Old Point Loma Lighthouse Watch Room and Lantern Room

The light had a short life because of a serious flaw: fog and low clouds often obscured the beam.

NPS / Amanda Gossard

Leave the primary bedroom and continue walking up the spiral staircase. This will lead you up to the “watch room” or the third story landing. From there, a steep ladder takes you up to the lantern room, which houses the iconic Fresnel lens. The lens is large and takes up most of the room, with about a shoulder-width of space between it and the sturdy wall of windows that protects it from the outside elements. A small door in the lantern room leads to a catwalk that surrounds the outside of the tower, offering a 360-degree view of the city of San Diego, its bay, the Pacific Ocean, and even parts of Mexico. On a clear night, the light from the Fresnel lens could have been seen sixteen to eighteen miles out to sea.