stairs told us more history of the place and the surrounding area while our little group of 8 took turns looking at the view. The glass work of the lens is pretty cool, so admire it while you are standing there (see my picture).
The little shop there has a history room /​museum in the back. Some fun little displays and interesting stories of the area — and the requisite local fish, bird, and wildlife displays. There are also a couple of short trails around the area.
When we were there, the people staying at the «Lighthouse Keepers Quarters» were flying kites. And I’m not talking about your little diamond shape jobbies. These were humongous, colorful, fun flying structures. There was a gecko, a snake, a ship, a bear, a ten ribbon kite, and 5 or 6 others all tethered up and flying around.
I was going to take pictures from the top of the lighthouse and when we came down, but … see 1^st paragraph.
Planning on going back and staying there with the family some weekend. I’d love to do it during the stormy winter months, but not sure how the rest of the family would feel about that.