Point Reyes National Seashore

Hiking trails and beaches are found all over the Bay Area, so it’s easy to slip into a routine of enjoying the outdoors in the same nearby places year after year (plus the occasional weekend at Tahoe or Yosemite). That’s why locals often overlook Point Reyes National Seashore, a remarkably uncrowded paradise of wilderness, wildlife, mountains, meadows and beaches—and just a one-hour drive from the Golden Gate Bridge.

Point Reyes is easy to overlook because it’s hidden in the far northwestern corner of Marin County, not on the way to anywhere else. But in just one to two hours from anywhere in the Bay Area, you can make it to Point Reyes to enjoy beaches and hiking trails that are often almost deserted. Even on sunny weekends when Stinson and Baker Beaches are thick with sunbathers—and Mt. Tamalpais and East Bay Regional Parks trails are thick with hikers—Point Reyes is a quiet place to explore.

Even at Point Reyes’ most popular beach, two-mile-long Limantour, you can escape the crowds by just walking a few minutes down the sand. There are nine other Point Reyes beaches, some accessible by car, others by hiking trail and none of them crowded. The longest, The Great Beach (accessible by car at the North Beach and South Beach parking lots), stretches more than 10 miles along the ocean-facing rim of the park.

Hiking trails are also plentiful, with 150 miles of well-marked trails crisscrossing the National Seashore. Hikes range from the one-kilometer-long, paved Earthquake Trail on the San Andreas Fault to the glorious half-day trail treks to Mt. Wittenberg (the park’s highest point), Wildcat Beach (where Alamere Falls tumbles onto the beach), Arch Rock (a thin outcropping above crashing waves) and Tomales Point (the northernmost tip of the Point Reyes peninsula). Besides hiking, the park can be enjoyed on a bike, kayak or horse, which can all be rented on or just outside the park boundaries.

Regardless of how you experience Point Reyes, you’re sure to see many bird species (nearly half of those found in North America can be seen here) while hiking through one of the most biologically diverse concentrated areas in the world.

There’s more, too. A drive to the end of Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, the main road through the park, takes you to an 1870 lighthouse (be prepared for 508 stairs) and Chimney Rock, where you can get quite close to dozens of elephant seals in the winter and spring. It’s also worthwhile to visit the preserved 19th-Century ranch buildings at the end of Pierce Point Road, where you may also spot tule elk grazing near the road. And there’s an excellent Visitors Center and replica Coast Miwok village on Bear Valley Road.

HelloSanFrancisco tip: Besides hike-in campgrounds near Point Reyes’ beaches, overnight options include an AYH Hostel within the park and B&B inns just outside the park boundaries in Olema, Point Reyes Station and Inverness (check www.ptreyes.com).

- by Bob Cooper, San Francisco Reporter for HelloMetro  (Click to leave a message)

Bob Cooper

Bob Cooper is a full-time freelance writer (www.bob-cooper.com) who writes about travel, outdoor sports and health. He is a monthly contributor to Runner's World and has written recent articles for other national magazines such as Continental, Ladies' Home Journal and Inc.