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Lighthouses of the National Wildlife Refuge System

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Dungeness Refuge, Washington state, with Mount Baker in the background. Dow Lambert photos.
Dungeness Refuge light, Washington state, with Mount Baker in the background. Dow Lambert photos.

By Bill O’Brian

For Americans who love lighthouses – and their numbers are legion – National Lighthouse Day on Sunday, August 7, is a chance to celebrate.

One good place to do that is on a national wildlife refuge. More than two dozen lighthouses stand today on or near national wildlife refuges, land units of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Visit these lighthouses and you can indulge your love for history and rugged beauty while you thrill to the sight of seabirds and other wildlife at the same time. Here are a few of the many refuge lights worth seeing:

Kilauea Point Refuge, HI Lighthouse

Lighthouses
The clamshell lens of the Daniel K. Inouye Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge Lighthouse in Hawaii was built in Paris to the design of celebrated French physicist and engineer Augustin Jean Fresnel. (Photo by Lighthouse Lamp Shop)

St Marks Refuge, FL

Lighthouses
Completed in 1831, the lighthouse at St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge in Florida was guarded by Confederate troops during the Civil War. The Southerners removed the tower’s lighting apparatus so that it couldn’t aid Union ships patrolling the bay. Photo by USFWS volunteer Teresa Darragh.

Kilauea Point Refuge, Hawaii

Lighthouses
Built in 1913 to aid commercial ships sailing between Asia and Hawaii, the scenic Daniel K. Inouye Kilauea Point Lighthouse at Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge in Hawaii stands on the northernmost point of the island of Kauai. Photo by Megan Nagel/USFWS

Dungeness Refuge Light, Washington

Lighthouses
Another view of the lighthouse at Washington’s Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge. (Photo by New Dungeness Keepers)

Cape Meares Lighthouse

Lighthouses
Situated along the cliffs of the Oregon coast, Cape Meares Lighthouse is managed by Oregon State Parks but it is accessible through Cape Meares National Wildlife Refuge. The lighthouse, built in 1889, is open to the public from April to October. Roy W. Lowe photo.
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