Coast
Trail from Palomarin Trailhead to Alamere Falls, In brief:
This 7.5 mile out and back along the coast of Point Reyes to Alamere Falls includes
two tricky scrambles.
Getting there:
From US 101 in Marin County, exit CA 1/Mill Valley/Stinson Beach. Drive on Shoreline
Highway to the junction with Almonte, about 1 mile. Turn left on CA 1 and drive
about 2.5 miles to the junction with Panoramic. Continue straight on CA 1 about
13 miles to an unsigned junction with Olema-Bolinas Road (just past Bolinas
Marsh). Turn left. Drive 0.1 mile to a T intersection with Olema-Bolinas
Road, turn left, drive about 1 mile to the junction with Horseshoe Hill Road,
and again, turn left. Drive to the next stop sign, then turn right onto Mesa
Road. Drive about 4 miles, then continue the last 1 mile on the dirt road to
the trailhead at the end of the road. If you have a high-clearance vehicle,
take it. The road isn't terrible, but can be washed out and bumpy.
Trailhead details:
There is plenty of parking and 2 wheelchair accessible pit toilets. No entrance
or parking fees. No maps are available at the trailhead, but about 0.1
mile north on the trail there is a signboard with a map. No drinking water at
the trailhead or on the trail. The trail is not technically an all-access path,
but is wheelchair-accessible; instead of heading up the steps, go south past
the pit toilets and turn left on the gated vehicle entrance to the trail. You
should be able to squeeze through the gap between the gate and vegetation, then
navigate a short distance (depending on trail conditions) on Coast Trail. Beware
of steep, unfenced dangerous cliffs. There is no direct public transportation
to this trailhead.
Gas, food, and lodging:
Pay phone, restaurants, and stores available (in limited quantities) in Bolinas,
about 5 miles to the south, or (with more choices) in Stinson Beach, about 10
miles to the south. Gas north in Point Reyes Station. There are overnight accommodations
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 -- inquire 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, down Limantour Road, is an inexpensive
lodging option.
Rules:
Trails in this part of the park are open to hikers and equestrians only. No
dogs.
Distance, category, and difficulty:
This 7.5 mile out and back hike is moderate, with about 600 feet
in elevation change. Trailhead elevation is about 250 feet, and the hike's highest
point is only near 600 feet. Trails are for the most part, very gently graded.
If you only go as far as Pelican Lake, I consider the hike easy, but if you
continue to Alamere Falls, it's a bit tricky, with two scrambles, one easy and
one rough.
The Official Story:
NPS's Point Reyes
page.
Park headquarters 415-663-1092
Map choices and more information:
• Use AAA's San Francisco Bay Region map to get there.
• Download
the park map pdf from NPS
• Other
Point Reyes maps from NPS
• 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 has a great
map and trail descriptions (order
this book from Amazon.com). The same information can be found in their Hiking
Marin book (order
this book from Amazon.com).
• Point Reyes by Jessica Lage (order
this book from Amazon.com) has descriptions of hikes along Coast Trail departing
from Palomarin, but doesn't detail the hike to Alamere Falls.
• Ann Marie Brown's California Waterfalls (order
this book from Amazon.com) has a simple map and trail descriptions.
• Point Reyes: Secret Places and Magic Moments, by Phil Arnot (order
this book from Amazon.com) has descriptions of the falls area, but is a
bit vague about trail access to it.
• 101 Great Hikes of the San Francisco Bay Area, by
Ann Marie Brown (order
this book from Amazon.com) has a simple map and descriptions of a featured
hike.
Palomarin
in a nutshell -- a printable, text-only guide to the featured hike.
• View 44 photos from this hike
(to Pelican Lake; for photos of the stretch to Alamere Falls, refer to links
in the text)
The
Palomarin Trailhead is the southernmost staging area on the Point Reyes peninsula. From
here you head north along the coast, on dayhikes to Bass Lake or Alamere Falls,
or backpack trips to Wildcat Camp, about 5.5 miles from the trailhead. Most
hikers take an out-and-back hike on Coast Trail, turning around at whatever
point seems appropriate. Loop hikes are possible, but require substantial enthusiasm.
Coast Trail, Lake Ranch Trail, Ridge Trail, and the dirt section of Mesa Road
adds up to over 11 miles. Crystal Lake Trail combined with Lake Ranch and Coast
Trails is a moderate 10 mile semi-loop hike, but Crystal Lake Trail is overgrown
and no longer maintained.
Palomarin is a quiet trailhead, as bikes and
dogs are not allowed on trails in this section of Point Reyes. Poison oak thrives
along the trails, so beware of paths crowded with vegetation; if you're headed
to Alamere Falls (the hike featured below), I strongly recommend long sleeves
and pants. Trail conditions on the coast change rapidly, especially in wet years,
so before you leave the house, check for trail closures at the Point Reyes Ranger
Station. Speaking of rangers, Point Reyes park staff do not "support"
reaching the beach below Alamere Falls from Alamere Falls Trail; you are advised
to the view the falls from the beach via a walk on the beach, starting from
Wildcat Beach. 
However,
the path (if you can call it that) from the top of the falls to the beach is
a well-known route described in many guidebooks, and can be safely navigated.
Use your best judgment here, though; it is a tricky bit of scrambling.
From the Palomarin parking lot, head up the stairs
and then turn left. Coast Trail is heavily lined with broom, but almost
immediately this trail, which is open to hikers and horses only, enters a grove
of very large eucalyptus trees. A trail to Palomarin Beach departs to the
left at a signed junction. Continue straight.
More nonnative vegetation including cape ivy and
hypericum calycinum, a ground cover with yellow flowers, thrives beneath eucalyptus.
After skirting a small damp canyon, Coast Trail steps out of the woods, and
edges toward the ocean and some dramatic cliffs. On a clear day, you should
have a great view west to the Farallones, and south to San Francisco and Montara
Mountain. Coyote brush, California coffeeberry, bush lupines, and California
sagebrush line the trail, which is nearly level. Expect good bird watching
along the entire length of this hike, from white crowned sparrows and redtail
hawks overhead here in the coast scrub, to quail near the ponds, and tiny, fuschia-capped
Anna's hummingbirds feeding from aromatic shrubs such as currant near creeks
and seeps. At a dramatic corner the trail makes a sharp turn downhill to the
right. Douglas firs are common, along with blackberry, ferns, and in early spring,
vetch, strawberry, and manroot. The trail 
crosses
a stream at a small bridge, then turns uphill and climbs back toward the coast. In
2000, a segment of trail was rerouted, upslope from a stretch prone to erosion.
The old section is still visible, but is blocked off with fencing. A short distance
later, it's deja vu all over again as the trail turns and heads downhill,
but this time after it crosses over a damp spot (on winter mornings, you may
see frost and frozen water puddles), it climbs away from the coast. And keeps
climbing. Coyote brush, bush lupines, coffeeberry, Douglas fir, and poison oak
frame the trail, which is rocky and rutted in places. Even in winter, you may
catch a glimpse of some early wildflowers, including iris, California buttercup,
Indian paintbrush, and silver lupine. If you stop to catch your breath during
the ascent, look back over your shoulder and enjoy views of the ocean. Watch
for a rocky serpentine outcrop on the east side of the trail. Geologically speaking,
you are on the west side of the San Andreas Fault, which runs roughly north
to south through Tomales Bay. 
Coast
Trail narrows as it squeezes through a gap between the hills, a section which
always reminds me of a Sierra pass. In winter, you may see milkmaids, baby blue
eyes, and Oregon grape blooming along the trail. A few oaks and California bays,
trees common on bay area hikes, make a rare appearance on this trail, where
Douglas firs are dominant. Coast Trail continues uphill to a signed trail junction
at 2.0 miles. In late January and early February, look for a cheerful pink-flowering
currant shrub to the right of the junction sign. Here Lake Ranch Trail begins
its climb to the east (right); it's just over 2 miles on that trail to Mud Lake. Continue
to the left on Coastal Trail.
Small paths leave Coast Trail to explore the handful
of tiny ponds to the west. Descending, Coast Trail passes through a grove
of alder trees as it continues toward Bass Lake. Small streams cross the trail
and can be heard emptying into the Bass Lake watershed in winter and early spring.
Willows thrive along the path, along with coyote brush, California coffeeberry,
and ceanothus. On a sunny day in early February,
dozens of California tortoiseshell butterflies floated through the sunshine;
you may get a good look at them soaking up moisture from any muddy patches on
the trail. As the trail drops to greet the lake at 2.57 miles, look for a small,
unsigned trail to the left, just past the lake. This trail is wide enough
so that you can avoid poison oak exposure, and heads to a large flat open area,
perfect for a lunch break on a hot day. Narrow trails head to the lake
itself, but unless you're wearing long pants I wouldn't recommend risking the
poison oak. And if you care to swim here, I was told by a ranger on patrol
that it swimming is allowed, but (gasp) the water is usually around 
58
degrees. Perhaps it's warmer in summer, because I hear it's a popular swimming
spot. Walk back to Coast Trail and turn left.
Once past Bass Lake, Coast Trail ascends through
a forest of Douglas fir, where birdsong drifts through the woods, and
colorful mushrooms push up through the leaf litter in winter. At 2.76 miles,
Crystal Lake Trail (signed as unmaintained) departs to the right at a signed
junction. Continue straight on Coast Trail.
Trees thin as the trail gently descends through
coastal scrub. Pelican Lake appears on the left side of the trail, and then,
at 3.24 miles, a path breaks off from Coastal Trail, on the way to Double Point.
There are no trail signs, but the junction is marked by an old NPS metal sign.
This is the turn around point for this hike if you don't want to go to Alamere
Falls. Otherwise, continue downhill another 0.3 mile, to a signed junction with
Alamere Falls Trail. Turn left.
The trail is signed as unmaintained, and
it is not so much overgrown as it is simply narrow, although there are some
wider spots (be sure to check for ticks, which will jump on you as you push
through the shrubs on the sides of the trail). The vegetation
alternates between tangles of young Douglas fir, coyote brush, poison oak, coffeeberry,
and bush lupine, and open grassy areas where views are awesome, reaching north
to Chimney Rock. One section of trail is a cut only about 2 feet wide, but this
is short, and overall the grade is an easy downhill. After passing through a
thicket of salmonberry, the trail emerges at a grassy knoll above the waterfall
area. Here is the first obstacle to waterfall nirvana: a short, steep, downhill
cut through bare rock (Here's
a photo looking back up this section). It is easy enough if you're careful,
and brief. At the base of this descent you'll be in a small open valley, with
the first
waterfall drop back in a grotto to the right, and the flow continuing to
a series of smaller drops to the left. Carefully cross over the water at
the top of the second drop, and you'll reach a flat, where you can follow
the water to the main drop at the coast's edge. Use caution here; the edge can
be unstable. Standing at the cliff top, you can see the water rushing off the
main fall onto the beach, and look back to the other minor, although still very
charming cascades. Timing a trip here to observe the falls at full gush can
be tricky, but even when the falls are far from full they are incredibly pretty,
and
the setting, with rushing waterfalls and the tranquil expanse of the ocean,
can't be beat. Be sure to bring binoculars -- you'll need them to settle any
debates that may arise from the inability to distinguish between floating bull
kelp and bobbing harbor seals playing peek-a-boo out in the ocean waves. Reaching
this middle area of the falls may well be enough of an adventure for you, but
if you want to continue to the beach, walk from the top of the main
waterfall where it spills onto the beach, north and slightly away from the cliff
edge, to an obvious but unsigned, well-worn descending path. The first drop
is an easy, stairstep-like descent down bare rock. After a little notch, you'll
reach the last scramble. This 20 feet or so are really pretty tough, because
the rock here is crumbly and loose, like a talus slope, and it's almost impossible
to get a handhold on anything. Also, the mythical rope that previously assisted
in navigating the scramble is nowhere to be seen. Since I was alone, I used
extra caution, and crouched low while descending, so if I fell I would drop
back on my butt. Luckily I didn't fall, and was able to reach the beach. Here,
on a gorgeous February day, it was just me and a solitary seagull admiring the
ocean while strolling on the beach's dark and course sand. Walk south for a
direct view of the water spilling off the cliff onto the beach, but remember
it's never a great idea to completely turn your back on the ocean, especially
when the tide is coming in. When you've had your fill of this incredible
destination, retrace your steps back to the trailhead.
Total distance: 7.54 miles to Alamere Falls, or 6.48 miles to the end of Pelican
Lake
Last hiked: Wednesday, February 2, 2005
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