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| Cliffs at Tomales Point |
Difficulty: Easy-moderate, some brushy vegetation towards the end of the hike
Access: Decent paved road to trailhead, no fee required
Tomales Point is a windswept peninsula that marks the northernmost point of Northern California's Point Reyes National Seashore, reachable by an enjoyable hike with wildflowers, plentiful wildlife, and views of majestic sea cliffs along the way. This is one of the better hikes in the San Francisco Bay Area and it is no secret: on weekends, the parking area is packed and you'll find plenty of company on this fairly lengthy but still fairly easy hike to see elk and whales on this treeless strip of land between Tomales Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The trail does get quite brushy towards the end, making the last stretch of the hike somewhat more difficult than the start but guaranteeing slightly thinner crowds at the tip of the peninsula. Despite its popularity, this hike's many charms means that all Bay Area hikers should make it out here at least once.
I hiked to Tomales Point with Anna and a visiting friend I knew from Seattle on a breezy and sunny May day. Spring is an excellent time to visit as Point Reyes National Seashore is well known for its wildflower displays. From San Francisco, we followed US 101 north to San Anselmo, where we exited onto Sir Francis Drake Boulevard heading west and then followed that road through twist and turns past Fairfax and Samuel Taylor State Park until it merged with California Highway 1 at Olema. Here, we turned right to head north on Highway 1, then turned left again onto Sir Francis Drake Boulevard when it forked to the left about two miles north of Olema. We then followed Sir Francis Drake Boulevard for 6 miles past the town of Inverness, continuing until the road climbed up a hill. At the top of the hill, we followed signs for Tomales Bay State Park and turned right onto Pierce Point Road; we then followed Pierce Point Road north for about 8 miles through rolling grasslands to Pierce Point Ranch, which is the trailhead for the Tomales Point hike. There is parking for about 20 cars in a parking lot next to the ranch and additional parking for about 50 more cars along a line of trees by the road. There are no public restrooms at the trailhead.
The trail starts out next to Pierce Point Ranch, which during the 19th and 20th centuries was one of the many dairy ranches of Marin County and Point Reyes. During the California Gold Rush, the hills and valleys of Marin County became home to many dairy ranches, where grazing cows supplied milk, butter, and cheese to the rapidly growing city of San Francisco. Many dairy operations are still operational with Point Reyes National Seashore, having been grandfathered in at the time of establishment of the park. Many of Marin County's dairy farms are still of national renown: award winning cheeses have come from Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company, the Marin French Cheese Company, and Nicasio Valley Cheese Company.
The trail wrapped around the western edge of the ranch, passing through a line of trees before turning towards the coast. The Pacific Ocean came into view less than a fifth of a mile into the hike, with stunning views of the crescent sands of McClure's Beach and waves crashing against the headland at the beach's southern end.
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| Overlooking McClure's Beach |
Some of the best coastal views of the hike came soon after, as the trail emerged atop headlands directly above the coast. Looking north, we had great views of the stunning 400-foot tall cliffs that defined the western edge of the continent. Some hikers turn around here- while there's much more to come later in the hike, it's hard to argue that few such coastal views can come with so little effort. Wildflowers bloomed profusely in the grassy slopes beneath the trail, creating a stunning constrast between floral and aquatic colors. The yellow lupine blooming along the trail was particularly notable. This brilliant stretch of trail was brief and after about a third of a mile of sweeping views, we began heading inland and descending.
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| Cliffs along the trail to Tomales Point |
As we descended into Windy Gap at one mile from the trailhead, we spotted a herd of tule elk, the resident herd of Tomales Point. Tule elk were once found throughout the state of California but were nearly driven to extinction by the late-nineteenth century, when only a herd of thirty remained near Bakersfield. In the 1970s, an effort was launched to reintroduce tule elk to Point Reyes and a herd was brought to Tomales Point; the reintroduction has been extremely successful and the population of the herd has grown since the elk were brought here.
Past Windy Gap, the trail made a short but steep ascent to gain the top of the ridge running along the peninsula. Atop the ridge, it was possible to tell that we were on a long, pointy stretch of land: the Pacific was visible to one side and Tomales Bay was visible to the east. However, the trail stayed away from the headlands on both sides of the peninsula, keeping views somewhat more limited than they had been in the trail's opening mile.
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| Resident elk herd |
Past Windy Gap, the trail made a short but steep ascent to gain the top of the ridge running along the peninsula. Atop the ridge, it was possible to tell that we were on a long, pointy stretch of land: the Pacific was visible to one side and Tomales Bay was visible to the east. However, the trail stayed away from the headlands on both sides of the peninsula, keeping views somewhat more limited than they had been in the trail's opening mile.
Tomales Point's unique shape is a result of the interesting geology of Tomales Bay: Tomales Bay is the point of land where the San Andreas Fault exits the ocean and begins to run across the California landmass. Most of Point Reyes National Seashore- including Tomales Point- lie on land that is now traveling with Pacific Plate rather than the North American plate. The straight boundaries of Tomales Bay are defined by the San Andreas Fault directly.
This trail atop the ridge was fairly flat as we headed north. This was perhaps the least interesting mile of the hike, as we primarily saw grasses on either side of the trail with water only in the distance. We spotted a few more elk heads poking above the grasses at intervals.
At 2.2 miles from the trailhead, the trail reached a grassy knoll with broad views to the north of the northernmost reaches of the peninsula. From here, we had our first views of the rocky cliffs that hemmed in the tapering Tomales Point, offshore Bird Island, and the mountainous coast that stretched northward to Bodega Bay.
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| Looking down the peninsula to Tomales Point |
Past this high point, the trail descended gently but steadily over the next mile until reaching another saddle. Up until this point, the trail had generally been fairly obvious and wide, but it abruptly faded out here and became quite overgrown and faint. The direction of travel was obvious since we knew we had to go further down the peninsula, but we frequently found ourselves trying to figure out the correct route forward and battle through overgrown brush at multiple points. We spotted a wild turkey while we were battling the vegetation here, adding to the menagerie that we spotted on this hike.
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| Wild turkey |
The faint trail ascended slightly before flattening out and continuing up the peninsula, eventually becoming a bit more defined as it passed through some fields of spring wildflowers, including some yellow lupine. Views back towards the south were impressive: we could see the high cliffs below the slopes where we had been hiking earlier. The trail also offered good views of Bird Island, a barren island on the Pacific side of the peninsula that was covered with snowy-white guano. Even from a distance, we could hear the cacophany of seabird calls from the island.
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| Wildflowers and sea cliffs on the way to Tomales Point |
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| Bird Island |
At about 4.25 miles from the trailhead, the trail passed through some sandy patches and then began its final descent down to the very tip of Tomales Point.
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| Wildflowers and sandy trail |
The end of the trail was visible through the final descent: we could see the land ending ahead of us, with the vast waters of the Pacific and Bodega Bay lying to the north. As the trail approached land's end, we finally had some close-up views of the dramatic seaside cliffs of the peninsula. Violent waves from the Pacific pounded the rocks, chipping away gradually at the continent.
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| Cliffs near Tomales Point |
Finally, after 4.75 miles of hiking, we arrived at the very tip of Tomales Point. The peninsula tapered off and then faded into the ocean here. The tip of the peninsula provided the hike's only views of cliffs on the east side of Tomales Point.
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| View into Tomales Bay |
From the end of the trail at Tomales Point, we could gaze out on one side to the wild coastline of Bodega Bay and on the other side to open expanse of the Pacific. Waves thundered against the rocky shore, sending aloft a passing constellation of surf. Bodega Head emerged from the coastal mist in the distance, marking the north end of the bay; the nearby town of Bodega Bay was the setting of Hitchcock's The Birds.
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| Land's end at Tomales Point |
We sat at this land's end for the better part of an hour, gazing out onto the Pacific and spotting various wildlife. Pelicans flew below us, gliding just above the churning Pacific waters; a humpback whale entertained us offshore, alternatively bringing its back and its tail above the surface of the ocean.
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| Pelicans flying above the surf at Tomales Point |
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| Whale tail and Bodega Bay |
We enjoyed the views for an extended time before heading back and dealing with the stretches of brushy trail. This was a rare wildlife trail that allowed us to see a turkey, a whale, and a herd of elk on the same trip. The incredible, open ocean views make it one of the better hikes along the California coast and probably the most enjoyable hike around Point Reyes- don't miss it.
