Explore Point Reyes' Places of Interest

Sights to See

Pierce Ranch. This renovated ranch dates back to 1858 and is representative of the agricultural heritage of this area. A short, self-guided trail guides visitors through the historic complex. The ranch, located at the end of Pierce Point Road on Tomales Bay, is open every day from sunrise to sunset.

The Great Beach. South Beach and North Beach make up an incredible expanse of over 10 miles of undeveloped ocean beach to roam - also known as "Point Reyes Beach." If you are looking for the drama of heavy surf this is the place to be. Drive-up access from North Beach or South Beach turnoffs. Dogs are allowed on a 6' leash on this beach. Dogs are not permitted north of the North Beach entrance as this area is protected habitat for the endangered snowy plover. Please be very cautious near the water as "sneaker waves" have been known to drag unwitting victims out to sea.

Bear Valley

Bear Valley is the busy hub of Pt. Reyes National Seashore. From the park visitor center, more than 40 miles of trail thread through the valley, and to the ridges and beaches beyond.

The National Park Service’s Bear Valley Visitor Center is a friendly place, full of excellent history and natural history exhibits. Film screenings, a seismograph, and dioramas tell the story behind the seashore’s scenery.

Outside the visitor center, there is much to see, including a traditional Coast Miwok village. The family dwellings, sweat lodge, and other structures, were built using traditional native methods. Near the visitor center is the Morgan Horse Ranch, where park service animals are raised and trained.

Two park interpretive trails are well worth a stroll. Woodpecker Trail is a self-guided nature trail that introduces walkers to the tremendous diversity of the region’s native flora. Earthquake Trail uses old photographs and other displays to explain the seismic forces unleashed by the great 1906 San Francisco earthquake. This well-done and entertaining geology lesson is particularly relevant because most of the land west of the San Andreas Fault Zone is within boundaries of Pt. Reyes National Seashore.

Bear Valley Trail, a former wagon road, is surely one of the most popular paths in the national seashore. It passes through a very low gap in Inverness Ridge, and follows a nearly-level route to the ocean. First-time visitors will enjoy this easy trail that’s highly scenic but sometimes suffers from overuse. (It’s a gravel park service road that’s traveled by bicycles, too.)  Experienced hikers will enjoy Bear Valley Trail for the access it gives to a half-dozen more remote, less traveled trails. It’s an 8.5 mile round trip to Arch Rock.

Directions: Bear Valley Visitor Center is located just outside the town of Olema, 35 slow and curving miles north of San Francisco on Highway 1. A quicker route is by Highway 101, exiting on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, traveling through the town of Fairfax and over to Olema. A left turn on Bear Valley Road takes you to the visitor center and trailhead.   

Mt. Wittenberg

The highest summit on Pt. Reyes National Seashore, 1,407-foot Mt. Wittenberg offers sweeping vistas of the entire Pt. Reyes Peninsula: Tomales Bay, Olema Valley, Bolinas Ridge. On clear days, look for distant Mt. St. Helena and Mt. Diablo.

Surely the least-used of the paths that begin from the seashore’s busy headquarters, the Mt. Wittenberg Trail’s stiff ascent apparently scares off most hikers.  No need to be scared, although it is a serious workout to walk Wittenberg. It’s a 3.4 mile round trip with 1,300-foot elevation gain.

Rewards for the ascent include the aforementioned views and Sky Camp, an excellent picnic spot. Once you’ve gained the summit, you can join Sky Trail along Inverness Ridge, then choose one of a couple different trails to return to Bear Valley.

Chimney Rock & Point Reyes Lighthouse

Chimney Rock

So compelling is Pt. Reyes Lighthouse, most visitors don’t bother with the 2.8 miles round trip walk to Chimney Rock Overlook, which offers a panoramic view nearly equal to that of the lighthouse. You’ll travel a spring wildflower-lined path, glimpsing an old U.S. Coast Guard Lifeboat Station. While you might not be able to discern which offshore rock resembles a chimney, you will be able to view the coastline all the way to San Francisco on a clear day.

In spring, expect lots of wildflowers, including lupine, poppies and Douglas iris Experts have counted five-dozen species.

From December to February, don’t miss the short walk to Elephant Seal Overlook. The enormous, boisterous creatures re-colonized isolated Pt. Reyes beaches in the early 1980s. This is one of the best places to safely observe them.

A short walk leads to the Pt. Reyes Lifesaving Station, which was constructed in 1927 and continued in operation until 1968. Notwithstanding the mighty beacon of nearby Pt. Reyes Lighthouse, many shipwrecks occurred and there were many calls for the Coast Guard, whose brave men saved dozens of lives.

Directions: From Highway 101 in Olema, drive north a short distance, then turn left on Sir Francis Drake Highway and proceed 17.5 miles to the signed turnoff for Chimney Rock. Turn left and drive another mile to the parking area and signed trailhead.

Point Reyes Lighthouse

Point Reyes Lighthouse Visitor Center Webcam

Some lighthouses welcome sailors to port; some lighthouses warn them of danger. Pt. Reyes Lighthouse was most certainly built to warn vessels away from a treacherous coastline that was the death of many ships.

Congress voted construction funds for a light back in 1852 but legal tussles with coastal bluff landowners delayed installation until 1870. Meanwhile, many more ships ran aground.

From past experience, lighthouse keepers had learned that placing a light too high atop California’s coastal cliffs diminished the light’s fog-penetrating effectiveness; thus, the Pt. Reyes Lighthouse was built about halfway down the 600-foot bluffs.

The odd placement of the station greatly increased its construction costs, as well as the costs of supplying it during its century of service. Nasty weather, isolation from the world, and the relentless bellow of the foghorn made the lot of the lighthouse keeper a difficult one and contributed to drinking and discipline problems. Some keepers went outright bonkers.

By some accounts, Point Reyes is the foggiest point on the Pacific Coast, and supposedly second only to Rhode Island’s Nantucket Island in the entire U.S. When the foggy curtain lifts, however, the lighthouse observation platform is a superb place from which to watch for migrating California gray whales. During the winter months, bring your binoculars and scan the horizon for the passing gentle giants.

The lighthouse visitor center is open Thursday through Monday, 10 A.M. to 4:30 P.M., weather permitting. Inquire at the center about tours of the facility.

A path and 308 stairs (like walking up and down the staircase of a 30-story building) comprise the route to the lighthouse.\

Directions: From Highway 1 in Olema, drive north a short distance, then turn left on Sir Francis Drake Highway and drive north 18.5 miles to road’s end at the parking lot for Pt. Reyes Lighthouse.

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Drakes Estero

Walking Drake’s Estero will keep you glued to your field glasses. No, the route isn’t difficult to follow; you’ll want the field glasses to help you observe the abundant wildlife around Drakes Estero. The many fingers of Drake’s Estero, Marin County’s largest lagoon, is patrolled by canvasbacks, ruddy ducks and American wigeons. Great blue herons, willets, godwits and many, many more shorebirds feed along the mudflats. You might see deer, either the native black-tailed or the “imported” white fallow browsing the grassy ridges. Harbor seals and sea lion often swim into the estero.

You won’t need binoculars to sight the most common animal found in these parts--cows. Both Herefords and Black Angus graze the headlands. This is cow country, and has been since the 1850s. Schooners maneuvered into Drakes Estero, took on a cargo of fine butter, and returned to San Francisco, a ready market for dairy products produced on Point Reyes.

The estero you’ll visit, as well as the beach and bay you’ll overlook, are named for that pirate/explorer in the service of Queen Elizabeth I, Sir Francis Drake. While  walking along the estero, debate that age-old question: Did Sir Francis in June of 1579 sail his Golden Hinde into Drake’s Bay or into San Francisco Bay? Is he really the discoverer of San Francisco Bay or does that honor fall to other sailors, more than two hundred years earlier?

The bay where Drake set anchor had chalky cliffs, and reminded the Englishman of the cliffs of Dover. Drake’s description of this bay points to Drake’s Bay. To mark his discovery, Drake left a brass plate nailed to a post. This plate was found in 1936 and authenticated as being Drake’s; however, the man who unearthed the plate claimed to have found it near San Quentin Prison on San Francisco Bay. And so the debate goes on...

Old ranch roads form a nice trail system on the west side of Inverness Ridge. Estero Trail is the most dramatic of these pathways, and offers fine vistas and superb wildlife watching opportunities. It’s an 8 mile roundtrip hike to Drakes Estero. For a memorable shorter walk, hike past a stand of pine to the causeway dividing Home Bay from a pond. A bird-watcher’s delight!

Directions: From Highway 1 in Olema (where there’s a well-marked turnoff for the Point Reyes National Seashore Bear Valley Visitor Center), proceed two miles north and veer left onto Sir Francis Drake Highway. The highway follows the west side of Tomales Bay, passes through a hamlet of Inverness, then heads left (west). You’ll pass a junction on your left with a road leading toward Mt. Vision. Keep looking left and you’ll see the signed road leading to Estero parking area. Follow this narrow road to the signed trailhead.
    
Drakes Beach

Historical controversy as thick as the summer fog envelops Drakes Bay. Is this really the place where English explorer Francis Drake landed his Golden Hinde in 1579? Or did he come ashore at another location in San Francisco Bay? Bodega Bay? Tomales Bay? Coos Bay? Santa Barbara?

Drakeologists, academic and amateur, have created a virtual cottage industry over the years in their debates about who landed where and why. Certainly the tall white cliffs back of Drakes Beach match the description recorded in Drake’s journal and are convincing evidence advanced by the pro-Drakes Bay majority.

Whether you’re a Drakes Bay believer or not (or even if you couldn’t give a whit about something five centuries removed from the present), you’ll enjoy a saunter along the bay. South-facing Drakes Beach is more sheltered from the wind than the national seashore’s western-facing beaches and is fringed by a bay instead of the open ocean; this adds up to an altogether calmer walking experience. Drakes Beach is accessible for two miles or so to the west; most of its eastern stretch is accessible only at low tide.
For an excellent overview of the great Drake debate, check out the excellent interpretive exhibits at the Ken C. Patrick Visitor Center, housed in a handsome redwood building with a beach-facing deck. The park service does an excellent job of discussing Drake’s voyage in its many cultural and political manifestations.

Observe a moment of silence for visitor center namesake Ranger Patrick, the first national park service ranger shot and killed in the field. Deer poachers shot him on Mt. Vision; the chief culprit was sentenced to life in prison, his cohorts given lesser sentences.

Drakes Beach Café is park concession and the only food service within the national seashore boundary, so the hungry hiker might fear the worst. However, visitors from both the Bay Area and faraway, praise the quality of food served at the café.

Get a great overview of Drakes Bay from the Peter Behr Overlook, located 0.25 mile by paved path south of the visitor center.

You can wander east past a little lagoon and continue (best at low tide) along the beach toward Drakes Estero. The way southwest is an enjoyable saunter of two miles or so.

Directions: From the hamlet of Olema, head 0.1 mile north on Highway 1 to Bear Valley Road. Turn left and proceed 2.25 miles to Sir Francis Drake Highway. Turn left and drive 13.5 miles to the signed turnoff for Drakes Beach. Turn left and go 1.5 miles to road’s end and the large parking area near the visitor center.

Along Pierce Point Road

Abbotts Lagoon

Something about Abbotts Lagoon personifies the word melancholy. Maybe it’s the lagoon itself, a large, moor-like environment that compares to some of those I’ve visited by trail in Scotland. Then there’s lonely, wind-swept grasslands and the (perpetual, it seems) gray skies. It’s the kind of place you photograph in black and white.

While a bit on the somber side, the lagoon and lands beyond are by no means dreary and depressing; in fact, the landscape encourages reflection—an inward journey to accompany a fine outer one.

On a weekday excursion, your thoughts may very well be your only companion on this rather lightly visited trail, which leads 1.6 miles to Point Reyes Beach. A low ridge hides Abbotts Lagoon from the sight of passing motorists on Pierce Point Road; this positioning seems to discourage drop-in visitation of the kind that occurs elsewhere along the coast of the national seashore.

Gray-hued the lagoon may be, but it’s anything but lifeless. Lots and lots of birds, both migratory and year-around residents congregate in an upper freshwater lagoon and a more brackish lower lagoon. Look for the western grebe and its pint-sized cousin, the pie-billed grebe, as well as lots of coots and terns.

Directions: From the hamlet of Olema, head north just 0.1 mile on Highway 1, then turn left on Bear Valley Road. Proceed 2.25 miles and fork left on Sir Francis Drake Highway. Drive 5.5 miles to Pierce Point Road, fork right and continue another 3.2 miles to the signed Abbotts Lagoon Trail and gravel parking lot on the left (west) side of the road.

Kehoe Beach

Capping the far north end of Pt. Reyes Beach, remote Kehoe Beach is well worth the short walk. The beach is backed by bluffs, bedecked in spring by such blooms as wild hollyhock, phacelia, baby blue-eyes and California poppies.

The path to the beach skirts Kehoe Marsh, a freshwater habitat attractive to birds, both resident and migratory. The mellow path crosses the wetland, passes a tiny lagoon, crosses the dunes and descends to the beach.

Harbor seals have been known to haul-out on Kehoe Beach, which is walkable a short mile north and several miles south.

Directions: From the hamlet of Olema, head north just 0.1 mile on Highway 1, then turn left on Bear Valley Road. Proceed 2.25 miles and fork left on Sir Francis Drake Highway. Drive 5.5 miles to Pierce Point Road, fork right and continue another 5.5 miles to roadside pullouts for the Kehoe Beach Trailhead, located on the left (west) side of the road.

McClures Beach

Way out on the northwestern shore of Pt. Reyes lies a beach that’s positively theatrical: great granite cliffs, enormous rocks, huge waves. Exposed to the full fury of the Pacific, McClures Beach resounds with waves like rolling thunder that strike the rocks and sea stacks at land’s end and toss great plumes of spray skyward.

Margaret McClure, whose family owned a dairy, was once of the first property owners to permit public access to a Pt. Reyes-area beach. She donated the beach and a portion of the nearby bluffs to the public for parkland back in the 1940s.

The most intriguing part of the 0.8-mile long beach is at the south end. Head toward the sea stacks, sculpted from McClures’ cliffs by the relentless surf. At low tide, you can squeeze through a narrow rock passageway and emerge at a dramatic little pocket beach.

Directions: From the hamlet of Olema, head north on Highway 1 for just 0.1 mile before turning left on Sir Francis Drake Highway and proceeding 5.5 miles north and west to a junction with Pierce Point Road. Turn right (north) and continue 9 miles to signed parking for McClures Beach on the west side of the road.
    
Tomales Point

When the fog settles over the dew-dampened grasslands of Tomales Point, walkers can easily imagine that they’re stepping onto a Scottish moor, or wandering one of the Shetland Islands.

The point’s rich pasture caught the eye of Solomon Pierce, who began a dairy in 1858. Pierce and his son Abram produced fine butter, which was shipped to San Francisco from a wharf they built on Tomales Bay. For seven decades, the point remained in the Pierce family.

The walk begins at Upper Pierce Ranch, where the family house, barn and outbuildings are now maintained by the park service. The path, an old ranch road, wanders over the green hills, which are seasonally sprinkled with yellow poppies and tidy tips, orange fiddleneck, and purple iris. A small pond and an eucalyptus grove mark the site of Lower Pierce Ranch.

Be on the lookout for the tule elk herd that wanders the bluffs. A large elk population once roamed the Point Reyes area, but by the 1860s, hunters had eliminated the animals. In 1977, the National Park Service relocated some elk onto Tomales Point from the Owens Valley.

Dramatic views of the Point Reyes area are available from Tomales Point, the northernmost boundary of Marin County and Point Reyes National Seashore. It’s an eight mile round trip hike to the tip of Tomales Point.

Directions: Follow Pierce Point Road 9 miles to its end at Pierce Point Ranch and signed Tomales Point Trail.