Piedras Blancas is located on California's central coast, just north of San Simeon. The point is named for a white rock out cropping located just off the end of the point. In the 1866, this location was chosen to fill the gap between the lighthouses at Point Conception and Point Sur.

The Piedras Blancas Light Station was completed in 1875.  The original tower was 100 feet tall and housed a first-order Fresnel lens. In 1876 a two-story Victorian style dwelling and a storage building were added.

Piedras Blancas Light Station was operated by US Lighthouse Service until 1939 when the Coast Guard assumed command. Structural damage to the tower and new technology eventually replaced many of the functions of the lightkeepers as they became automated. The Coast Guard subsequently relinquished control and management of the Piedras Blancas Light Station to The Bureau of Land Management on October 12, 2001.

The Bureau of Land Management has assumed administrative control and is in the process of initiating restoration and stabilization efforts. The Bureau has completed a planning framework that will guide these activities.

Access and visitor use is limited to scheduled interpretive activities. There is no public access to any wetlands, Intertidal zone(s) or other sensitive areas.

Piedras Blancas Light Station
U.S. Department of Interior
Bureau of Land Management
15950 Cabrillo Hwy
P.O. Box 129
San Simeon, CA 93452-0129
Phone (805) 927-7361
FAX (805) 927-3308
(To send an email click on the "Contact Us" link at the bottom center of every page)
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/bakersfield/Programs/pbls.html

Piedras Blancas Tours
PiedrasBlancasTours@gmail.com

Piedras Blancas Light Station Outstanding Natural Area

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National Landscape Conservation System

NEWS

May 8, 2008:  Piedras Blancas Light Station designated by Congress "Outstanding Natural Area," and added to the Bureau of Land Management's National Landscape Conservation System.

Text from the legislation