Sheringham Point Lighthouse is a historical landmark on the Juan de Fuca straight, near the community of Shirley on Vancouver Island, BC. Getting to this picturesque spot is a short drive from the highway, then a super short walk. The lighthouse itself is a rare design from the early 20th century; Which still works, just now it is all automated. Plus, there is a chance you’ll see whales or orcas (we saw a pod of orcas out to sea from here). It is a fab mini adventure if you are driving along the Pacific Marine Circle Route Road Trip towards Port Renfrew.

Sheringham Point Lighthouse map

Sheringham Point Lighthouse – the basics

Distance: 1km for the short version. There is also a 4km loop if you have time.
Elevation Gain: 40m.
Time: 30 mins- 1 hour
Cost: Free, but there is a donation pipe – they suggest donating $5. You can donate here.
Opening hours: 9am-4pm
What to bring: Just a camera
Facilities: Porta potty in the parking lot. Visit Shirley Delicious nearby for food and loos.
Dogs: Dogs are allowed on a lead.
How hard is it? Easy, but you’ll need to down (and then up) a hill.
Extra Notes: There is a small visitor center where you can see the Fresnel Lens and learn about the history.

Getting Started

The lighthouse is just over 18.km from Sooke, along Highway 14. Turn left onto Sheringham Point Road, just past Shirley Fire Hall and Shirley Delicious cafe. Follow the signs for 1.7 kilometers to the parking lot. From there, it’s only a few hundred meters to the lighthouse gate.

Jennie’s Trail

There are two main ways down the hill to the lighthouse – I recommend Jennie’s trail. It is a little more rugged as it zig zags down the steep slope with pretty views of the lighthouse. Half way down Jennie’s trail is this lovely viewpoint with a bench. The other route is a little steeper, but has easier footing as it is fully paved.

The Fresnel Lens

Sheringham Point’s original Fresnel Lens is really impressive. It is 2m high, wights over 2 tons and consists of 122 glass prisms, mounted in brass frames in 18 sections. This was in the lighthouse from, 1912 until 1976. It was lit by an oil lamp at first, then electrified. Read more about the lens here. When we visited there was a volunteer who told us about it, and allowed us to climb inside for a silly photo.

The Foghorn

Just outside the visitor center is the two toned foghorn that was installed in 1925. It is a huge piece of machinery powered by a large diesel engine. You can see the foghorn trumpet in my photo below – the green machinery is the engine. Although it is no longer in operation due to advances in GPS technology, the foghorn remains an important part of the lighthouse’s heritage.

History of the Lighthouse

This lighthouse was constructed in response to the tragic shipwreck of the SS Valencia in 1906, which resulted in the loss of 137 lives. The shipwreck highlighted the need for better navigational aids along the Juan de Fuca Strait. The lighthouse tower is 20m high, and made of reinforced concrete in a hexagonal shape. It was designed by William P. Anderson, the then-Chief Engineer at the Department of Marine and Fisheries. This design was only used from 1907 to 1912, so this was one of the last towers constructed in this way. (Read more about it’s Heritage Lighthouse status here.)

You can learn about all of the lightkeepers until the lighthouse was automated in 1988.

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I love that you can walk right up to the lighthouse and explore the various stairs around it. It is a little in need of new paint at the moment, but that doesn’t detract from it’s charm.

Watch out for whales!

The coastline along this part of Vancouver Island is beautiful with rugged rocks and rainforest reaching out to the ocean. It is also a great spot for whale watching. The day before this we had seen a huge T-party of 17 orcas out in the Juan de Fuca Straight here. If you south side of the engine room, there is a speaker connected to a hydrophone. So you can listen to whales underwater near the lighthouse.

Shirley Delicious

Once you have seen the lighthouse, I highly recommend visiting Shirley Delicious. This is a lovely cafe, that also sells art and gifts. They bake treats throughout the day and also have great brunch and lunch options. There was a queue when we visited at the weekend, but they were still pretty speedy.

 

We couldn’t resist a blueberry muffin (as the arrived hot from the oven while I was in line…) I tried the coolangatta – with turkey, brie, cranberry chutney, caramelized onion mayo and tomato. But the brekkie bun looked fabulous too with chonky bacon and oodles of cheddar.

You have probably noticed that whenever we go on a road trip, we find loads of mini stops like this along the way. It’s fun to stretch your legs and break up the drive with extra experiences. Sheringham Point Lighthouse was just a short stop-off for us, but we really enjoyed it – even on this gloomy day. Would you stop to visit this kind of historical sight?