PNWSights
Yaquina Bay Lighthouse sits on a grassy bluff, its white wooden body and red lantern room framed by wind-shaped evergreens under a pale overcast sky. A tall metal observation tower rises beside it, and a sign at the bottom of the slope marks the historic lighthouse grounds.

Yaquina Bay Lighthouse

Newport, OR

Built in 1871, this is the only existing Oregon lighthouse with attached living quarters. The wooden lighthouse sits atop a bluff at the north end of Yaquina Bay State Recreation Site with views of the bay and ocean. It is reportedly one of the most haunted lighthouses on the Pacific Coast.

Photography Guide

Best Time
afternoon
Crowds
Moderate
Shot Types
wideportraitdetail
Best Seasons
springsummerfall
Practical Tips
The lighthouse interior is open to visitors seasonally with free admission. The surrounding gardens and beach trail provide multiple angles for exterior shots.

Is it a good day to go?

7-day outlook

Mild, dry days with light winds are the most comfortable for a visit.

Forecast by Open-Meteo. Verdicts weigh the forecast against the conditions that suit this spot.

Author's Comments

The wooden lighthouses are different from the stone ones. They photograph as buildings first and beacons second, and Yaquina Bay is the clearest example of that I know of on this coast. The attached living quarters give it a domestic quality that the more famous Oregon lighthouses do not have. It looks like a house that happens to have a light on top, which is essentially what it was. I prefer it in late afternoon in September, when the summer fog has mostly burned off by midday and the western light comes in low across the bluff. The white siding takes the warm light beautifully, and the windows of the keeper's quarters start to glow from inside if the interior lamps are on. From the garden side you get the building in profile against the Pacific. From the beach trail below, you get it perched on the bluff with the bay opening out behind. Both are worth making. The photograph I keep trying to get is a tighter one. A detail of the upper windows and the lantern room with afternoon light raking across the clapboard, nothing else in the frame. The building has texture that a wide shot tends to flatten. Get close. Use a longer lens than feels natural for a lighthouse. Let the bluff and the bay become context rather than subject. The place has a reputation for being haunted and I will not weigh in on that except to say that wooden buildings on Pacific bluffs hold weather and history in a way stone does not, and you can feel it when you stand there at the end of a long afternoon.

Gallery

Yaquina Bay Lighthouse sits on a grassy bluff, its white wooden body and red lantern room framed by wind-shaped evergreens under a pale overcast sky. A tall metal observation tower rises beside it, and a sign at the bottom of the slope marks the historic lighthouse grounds. Photo: Kristina D.C. Hoeppner from Wellington, New Zealand / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0
Yaquina Bay Lighthouse sits on a wooded bluff, its white wooden living quarters topped by a red lantern room and framed by dense evergreens. A tall metal tower rises beside it, with hazy hills and a pale afternoon sky in the background. Photo: Rickymouser45 / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0
White Yaquina Bay Lighthouse sits on a bluff, its attached keeper’s house filling the frame with mustard-yellow shutters, twin brick chimneys, and a bright red lantern room rising above a dark shingled roof. Green shrubs and a picket fence line the foreground under a pale afternoon sky. Photo: Oregon Attractions / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0
The white wooden Yaquina Bay Lighthouse stands on a bluff beneath a bright red lantern room, with closed brown shutters and a small fenced entry framed by low shrubs. A tall observation tower and dark evergreen trees rise to the right against a clear blue afternoon sky. Photo: Visitor7 / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
Sunlight streams through the lantern room windows, creating a starburst flare over the Fresnel lens and casting sharp shadows across the metal floor. The blue ocean and foamy surf are visible far below beyond the lighthouse’s white window frames. Photo: Andreas Geick / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
An antique black cast-iron wood-burning stove fills the small lighthouse room, with polished silver trim, cookware resting on top, and a towel hanging beside a sunlit window. White beadboard walls and a simple shelf with bottles and a candlestick give the interior a sparse, historic feel. Photo: Oregon Attractions / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0
The white wooden Yaquina Bay Lighthouse stands behind a picket fence on a grassy bluff, with red lantern room and brown shutters glowing in bright afternoon sun. Wind-shaped evergreens frame the historic building against a clear blue sky. Photo: Little Mountain 5 / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
The red lantern room and white upper walls of Yaquina Bay Lighthouse rise above windswept grasses and evergreen shrubs, framed by dark pine branches against a pale gray sky. The low angle gives the historic wooden lighthouse a secluded, almost hidden look on the bluff. Photo: Anita Ritenour from Santa Maria, CA, USA / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0
Yaquina Bay Lighthouse rises above dense green trees, its white wooden keeper’s house topped by a bright red lantern and framed by a clear blue afternoon sky. A tall metal lookout tower stands to the right, with a chain-link fence along the bottom edge of the foreground. Photo: Dark jedi requiem at English Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons / Public domain
The white wooden Yaquina Bay Lighthouse sits on a bluff above dark green trees, with red trim and a bright red lantern room standing out against a cloudy gray sky. A metal watchtower rises beside it, emphasizing the historic lighthouse’s coastal setting. Photo: D. Reinhart, Ryoga-2003 (talk) / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0

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