Thirty miles north of San Francisco, the Pacific coast arches outwards forming a triangular peninsula, bordered on the ocean side by long, wind-swept beaches beneath high cliffs or extensive sand dunes, and inland by a straight valley, the top half of which (Tomales Bay) is beneath the sea. This stretch of isolated land, all protected as the Point Reyes National Seashore, is separated from the rest of California by the San Andreas Fault between the Pacific and North American tectonic plates, causing it to shift gradually northwards at a rate of 3 cm per year. The extent of this movement is evident from the matching geology of the range of hills in the center of the peninsula (Inverness Ridge) with that of the Tehachapi Mountains near Los Angeles, 300 miles southeast.
Around 150 miles of trails cross-cross the rolling hills and meadows of Point Reyes though the main attraction is the 60 mile shoreline, which is easily accessible by car in several places and all is explorable on foot. There are three distinct parts of the coast - the section alongside the calm waters of Tomales Bay has a few small beaches though the majority of the land is quite densely wooded, the trees extending right to the edge of the sea. The long, straight, northwest-facing shore (Point Reyes Beach) has the most sand and the highest surf, though also suffers from the worst weather, with strong winds, cool temperatures and thick fog often present. More interesting is the southwest coast, as here the land is a little less wind-swept and the shoreline varies between sandy beaches, rocky terraces, promontories, cliffs, lagoons and dunes.
Hotels: The closest towns with hotels near Point Reyes are (with distances from the Bear Valley Visitor Center): Petaluma (20 miles), Novato (20 miles), Larkspur (21 miles), Corte Madera (22 miles), Mill Valley (24 miles) and San Francisco (35 miles) - follow the links for hotel descriptions and photographs.
Access: The approach to Point Reyes National Seashore is along narrow, winding roads through the coastal hills - either the main Pacific highway California Route 1, which despite its fame is also thin and bendy in many places - or along the country roads from San Rafael, Novato and Petaluma. The land hereabouts is gently undulating, covered by a mixture of grassy fields and small woods, mostly undeveloped apart from scattered farms and houses. The only town of note near the ocean is Point Reyes Station, a small settlement 2 miles from the south end of Tomales Bay and right in the middle of the San Andreas Fault Zone. The town has a few shops, restaurants and a gas station. The visitor center for the National Seashore is located a little way further south in Bear Valley, near the village of Olema, in a field at the edge of the wooded hills that characterize the east side of the Point Reyes peninsula. It is quite a large building, often with several hundred people in attendance on busy summer days, reflecting the general popularity of the park, as despite the relatively difficult access, the proximity to San Francisco ensures many visitors. Unlike most NPS units there is no drive-in campground, only four campsites accessible to hikers - two on the coast and two in the hills, and as all the land away from the park is privately owned, free camping is not possible either. The best nearby commercial site is at Dillon Beach, 25 miles north of Bear Valley along Route 1, where dispersed camping is provided on a large area of sand dunes and grassy fields.
Maps: PDF format maps of Point Reyes National Seashore, from the National Park Service:
 Detail map (876 kb); area map (76 kb); north trail map (512 kb); south trail map (688 kb)
More Details: Roads and sites in Point Reyes National Seashore.
Satellite Photo/Map: View above the southeast end of Point Reyes.
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More Information
Roads and Sites - the three main roads across the Point Reyes peninsula
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Point Reyes - Similar Places
Padre Island National Seashore, Texas - 80 miles of empty white sand beaches on the Gulf of Mexico
Big Sur - California's Pacific Coast between Carmel and San Simeon
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