The light and attached fog horn building sits within a 10-mile (16 km) long sand bar – stretching between the ports of Duluth and Superior.

It is "reputedly the longest freshwater sand bar in the world" and is split by this opening near its center, where the lighthouse is located.

[8] It is an active navigational aid and is known as the South Breakwater Light by the United States Coast Guard in the Volume VII light list and the United States Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System.

The Saint Louis River, which rises in Minnesota, becomes the Saint Louis Bay, then flows into Superior Bay and exits into Lake Superior via the ship canals, at each end of (Park Point) Minnesota Point.

The breakwater upon which it sits and the navigational aid housed within would remain U.S. Government property after the sale.