During my recent official trip to USA, I took a week off to explore some of the much known places in US and Grand Canyon was in top of my list. After spending a week around San Diego, Grand Canyon and Las Vegas, I landed at San Jose Airport. Initially idea was to go to Lake Tahoe, but weather was not good. It was raining and lot windy. My friend Arun picked from airport and we decided to drive towards Point Reyes Lighthouse. Weather forecast showed rain in the second half but still we thought of visiting the place instead of sitting at home. Distance from San Jose to Point Reyes Lighthouse is around 110 miles and it takes 2.5-3 hrs reaching there.
On our way, we stopped at Arun's place and had our breakfast. Shivani and Woz also joined us for this quick trip to Point Reyes Lighthouse in California. This whole ride is very beautiful and towards the end road goes through hills and weather made it more interesting.
On our way to Point Reyes Lighthouse from Fremont, we crossed through Oakland & San Rafael. It was first time for Arun as well and we were following the GPS in his car.
After a while, we were in a region with huge farming lands and ranches at distant locations. We also started loosing phone signals and internet connectivity. At one point, the path showed by GPS changed and it took us a while to figure out why. Bad connectivity took around 15 minutes to be sure that we are heading in right direction.
It was fun riding through these roads and listening to hindi songs on radio :). I was pleasantly surprised to listen hindi radio channels in US during my first visit there. And on top of that I heard an advertisement where one baba is promoting about tantric solution to deal with family problems and baby boy. That was funny and ironic. During the last stretch car was going in inclined towards right due to heavy wind around Point Reyes Lighthouse.
Point Reyes Lighthouse is located around Marin County, California and the park adjacent Lighthouse Visitor Centre features exhibits about the lighthouse and the park's marine life and natural history. Visitors can climb about 300 steps down to the lighthouse itself if weather is fine. We couldn't go down as Lighthouse was closed on that day due to some official reasons. The main chamber of the lighthouse, known as the Lens Room, features the Fresnel lens and clockwork mechanism, and is open to the public on a limited basis.
As you reach closer to the Point Reyes Lighthouse, you see beautiful beaches on the left. Weather was not favourable otherwise we would have gone to one of these beaches as well. It was lovely to see dark clouds all around the ocean and fast wind blowing around the hills where Point Reyes Lighthouse is located.
Shape of above trees would give you an idea about how fast the wind blows at this place. Most of the trees are bent in one direction and few of them look like they have fallen down. In fact, walk from parking area to the Lighthouse is not very easy when wind is blowing. It's also recommended to to not take your pets beyond parking slot. We tried to keep Woz in the car, but car was also shaking a lot due to wind and hence that was even more scary for him. So we took him along till one point and then one of us accompanied him at that spot on rotation basis.
Arun, Shivani and Woz around Point Reyes Lighthouse in California. These guys make my California visit very special and this time it much more fun as I had another day to spend with them at their home in Fremont.
While compiling this post, I came across this post which talks about commute, food, places to stay etc in very detail. Since we didn't stay there, I can't really comment on that part so thought of sharing this link with you. Do check out and let us know if you find it helpful. After spending some time here we headed back and as we left it started raining.
I closer view of Point Reyes Lighthouse from the watch area around this place. This was the closest point we could go.
The white dots you see on these rocks are common murres. They are found in abundance around this region. I saw people bringing binoculars to this place as whale watching is also possible if you research well about the time, location etc. On our way, we spotted some small shops who organise ocean rides and adventure activities around this place.
Before planning a trip, do get answers to some of the following questions which would help you plan better -
1. Point Reyes Lighthouse weather
2. Point Reyes Lighthouse directions and distance
3. Point Reyes Lighthouse hours (visiting hour and days when it's closed)
4. Point Reyes Lighthouse hike (any other hikes around this place)
We headed back and clouds were even denser by now. It was a fun drive and day was spent very well.
And don't forget to watch these short videos. These videos are shaky because of the wind. I couldn't keep my hands still while shooting these videos with my phone.
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