Muddy
Hollow Trailhead,
Point Reyes National Seashore,
National Park Service,
Marin County
In brief:
6.7 mile loop through Point Reyes coastal scrub.
Getting there:
From US 101 in Marin County, exit Sir Francis Drake/San Anselmo. Drive west about
20 miles, to the junction with CA 1 in Olema. Turn right, drive about 0.1 mile,
then turn left onto Bear Valley Road. Drive about 2 miles, then turn left onto
Limantour Road. Drive about 5.7 miles, and turn right at the Muddy Hollow sign
(the same junction with the road to the hostel). Drive about .2 mile to the trailhead
at the end of the gravel road.
Trailhead details:
Plenty of parking in a gravel lot. No parking or entrance fees. No designated
handicapped parking, and trails are not wheelchair accessible. No drinking water,
maps, or toilet facilities. Pay phone and maps available at the Bear Valley Visitor
Center: from Bear Valley Road turn left before the Limantour turnoff, at the red
barn. There is no direct public transportation to this trailhead.
Gas, food, and lodging:
Pay phone, stores, and restaurants on Sir Francis Drake in Inverness. Gas in Point
Reyes Station. There are overnight accomodations available on the eastern fringes
of the park, including a handful of motels in Inverness, and numerous bed and
breakfasts just off Sir Francis Drake. Point Reyes has several hike-in campgrounds
-- enquire at the Point Reyes Ranger Station in Bear Valley, or read more about
the options here.
No car camping in the park. Point Reyes Hostel, a short distance from this trailhead,
is an inexpensive lodging option.
Distance, category, and difficulty:
This is probably one of the easiest 6.7 mile loop hikes in the bay area.
Trailhead elevation is around 80 feet. The featured hike's high spot is around
305 feet. Total elevation change is about 700 feet.
Rules:
No dogs or bikes. All trails are open to hikers and equestrians.
The Official Story:
NPS's Point Reyes website
Bear Valley Visitor Center (Ranger Station) 415-464-5100
Map Choices:
• Use AAA's San Francisco Bay Region map to get there.
• Download
the park map pdf from NPS
• Other
Point Reyes maps from NPS
• Point Reyes by Jessica Lage (order
this book from Amazon.com) has a good map and descriptions of trails around
Muddy Hollow.
• Trail Map of Point Reyes National Seashore, by Tom Harrison (order
from Amazon.com)
is the best all-purpose map to Point Reyes.
• Don and Kay Martin's Point Reyes National Seashore (order
this book from Amazon.com) has a good map and descriptions of the featured
hike. The same information can be found in their Hiking Marin book (order
this book from Amazon.com).
• View photos from this hike (includes
photos of now closed Muddy Hollow Trail)
Most visitors to Point Reyes know that
Limantour Road leads to the hostel and is a quick route to the beach. A number
of the seashore's lesser-known and most primitive trailheads are reached from
Limantour as well. Lonely Muddy Hollow is the starting point for a number of loop
hikes. You can trek up Bucklin Trail through the area devastated by the 1995 Mount
Vision fire, and return via Drakes View Trail, a 7 mile loop. For a 9-mile loop,
string together Bayview, Laguna, and Coast Trail, finishing up on the gravel road
past the hostel and down to Muddy Hollow. Or extend the featured hike by remaining
on Muddy Hollow Road at the junction with Glenbrook. Turn left on White Gate Road,
left on Estero, and then turn right at the junction with Glenbrook and continue
the featured hike.
The area 
around
Muddy Hollow is not famous for wildflowers, but there is good wildlife viewing.
You may see tule elk; some of the herd from Tomales Point have been relocated
to this part of the seashore. Hawks are common and rabbits (and rabbit fur) may
be glimpsed throughout the coastal scrub. Fox, coyote, bobcat, and even mountain
lion also roam these lands. From Estero Trail in spring you can hear and see (with
binoculars) harbor seals beached on Limantour Spit (these sea mammals are easily
disturbed so never approach them). Berry enthusiasts hiking in late spring and
early summer may find themselves in purple-stained finger heaven. Blackberry brambles
sprawl across hillsides, thimbleberries hide in the shade on Estero Trail, and
salmonberries, rare in the bay area, line Muddy Hollow Trail.
From the parking 
area
at the trailhead, start in front of the trail markers at the junction of Muddy
Hollow Road and Muddy Hollow Trail. Walk north on Muddy Hollow Road, open
to equestrians and hikers only. After a few steps on the wide trail you'll cross
a creek. At 0.11 mile, Bayview Trail heads uphill to the right at a signed junction.
Continue straight on Muddy Hollow Road.
A few cypress, bush lupine, ceanothus, and bishop
pine grow near the junction. Coyote brush is the dominant trailside plant. Muddy
Hollow Road climbs gently, passing skeletal remains of bishop pines burned in
the Mount Vision fire. Three connecting ponds are barely visible on the left side
of the trail. Look to the right for a rocky outcrop on the side of the hill. At
0.93 mile, Muddy Hollow Road meets Bucklin Trail at a signed junction. Continue
straight on Muddy Hollow Road.
The trail begins to descend. 
A
few shrubby alders seem out of place. Muddy Hollow Road crosses over Glenbrook
Creek, then regains the lost elevation, crests, and meets Glenbrook Trail at a
signed junction at 1.50 miles. Turn left on Glenbrook.
The trail, closed to cyclists, climbs easily through
coyote brush. Park staff no longer maintain this stretch of Estero, so it is likely
to be overgrown in late spring and summer. You might see pussy ears, clover, iris,
California buttercup, and blue-eyed grass in spring. As Glenbrook levels out and
heads south toward the ocean, on a clear day look north for views of Mount Vision,
and east to recap the hike so far. Glenbrook is straight and the trail surface
is grassy, but watch out for stray roots from coyote brush shrubs. Hawks swoop
overhead, searching for cottontails. I'd say from the amount of rabbit fur along
the trail, they are frequently successful. At 2.16 miles, Glenbrook Trail ends
at a signed junction with Estero Trail. Remain straight on Estero Trail.
From here it's a
lonely 3.1 miles to the next trail junction. Estero continues at Glenbrook's level
pace. Limantour Estero is visible to the right. You might hear sea lions or harbor
seals beached on Limantour Spit. Ignore any side paths as Estero turns left, away
from the ocean, and heads back to the north. I saw 4 tule elk along the trail
here on my April hike. Estero Trail descends gently, passes a few eucalyptus,
then turns and crosses Glenbrook Creek's watershed on a bridge. Estero Trail meanders
through an enchanting little pocket of alders, thimbleberry, nettle, and salmonberry.
In spring, huge cow parsnips tower over 5 feet, while miner's lettuce and candyflower
nestle close to the damp ground. This short diversion is over too soon, and the
trail, shrunken to a narrow path, steps back out into coastal scrub. 
Estero
Trail climbs easily, sweeping up to a bluff's flat spine. Spring flowers include
iris, blue-eyed grass, paintbrush, lupines, and checker-bloom. Spurs head south
toward the ocean, but remain on the trail, which begins to descend toward a pond.
Watch out for poison oak. With the pond on the left, and mudflats on the right,
Estero Trail remains on the firm ground of a dam. At 5.27 miles, Estero Trail
ends at a signed junction with Muddy Hollow Trail.
Previously, hikers could return to the trailhead
on Muddy Hollow Trail, to the left. Then the park staff permanently closed the
route -- it's just too flood-prone to maintain. The fastest way back to the trailhead
now is to continue to the right to the Limantour Beach trailhead, then walk back
north along Limantour Road. You could also make your way south to Coast Trail
and use that route as the return trail -- turn left at the Hostel and walk a short
distance on the road back to the trailhead. Or, retrace your steps via Estero
Trail and Muddy Hollow Road.
Total distance: 6.70 miles (if you walk back along Limantour
Road -- other options are longer)
Last hiked: Friday, April 27, 2001
Go to Bay Area Hiker Home page
Limantour Road leads to the hostel and is a quick route to the beach. A number
of the seashore's lesser-known and most primitive trailheads are reached from
Limantour as well. Lonely Muddy Hollow is the starting point for a number of loop
hikes. You can trek up Bucklin Trail through the area devastated by the 1995 Mount
Vision fire, and return via Drakes View Trail, a 7 mile loop. For a 9-mile loop,
string together Bayview, Laguna, and Coast Trail, finishing up on the gravel road
past the hostel and down to Muddy Hollow. Or extend the featured hike by remaining
on Muddy Hollow Road at the junction with Glenbrook. Turn left on White Gate Road,
left on Estero, and then turn right at the junction with Glenbrook and continue
the featured hike.
around
Muddy Hollow is not famous for wildflowers, but there is good wildlife viewing.
You may see tule elk; some of the herd from Tomales Point have been relocated
to this part of the seashore. Hawks are common and rabbits (and rabbit fur) may
be glimpsed throughout the coastal scrub. Fox, coyote, bobcat, and even mountain
lion also roam these lands. From Estero Trail in spring you can hear and see (with
binoculars) harbor seals beached on Limantour Spit (these sea mammals are easily
disturbed so never approach them). Berry enthusiasts hiking in late spring and
early summer may find themselves in purple-stained finger heaven. Blackberry brambles
sprawl across hillsides, thimbleberries hide in the shade on Estero Trail, and
salmonberries, rare in the bay area, line Muddy Hollow Trail.
area
at the trailhead, start in front of the trail markers at the junction of Muddy
Hollow Road and Muddy Hollow Trail. Walk north on Muddy Hollow Road, open
to equestrians and hikers only. After a few steps on the wide trail you'll cross
a creek. At 0.11 mile, Bayview Trail heads uphill to the right at a signed junction.
Continue straight on Muddy Hollow Road. 
A
few shrubby alders seem out of place. Muddy Hollow Road crosses over Glenbrook
Creek, then regains the lost elevation, crests, and meets Glenbrook Trail at a
signed junction at 1.50 miles. Turn left on Glenbrook. 
lonely 3.1 miles to the next trail junction. Estero continues at Glenbrook's level
pace. Limantour Estero is visible to the right. You might hear sea lions or harbor
seals beached on Limantour Spit. Ignore any side paths as Estero turns left, away
from the ocean, and heads back to the north. I saw 4 tule elk along the trail
here on my April hike. Estero Trail descends gently, passes a few eucalyptus,
then turns and crosses Glenbrook Creek's watershed on a bridge. Estero Trail meanders
through an enchanting little pocket of alders, thimbleberry, nettle, and salmonberry.
In spring, huge cow parsnips tower over 5 feet, while miner's lettuce and candyflower
nestle close to the damp ground. This short diversion is over too soon, and the
trail, shrunken to a narrow path, steps back out into coastal scrub. 
Estero
Trail climbs easily, sweeping up to a bluff's flat spine. Spring flowers include
iris, blue-eyed grass, paintbrush, lupines, and checker-bloom. Spurs head south
toward the ocean, but remain on the trail, which begins to descend toward a pond.
Watch out for poison oak. With the pond on the left, and mudflats on the right,
Estero Trail remains on the firm ground of a dam. At 5.27 miles, Estero Trail
ends at a signed junction with Muddy Hollow Trail.