about a mile south of the lighthouse along California Highway One. A few animals began using the rookery in 1990. A large parking area and boardwalk offer easy access to view the elephant seals. Docents from Friends of the Elephant Seal provide insight as to what the visitor is viewing. Open year-round. Piedras Blancas State Marine Reserve and Marine Conservation Area are marine protected areas offshore from Piedras Blancas Light Station. Like underwater parks, these marine protected areas help conserve ocean wildlife and marine ecosystems. In popular culture The 1959 movie The Monster of Piedras Blancas was not shot at Point Piedras Blancas. The lighthouse locations in the movie were filmed at the Point Conception Light lighthouse near Lompoc, and the town is the seaside town of Cayucos, about 30 miles south of Piedras Blancas. Gallery See also List of lighthouses in the United States Rancho Piedra Blanca, old Mexican land grant that included Point Piedras Blancas Piedras Blancas Motel, vintage roadside motel near the lighthouse References Further reading Point Piedras Blancas, by Carole Adams & John Bogacki. 2008, Arcadia "Images of America" series. External links Piedras Blancas Light Station Outstanding Natural Area, Bureau of Land Management Piedras Blancas Light Station Association Lighthouses completed in 1875 Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in California National Register of Historic Places in San Luis Obispo County, California Buildings and structures in San Luis Obispo County, California Protected areas of San Luis Obispo County, California Bureau of Land Management areas in California Gothic Revival architecture in California Neoclassical architecture in California Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in California