The light source was a 1,000 watt quartz iodine electric light that shines 24 hours a day, through a fourth order classic lens. All the generators and compressors have been removed and replaced with an automated electric impulse fog signal outside the building. T he 270,000 candlepower beacon is visible for greater than 20 miles at sea. The present lens was installed in 1998 and is a solar powered VRB-25. The original Fresnel lens is on display by the U.S. Coast Guard Group, North Bend.
Nobody lives on the island and a gate blocks access to the footbridge.
The site is not open to the public, but can be viewed from Sunset Bay State Park, just south of Charleston.