Located only 17 miles north of Humboldt Bay and the Eureka area, Trinidad Head juts out from the town of Trinidad toward the west with a top elevation of more than 350 feet. The lighthouse here casts a white beam out over the Pacific Ocean some 196 feet above the water’s surface.

As Trinidad became an important port for the transport of timber, the high bluffs of Trinidad head were chosen as the site for a lighthouse serving the harbor in 1871. The original 25-foot-high brick tower was lit in December of that year. The original Fresnel lens was replaced with a modern optical light in 1947, and today the light is automated.

Characteristics: Occulting white light (four seconds) with a focal plane 196 feet above the water. Horn during periods of reduced visibility.

Local Notices to Mariners are now available exclusively online from the U.S. Coast Guard.

The original Trinidad Head Lighthouse is not accessible or open to the public, but a replica of the lighthouse is located in Trinidad and open to the public.