Visiting Washington Lighthouses in 2024

I’m not entirely sure why, but lighthouses are fascinating to me. They’re like lonely, heroic sentinels of yesteryear — remnants of a bygone era.

Since my family and I relocated to the Pacific Northwest in 2022, I’ve wanted to take a summer vacation to cruise down the Pacific Coast and visit as many lighthouses as we can. And maybe we will do that.

But in the meantime, I’m planning to visit Washington lighthouses as day or weekend trips.

Washington has a Lighthouse Environmental Program (LEP) that receives funding through the purchase of Washington lighthouse-themed license plates. (Next time I renew my vehicle, I’m definitely getting one).

You can get information regarding lighthouses from the LEP’s website: http://washingtonlighthouses.org. The LEP has identified lighthouses in the area that you can visit.

Another useful website (though perhaps a bit too saturated with ads) is https://www.lighthousefriends.com. This website has an interactive map where you can find detailed information and histories about many lighthouses. This includes lighthouses you cannot actually access, such as the Cape Flattery Lighthouse — which is the most Northwestern lighthouse in the contiguous U.S.

If you get serious about visiting lighthouses (and I think I’m there), you can join the national lighthouse club called the U.S. Lighthouse Society.

The U.S. Lighthouse Society

The U.S. Lighthouse Society (USLHS) is a non-profit organization devoted to the preservation of lighthouses. It’s also headquartered in the Puget Sound area! As part of the program, you can purchase a “Lighthouse passport” and various membership tiers to support lighthouse preservation. When you visit participating lighthouses (and there are many), you can get a stamp for your passport. Washington has 24 participating locations according to the Lighthouse Society’s list of participating lighthouses. Not all locations listed are lighthouses, though.

I’m not sure how the passport program works exactly because it lists, for instance, Cape Flattery as a participating lighthouse. Yet, I understand that you cannot visit that lighthouse. This is one of the lighthouse mysteries I will be exploring in 2024.

The Lighthouse Society runs an online Lighthouse Enthusiast Community. By joining this community, you can track your lighthouse visits and have some limited interaction with other enthusiasts.

For example, I joined the Enthusiast Community (for free) on January 25, 2024. I’ve entered the two lighthouses I’ve visited so far. Here is a snapshot of what the tracking system shows me:

Unfortunately, these stats are a lie because I do not have a passport. I just entered in that I had a stamp to see what it looks like. I’m not sure if you can delete passport stamps. Maybe I should check…

…Yes, you can delete passport stamps. Now my tracking is accurate. I have two lighthouse visits and zero passport stamps.

List of Lighthouses in Washington

According to the USLHA Enthusiasts, there are 28 total Washington lighthouses, with 18 participating in the passport program (and four maritime-related places also participating for a total of 24 passport participants). The Washington LEP lists 24 lighthouses, with 16 being visitable. I have done my best to compile a list for my own use and yours.

The Lighthouse Loops

The LEP issues a Washington Lighthouse brochure in which they place lighthouses in 5 different geographic groupings or “loops.” I’ll present the lighthouses below in these loops, as it is an orderly way to go about visiting them.

If the lighthouse is identified as part of the passport program with the USLHS, I will mark it with an asterisk. Lighthouses that are visitable according to the LEP will have a plus symbol (+).

1. Seattle-Tacoma Loop

1. West Point*+
2. Swiftsure Lightship*+
3. Point Robinson*+
4. Browns Point*+
5. Orchard Point
6. Alki Point*
7. Gig Harbor
8. Dofflemeyer Point

2. North Puget Sound Loop

1. Admiralty Head*+
2. Mukilteo*+
3. Bush Point (on private land)

3. San Juan Islands Loop

1. Patos Island*+
2. Lime Kiln*+
3. Burrows Island +
4. Turn Point*+
5. Cattle Point

4. Washington Coast Loop

1. Gray’s Harbor*+ (South Coast, WA’s tallest lighthouse, near Westport Maritime Museum)
2. North Head*+ (South Coast, near the Lewis & Clark Center)
3. Cape Disappointment*+ (South Coast)
4. Cape Flattery* (North Coast)
5. Destruction Island* (North Coast)
6. Slip Point (North Coast)

5. NE Olympic Peninsula Loop

1. New Dungeness*+
2. Point Wilson*+
3. Point no Point*+ (USLHS Headquarters)
4. Marrowstone Point
5. Skunk Bay* (Privately owned — I’ve been emailing enthusiasts who report obtaining the passport to see how they got it)

Other Washington Lighthouses

1. Clover Island (Kennewick)*
2. Ediz Hook (replaced with US Coast Guard Beacon)
3. Wallapa Bay (lost to shore erosion)

In addition to these lighthouses, lighthouse-related or adjacent locations that also participate in the passport program include:

1. Lewis & Clark Center*
2. Museum of History & Industry*
3. USLHS Headquarters*
4. Westport Maritime Museum*

May the Light Safely Guide You

I’m not sure if there is a common phrase that lighthouse keepers would use as a mantra — you know, if two lighthouse keepers are together and one gets up to leave, what do they say?

If they were in The Hunger Games it would be, “May the odds be ever in your favor.” Or in Star Wars they would say, “May the Force be with you.”

I think a good saying would be, “May the light safely guide you.” I envision this being said with one arm pressed against your chest.

Anyway, hopefully the information above will help you on your own lighthouse adventures.

And as you explore, may the light safely guide you.

(Was that a cool ending?)