Cabrillo National Monument
Photo: Garyscub · CC BY-SA 4.0
About
President Woodrow Wilson designated the site on October 14, 1913, to mark the spot where Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo's Spanish expedition became the first Europeans to set foot on the future West Coast of the United States, landing at San Diego Bay on September 28, 1542. What began as just half an acre reserved around the site has grown to more than 140 acres at the southern tip of Point Loma, managed today by the National Park Service.
The Old Point Loma Lighthouse, built in 1855 and used until 1891, still stands 422 feet above sea level and now serves as a small museum, while the park's tide pools expose a wide range of intertidal life during the lowest tides of late fall and winter. The Whale Overlook, created in 1950, was the world's first lookout point built specifically for public whale watching, and gray whales can often be seen migrating past it between December and March, making the monument a rare spot where newcomers can watch wild whales without a boat ticket.
Visitor information
Admission Admission is charged per vehicle at the entrance gate; the Old Point Loma Lighthouse and visitor center are included in that fee, per the official site.
Getting there MTS bus route 84 serves Point Loma, though most visitors drive, since the park sits at the tip of a peninsula with its own on-site parking.
