Name and Location

The Patos Island Light is located on Patos Island in San Juan County, Washington, USA. Its official name is Patos Island Lighthouse. The coordinates are 48°47′20″ N, 122°58′16″ W.

2. Construction and History

The Patos Island Light was constructed in 1893 by the U.S. Lighthouse Board. It was one of the earliest station lights in the northern San Juan Islands chain. The light was automated in 1974 and converted to a solar-powered beacon. The lighthouse is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places (Ref. no. 87002161).

3. Architecture and Materials

The Patos Island Light features a modest late-19th-century service building with an attached tower. The structure is made of load-bearing brick walls covered with Portland-cement stucco, with a wood-frame keeper's dwelling.

4. Light and Navigation

The light has a characteristic group flashing pattern every 6 seconds. It emits red light for vessels approaching from the north (11.5° to 59.5° T) and west (97° to 114° T), and white light for vessels approaching from the south (59.5° to 97° T). The focal plane is approximately 25 meters above mean high water.

5. Accessibility and Visiting

The lighthouse can be accessed by private boat; there is no public dock. Anchorage is available in Echo Bay or off Cotton Point. Overnight use of the keeper's quarters is available by reservation through Washington State Parks (fee applies). Day-use and camping permits are required, but guided tours of the tower interior are not.

6. Notable Views and Landscape

The Patos Island Light offers panoramic views of Canadian Gulf Islands to the north, Vancouver Island mountains, Mount Baker on clear days, and Olympic Mountains to the west. The surrounding landscape features rocky shorelines, mixed Douglas-fir and shore pine forest, and forested uplands rising to 50 meters.

7. Anecdotes and Folklore

Local lore has it that keepers reported mysterious knocks on the tower door on stormy nights – never fully explained. No major shipwrecks occurred directly at Patos Island, but the light helped vessels avoid nearby "Pillar Point" rocks in the late 19th century.

8. Technical and Operational Details

The lighthouse is currently an active minor light maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard. It has a solar-electric lantern and no on-site keeper since 1974. No AIS or radar is reported, but it is charted on NOAA chart 18475 (San Juan Islands) and Canadian charts for boundary waters.

9. Further Information

For further information, please visit the U.S. Coast Guard Light List, Vol. VI: Pacific Coast and Pacific Islands; National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form: Patos Island Light Station; "Lighthouse Friends": https://lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=103; NOAA Chart 18475 "San Juan Islands"; Washington State Parks: Patos Island Marine State Park – https://parks.state.wa.us/708/Patos-Island