Planning a trip?

Oregon's South Coast is your destination. Check out these wonderful Bay Area activities.

Go fly a kite at the beach

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74 Hike to the Cape Arago Lighthouse

The Cape Arago Lighthouse is hard to miss and hard to reach, since it was built on an island.

The lighthouse, which was completed in 1934 and is the third one on Gregory Point, also is unique because it is almost entirely made of concrete and cinder block.
Bricks were used in the other lighthouses on the South Coast, all of which predate the existing Cape Arago Lighthouse by four decades or so.

The lighthouse no longer sends out a signal to mariners. The original lens is on display in the lobby of the Coast Guard's North Bend Air Station.

The initial lighthouse at Gregory Point was built in 1866 and was only about 20 feet tall. It was replaced by a wooden tower in 1908. Neither one exists anymore. There also is no trace of a volunteer rescue boat station set up at the east base of the island in 1878. But on a section of the island gradually succumbing to erosion, bricks still mark the foundation of a former lightkeeper's home.

The existing lighthouse's tower is 44 feet tall, while the island rises to 56 feet above sea level.

While the lighthouse is a beautiful site, it is off-limits to the general public.
The 200-foot wooden bridge built in 1938 from the mainland to Gregory Point has been condemned.

The best places to view the lighthouse on clear days are from the Sunset Bay area to the south along the trail to Cape Arago.

Planning a trip?

74 Hike to the Cape Arago Lighthouse

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