The US Coast Guard built a lighthouse on this point due to the fact that over 400 shipwrecks had occurred here or nearby.
Point Bonita Lighthouse, located at the end of Point Bonita, is a sharp rocky peninsula that extends into the Pacific Ocean from the Marin Headlands not far from San Francisco.
Access to the Point Bonita Lighthouse, which was originally via a narrow frequently eroded trail, was improved when a hand carved tunnel was dug through 118 feet of rock over 6 months in 1856. It is thought that Chinese workers carved this tunnel.
The original lighthouse keeper’s quarters were destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. Both the original and replacement lighthouses survived the quake but the original was later torn down.
A suspension bridge was added by the Coast Guard in 1954. This suspension bridge was made to resemble the Golden Gate Bridge, visible to the east on a clear day.
Wild cabbage, originally planted by the keeper, now clings to the rocky soil around the lighthouse and the trail leading to it.
Our hike was slightly foggy but the Golden Gate Bridge was still visible.
Unless you are at this site, you won’t get a view of this side of the Golden Gate.