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Pelee Passage Lighthouse

41.8541° N, 82.5819° W · Ontario · built 1975[1]

  • View from a boat
  • Last verified 2026-10

Fl W 4s · 93 ft[1]
As listed in the Canadian Coast Guard List of Lights, 2026 edition

Two structures carry the Pelee Passage name. A 1975 caisson light still flashes white at the northern end of the passage into western Lake Erie, while the steel tower it replaced, first lit in 1902, was rebuilt on land in Windsor, where anyone can see it.

History

The Pelee Passage is a narrow deep-water channel into the western end of Lake Erie, running between the shoals off Point Pelee and the Middle Ground Shoal near Pelee Island. Two lights mark its ends: Southeast Shoal to the east and the Pelee Passage light to the northwest.[2]

The first Pelee Passage light, from 1902, was a round steel-plated tower with a lantern and gallery, built on a caisson in the lake about 8 kilometres southwest of Point Pelee.[2] In 1975 it was replaced by the present station: a round cylindrical tower about 12 metres (40 feet) tall rising from one corner of a one-storey keeper's quarters, with a helicopter pad on the roof, all mounted on a steel caisson. The tower and building are white, the lantern and caisson green.[2]

The new light is still in service. The Canadian Coast Guard's 2026 List of Lights gives a white flash every four seconds from 28.3 metres above the water.[1] It marks the north end of the Middle Ground Shoal, about 8 kilometres northwest of Southeast Shoal.[2] It stands in open water and is closed.[2]

The old tower was not scrapped. Taken apart in 1975, it was rebuilt in 1980 on the riverbank in Windsor, at Lakeview Park Marina on Riverside Drive East, opposite Peche Island, where locals often call it the Riverside Lighthouse.[2] It stands about 21 metres (70 feet) tall, painted white with red trim, and shows a decorative light; the City of Windsor owns it and the marina manages the site.[2] The marina sits where the Detroit River meets Lake St. Clair, so the old Lake Erie light now stands upriver from the lake it served.[3] Its grounds are open, though the tower is not.[2]

How to see it

View from a boat Offshore or on a closed breakwater; seen from the water.

Best public viewpoint
The working light is seen only from the water. The original 1902 tower can be seen on land at Lakeview Park Marina, Riverside Drive East in Windsor, where the Detroit River meets Lake St. Clair.[2]
Tower climbs
No public tower climbs have been offered, as far as our sources show.
Operator
Canadian Coast Guard
Last verified
Last verified 2026-10

Access details last verified 2026-10. Hours, tours and ownership change. Check the operator before you go. Pier and breakwater lights can be dangerous in wind and waves; obey posted closures and never enter private or Coast Guard property.

Questions people ask

Where is the original Pelee Passage lighthouse?

The 1902 tower was rebuilt in 1980 at Lakeview Park Marina on Riverside Drive East in Windsor, Ontario, where it is often called the Riverside Lighthouse. The grounds are open; the tower is closed.

Is there still a light at the Pelee Passage?

Yes. A 1975 caisson light marks the passage; the 2026 Canadian List of Lights shows Fl W 4s at 28.3 metres.

Nearby lighthouses

Nearby shipwrecks

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Sources

  1. List of Lights, Buoys and Fog Signals - Inland Waters, 2026 edition (Lake Erie pages), Canadian Coast Guard (Notices to Mariners). Accessed .
  2. Lighthouses of Canada: Southwestern Ontario, Russ Rowlett, The Lighthouse Directory (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill). Accessed .
  3. Lakeview Park Marina | City of Windsor, citywindsor.ca. Accessed .

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