Capture a panoramic view of the California Coastal National Monument rocks from the Brother Jonathan Park. On a clear day the vista encompasses the Battery Point Lighthouse and the monument rocks in and around Castle Rock National Wildlife Refuge, possibly even the Saint George Reef Lighthouse on the horizon to the northwest.

The Brother Jonathan Park is on the west side of the circle at Pebble Beach Drive and 9th Street, the southwest side of Crescent City.

Approximately four miles west of this site is where, in July of 1865, the side-wheeler steamer/sailing ship Brother Jonathan struck a rock and sank. With a loss of 225 lives, and the U.S. Army payroll intended for the troops of the Northwest forts, this was California’s worst maritime disaster.

As a result of the wreck of the Brother Jonathan, work was begun in 1884 on the Saint George Reef Lighthouse. Completed in 1892, it was one of the most expensive and difficult lighthouses to build. The lighthouse is situated on Northwest Sea Rock located seven miles off Point Saint George, on the end of a rock reef known as the “Dragon’s Teeth.”

Continue northwest along Pebble Beach Drive to Garth’s Beach viewing numerous rocks, additional features of the national monument, active with wildlife. This short scenic route offers pull-outs, one a State Historical Landmark identifying the site of a Tolowa village that was occupied until late into the 19th century. The Garth Beach pull-out provides a good view of the 19-acre Castle Rock National Wildlife Refuge that is surrounded by the monument rocks, which provide for a Steller’s Sea Lion rookery.

Year-round

Fees: None