Fitzgerald
Marine Reserve,
San Mateo County Parks,
San Mateo County
In brief:
This 1.2 mile loop is an easy excursion along a bluff, then dropping to a beach
with very good tidepooling.
Getting there:
From CA 1 in Moss Beach (San Mateo County), turn west onto California Avenue (on
the north side of town). Drive west on California to the end of the road, about
0.2 mile. Turn right onto Lake and almost immediately, turn right into the parking
lot.
Trailhead details:
No parking or entrance fees. Paved lot with parking for about 38 vehicles. Restrooms
on site. No designated handicapped parking, and trails are not wheelchair accessible.
SamTrans bus #17 stops within walking distance of the trailhead.
Gas, food, and lodging:
Pay phone, gas, stores, and restaurants back in Moss Beach. No camping.
Rules:
Reserve hours vary seasonally, but in general it is open from 8 a.m. to sunset.
No dogs or bikes.
Distance, category, and difficulty:
This 1.2 mile loop hike is easy. There is minimal elevation change
in this narrow park which is comprised of shoreline and bluff. However, be cautious
on steep, erosive paths leading down to the ocean, and on the slippery rocks of
the tidal reef.
The Official Story:
SMCP's Fitzgerald
page
Park office 650-728-3584
Map Choices/More Info:
• Use AAA's San Francisco Bay Region map to get there.
• Trails of the Coastside and Northern Peninsula (map) is a great
guide (available from Pease
Press).
• Map
from SMCP
• Half
Moon Bay Tide Table
• Peninsula Trails, by Jean Rusmore, has a simple map and trail descriptions
(order
this book from Amazon.com).
• 101 Great Hikes of the San Francisco Bay Area, by Ann
Marie Brown (order
this book from Amazon.com) has a simple map and featured hike.
• Friends of Fitzgerald
Marine Reserve
• View photos from this hike
Fitzgerald Marine Reserve boasts some of the best tidepools
in the bay area. 
You
won't get much of a hike here (even though trudging through sand can be exhausting),
but there's a path along the bluff and, combined with a stroll on the beach, you
can create a mile long loop, with out and back extensions through the sand to
the north or south. Families will probably want to stick to the sandy beach and
rocky reefs, where tide pools emerge twice a day at low tides. If you visit when
the tide is high, the pools are not accessible, but this is still a pretty and
quiet beach, and armed with binoculars you might see harbor seals and even whales.
Bring sport sandals if you plan on exploring the tide pools, and remember that
collecting is prohibited in the reserve.
From the trailhead the start of the short path
running along the bluff is difficult to find. The preserve map (which sits just
inside the preserve gates on the way to the beach) shows the trail departing across
a creek, but there's no bridge and no visible way to reach the bluff. From
the parking lot, walk on Lake back toward California. Just past California,
on
the right side of the road near a no parking sign, look for a small unsigned trail.
Turn right, cross the creek on a plank, and you'll arrive on the fringes of
a cypress forest. (There are quite a few paths throughout this small hunk of land,
so you can explore without fear of getting lost, but keep an eye on younger children,
for there are steep, unfenced dropoffs further up the bluff.) Bear right
at an unsigned split, and the path heads toward the ocean. When the path splits
again, bear left. The trail down to the ocean is visible to the right,
across San Vicente Creek. After ascending a few feet, bear right and walk along
a fenced stretch of trail. There are sweeping views past the crumbling edge
of the bluff to the ocean, and sometimes all the way north to Mount Tam. Although
the shaded cypress grove permits few understory plants, you should be able to
pick out shrubs of coyote brush and lupine thriving downslope to the west. The
narrow trail creeps along the bluff's edge, heading south. As the path draws close
to the cypress grove again, 
you'll
have the option to walk through the trees, or stay near the edge of the bluff.
Regardless, keep walking roughly south and eventually the trail drops downhill
a few feet, bisects a grove of willows, and approaches the preserve boundary near
Cypress and Beach Streets. Look to the right for a steep path that accesses the
beach. Turn right and descend. Stay to the right as the path splits, and
a brief series of switchbacks will deliver you to the beach.
You can walk south on the beach all the way to
Pillar Point, or turn right and walk through the sand north. During low
tide, rocky reefs appear, and you might see a variety of sea creatures, including
small fish, anemones, starfish, goose barnacles, tiny crabs, limpets, urchins,
abalone, and kelps. Be sure to keep an eye on the waves as you explore, and remember
the cardinal rule of tide pooling: never turn your back on the ocean. On my visit
I saw lots of sea life in this large reef, and the stretch of beach was nearly
deserted. It's fun to sit and watch the seagulls pick through the tidepools, but
look further out on the reefs for harbor seals, who are commonly spotted during
low tide. If you're walking on the beach when the tide is in, you may not be able
to creep past the point and continue the loop. Even when the tide is low, you'll
make slow progress through a rocky area. Once you're past the point the beach
broadens and there's a gap in the reef. This beach is the reserve's main drag,
and you'll likely see lots of excited kids swinging strips of bull kelp and splashing
about at the water's edge. There's another smaller reef opposite the obvious path
that heads back to the trailhead. When you're ready, hop across the creek,
walk uphill, and follow the path back to the reserve gate, with the parking
lot just across the street.
Total distance: about 1.20 miles, or more
Last hiked: Friday, September 30, 2001
Go to Bay Area Hiker Home page
You
won't get much of a hike here (even though trudging through sand can be exhausting),
but there's a path along the bluff and, combined with a stroll on the beach, you
can create a mile long loop, with out and back extensions through the sand to
the north or south. Families will probably want to stick to the sandy beach and
rocky reefs, where tide pools emerge twice a day at low tides. If you visit when
the tide is high, the pools are not accessible, but this is still a pretty and
quiet beach, and armed with binoculars you might see harbor seals and even whales.
Bring sport sandals if you plan on exploring the tide pools, and remember that
collecting is prohibited in the reserve.
on
the right side of the road near a no parking sign, look for a small unsigned trail.
Turn right, cross the creek on a plank, and you'll arrive on the fringes of
a cypress forest. (There are quite a few paths throughout this small hunk of land,
so you can explore without fear of getting lost, but keep an eye on younger children,
for there are steep, unfenced dropoffs further up the bluff.) Bear right
at an unsigned split, and the path heads toward the ocean. When the path splits
again, bear left. The trail down to the ocean is visible to the right,
across San Vicente Creek. After ascending a few feet, bear right and walk along
a fenced stretch of trail. There are sweeping views past the crumbling edge
of the bluff to the ocean, and sometimes all the way north to Mount Tam. Although
the shaded cypress grove permits few understory plants, you should be able to
pick out shrubs of coyote brush and lupine thriving downslope to the west. The
narrow trail creeps along the bluff's edge, heading south. As the path draws close
to the cypress grove again, 
you'll
have the option to walk through the trees, or stay near the edge of the bluff.
Regardless, keep walking roughly south and eventually the trail drops downhill
a few feet, bisects a grove of willows, and approaches the preserve boundary near
Cypress and Beach Streets. Look to the right for a steep path that accesses the
beach. Turn right and descend. Stay to the right as the path splits, and
a brief series of switchbacks will deliver you to the beach.