Point Sur State Historic Park

The fog that swallowed ships whole off this stretch of coast is the reason Point Sur exists at all. First lit on August 1, 1889, the lighthouse sits 361 feet above the Pacific on a volcanic rock jutting into the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary — the only complete turn-of-the-century light station open to the public in California. Keepers and their families lived here from 1889 to 1974, when the light was automated. Access is by guided tour only.