Point Reyes: The Complete Guide to the National Seashore & Surrounding Area - Tapa blanda

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Jessica Lage lives in Berkeley with her family and has spent countless hours on the trails and beaches of West Marin since she was a kid. She is also the author of Trail Runner’s Guide: San Francisco Bay Area (Wilderness Press). She has a PhD in geography from UC Berkeley and works as an independent researcher and writer.

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Trip 1: Bear Valley Trail to Divide Meadow and the Coast

Easy-to-access, fairly level, and exceptionally scenic, this wide trail follows a murmuring creek through a rich forest. Divide Meadow makes a pleasant picnic or rest spot, or even a destination for a short hike. The first part of the Bear Valley Trail is great for bikes, but remember to bring a lock so you can continue to the coast on foot!

• Distance: 3.2 miles round-trip to Divide Meadow; 8 miles round-trip to the coast
• Type: Out-and-back
• Difficulty: Easy–moderate
• Facilities: Restroom, water, picnic tables, and phone at trailhead; toilets at Divide Meadow, 1.6 miles from trailhead
• Regulations: Horses allowed except on weekends and holidays; bikes allowed for the first 3.1 miles to Glen Trail turnoff (bike rack available); no dogs

Description: The Bear Valley Trail begins in an open meadow, where you have views east to Bolinas Ridge and beyond to Barnabe Mountain in Samuel P. Taylor Park. Behind you to the north, the rippled slopes of sturdy Black Mountain rise from ranchland. At the far end of the meadow (0.2 mile), you pass the trail to Mount Wittenberg on your right (north), and your wide, well-graded trail begins to parallel the low ravine of Bear Valley Creek. Under the cover of alders, bay laurels, and elderberry bushes growing along the bank, the temperature drops significantly.

For the next mile and a half, the mostly level trail leads through lush forest. You’ll see signs of the 2020 Woodward Fire on the northern hillside—blackened tree trunks surrounded by abundant regrowth. At 0.8 mile, you pass the Meadow Trail on your right, which leads north 1.7 miles to the ridgetop (see Trip 3). Look for newts crossing the moist trail in the rainy season and winter wrens darting amid dense tangles of vegetation. Bracken, five-finger, and sword ferns coat the slopes. The heart-shaped leaves of wild ginger (and their flowers, between March and July) grow on the streambank, and in spring, buttercups, milkmaids, and forget-me-nots sprout along the trail. Just before Divide Meadow at 1.6 miles, the trail climbs briefly to reach the broad, peaceful expanse, ringed by Douglas-fir trees and dappled with oaks.

From the trailhead until Divide Meadow, the trail follows north-flowing Bear Valley Creek. Beyond Divide Meadow, Coast Creek runs along the trail, flowing southwest and emptying into the ocean. This unusual drainage pattern is common in fault zones. To reach the coast, continue on the Bear Valley Trail as it gently descends and then levels along alder-lined Coast Creek, which flows to the ocean. After 1.5 miles beyond Divide Meadow (3.1 from the trailhead), you meet a junction with the Glen Trail, where bicyclists must leave their bikes and proceed to the coast on foot (bike racks available). The Glen Trail climbs south out of Bear Valley to reach Glen Camp and connect with trails in the Five Brooks area (see Trip 6).

Hidden Gardens of Mosses and Lichens

The Bear Valley Trail is an ideal place to discover the hidden world of mosses and lichens—organisms that often go unnoticed by humans but are full of marvel and worth a few extra minutes on the trail. One easy-to-notice inhabitant is the lacy green lichen that hangs from the branches of Douglas-fir and bishop pine, commonly called witches hair or old man’s beard (but often misidentified as Spanish moss).

Classified as part of the fungal kingdom, lichens are not plants, but rather a unique, mutualistic partnership between a fungus and a green alga or a blue-green bacterium. Both partners in the relationship benefit: the fungal partner, the main body of the lichen, protects the algal mate and absorbs water and minerals, while the alga provides the organism with food through photosynthesis.

In deep shade and alongside lush riparian vegetation, the Bear Valley Trail continues its westward course for 0.9 mile to reach the coast. You soon sense the proximity of the ocean, as the trail becomes increasingly sandy. After a gentle rise, you emerge on a low, open bluff at the mouth of the valley. About 50 feet above the sea, you are on a marine terrace that extends from Bolinas Mesa to Limantour, although a large landslide obscures the terrace for several miles south of Bear Valley.

The Bear Valley Trail ends at a T-junction with the Coast Trail. You can continue south for about a quarter mile to Millers Point, named for US Congressman Clem Miller, who played a pivotal role in establishing Point Reyes as a national seashore. This grassy bluff—a great place for a picnic—affords good views of the collapsed Arch Rock.

Years of wave and water erosion weakened the rock and caused Arch Rock to fall in 2015. Before then, you could walk down to the beach and see the tunnel, or arch, where Coast Creek met the ocean. The area is now closed due to the extreme instability of the eroded coastal cliffs. (Heed park warnings about off-limits trails: one person died and another was seriously injured when the arch collapsed.)

You can return to the trailhead via the Bear Valley Trail for a round-trip of 8 miles. If, after a rest at the coast, you’re up for a more rigorous return route, you can take the Coast Trail south to the Glen Trail Loop (see Trip 5) for a 9.8-mile round-trip, or take the Coast Trail north to the Sky Trail and descend to Bear Valley again on the Meadow Trail, for a round-trip of 10.8 miles. (See Trips 3 and 4.)