Westport Light State Park
1595 Ocean Ave
Westport, WA
Washington's tallest lighthouse stands guard over a wide dune-backed beach at the mouth of Grays Harbor, once at the water's edge and now marooned a half mile inland by shifting sand.
Westport Light State Park wraps around the base of the Grays Harbor Lighthouse, a stout octagonal brick tower that rises 107 feet above the dunes and holds the title of tallest lighthouse in Washington. First lit in 1898, it was built to guide ships past the treacherous bar at the mouth of Grays Harbor, and it still marks that entrance today. A paved trail threads out from the light through the dune grass to a broad, surf-pounded beach.
The strangest thing about the lighthouse is where it now stands. When it went into service, the tower rose barely 400 feet from the high tide line, close enough to feel the spray. Over the decades since, the shoreline has built steadily westward, and today the light sits roughly half a mile inland, stranded above a growing plain of sand it once watched over from the very edge.
What Guests Love
- Standing beneath the 107-foot Grays Harbor Lighthouse, the tallest in the state
- A paved dune trail winding out to a wide, wild Pacific beach
- Watching for gray whales spouting offshore during their spring and fall migration
- Wild winter storm watching, with the surf pounding and the wind roaring in off the sea
Worth Knowing
- The lighthouse is set back from the beach and is toured through the local historical society, so check whether it is open on the day you visit
- This is genuinely windy, foggy, and often wet coast; dress warm in any season
- A Washington Discover Pass is required to park in the state park
- The beach is broad and beautiful but the surf and rip currents are dangerous, so wade with great caution
Details
Westport, WA
Learn about Westport Light State Park
The story of the Grays Harbor Lighthouse
The bar where Grays Harbor meets the Pacific was one of the more dangerous stretches of the Washington coast, and by the late 1800s the growing timber ports inside the harbor demanded a proper light. Construction began in 1897, and the Grays Harbor Lighthouse, often called the Westport Lighthouse, was first lit on the last day of June in 1898.
It was designed by Carl Leick, the prolific architect behind many of the region's lighthouses, who worked by a simple creed: build them stout and make them last. He did. The tower rests on a foundation of sandstone twelve feet thick, and its brick walls are four feet thick at the base, sheathed in cement against the sea air. More than a century of Pacific weather has not moved it.
From Coast Guard reservation to state park
For most of its life the land around the light belonged to the federal government, first the Lighthouse Service and later the U.S. Coast Guard. In 1973 a large parcel of the old Coast Guard reservation, some 232 acres of dune and shore, was transferred to the state, and Westport Light State Park was formally established in the mid 1970s.
The lighthouse itself came into local hands as well, and today it is cared for by the Westport South Beach Historical Society, which opens the tower for climbs to the lantern room. The park and the light together tell the story of a coast built on fishing, timber, and the constant work of keeping ships off the bar.
The dunes, the beach, and the whales
The paved Dune Trail is the heart of a visit, an easy path that runs along the top of the dunes with the ocean on one side and the marshy backdune on the other. It connects to a wider trail system and to the beach, where the sand runs flat and far and the wind is almost always blowing.
Westport is one of the better spots on the Washington coast to watch for gray whales. The great animals pass offshore twice a year on their long migration between the lagoons of Baja and the Arctic, southbound in winter and northbound in spring, and on a calm day you can pick out their spouts from the beach or the nearby observation tower.
A working coast in every season
Summer brings the calmest weather and the charter boats crowding out of the marina for salmon, tuna, and bottom fish, but many locals love the coast best in the off season. When the Pacific storms roll in through fall and winter, Westport becomes a storm-watching town, the surf heaving and the wind driving rain sideways past the old light.
Come prepared for that reality. The Long Beach and Grays Harbor coast is foggy, breezy, and wet through much of the year, and the beach, for all its beauty, fronts a cold and powerful ocean. Watch the surf, keep back from sneaker waves, and let the weather be part of the draw rather than a surprise.
Closest Boutels
The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.
Things to Do Near Westport
Westport Marina
About 1 mile east
A busy fishing and charter harbor with fresh seafood, fish and chips, and boats heading out for salmon, tuna, and whale watching.
Westhaven State Park
About 2 miles north
A day-use park at the tip of the Westport peninsula, known as one of the best surfing beaches in the state and a front-row seat on the harbor jetty.
Grayland Beach State Park
About 8 miles south
Miles of quiet, dune-backed beach south of Westport, good for beachcombing, razor clam digging in season, and camping.