Coastal Ramble, Introductory Backpack at Point Reyes National Seashore, California

The Trip

 “Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.” — Rachel Carson

If you would like to try out backpacking, refresh your backpacking skills, and experience camping along the California coast, come join us as we explore Point Reyes National Seashore, one of the lesser-known gems of our National Park system. The Pacific Ocean views, wildlife, cultural history, and splendid biodiversity offer something for every hiker. The seashore protects over 70,000 acres of dunes, beaches, grasslands, Douglas fir and pine forests, estuaries, marshes, lakes, waterfalls, and 80 miles of unspoiled, undeveloped coastline. This trip presents a leisurely opportunity to learn and develop or refresh backpacking skills, as well as to explore this special place.

Our five-day, 23-mile backpacking route is designed to be a perfect beginner trip. We will take time to teach backpacking skills and discuss Leave No Trace practices throughout our journey. We’ll also hear the history of Point Reyes, a significant success for citizen activists who lobbied hard to create a National Seashore here. This trip will give you a week of coastal exploration, solitude, and inspiration. Join us!

Day 1: After meeting at the Bear Valley Visitor Center at 9:00 a.m., we will start our first-day hike exploring the northern end of Pt. Reyes National Seashore at Historic Pierce Point Ranch and walk to Tomales Point through the Tule Elk Reserve. We will likely hear bugling and see elk rounding their harems during their rut season. The route entails 9.5 miles round-trip of hiking with superb views of the coast, and if clear, of the Farallon Islands. We will return to Bear Valley and continue to our car camp at Samuel P. Taylor State Park nearby, have dinner, and relax.

Day 2: In the morning we will do a gear check and go over each hiker’s equipment to be sure everyone is properly prepared (and not weighed down). Then we will pack up and head to the trailhead at Bear Valley, where we will spend some time at the visitor’s center, take a hike on the mile-long Earthquake Trail, and have lunch. We finally hoist our packs and start in the afternoon. The hike up to Mt. Wittenberg is a 1,200-foot climb, our highest on the trip. It’s a short 3-mile day to our first camping spot at Sky Camp, with its sweeping ocean view.

Day 3: After breakfast, we will head downhill four miles to our next stop at Coast Camp, in a grassy valley close to the beach and tide pools. This hike will be one of the highlights of the trip: we'll be hiking through shaded forests, through a sublime valley, and out onto high, open expanses overlooking the blue Pacific. Once at camp, we will have time to hike along the dunes to Limantour Spit and look for harbor seals and whales. The crashing waves of the nearby ocean will serenade us as we prepare dinner and take in a late-summer sunset from a bluff above the beach.

Day 4: On our longest day, we will hike 8.5 miles south along the coast to Wildcat Camp, with dramatic ocean views and beach vistas along the way. There will be an 800-foot gain on this day. Wildcat Camp, which is in a meadow on a bluff overlooking the ocean, will be our home for two nights.

Day 5: Our layover day! Options for the day include various hikes, such as a mile beach walk to Alamere Falls, which cascades to the shore, or a hike to several lakes on the grassland plateau. The layover also provides opportunities to scout caves, journal, sketch, bird watch, or just appreciate the Point Reyes coastline.

Day 6: We will return to the Bear Valley Trailhead through chaparral, Douglas fir, Bishop pine, and oak woodland in a 6.5-mile day with our now light backpacks. We expect to have an early afternoon arrival back at our cars. Depending on your interest, we can gather for a post-trip dinner in Point Reyes Station.

Remember that this is a group experience, and we will be working together. Please bring good humor and a flexible demeanor with you on the trip. Trip logistics, an unlikely emergency, or rare wet weather might cause a change in our plans. Be open to all the possibilities and adventures of our shared hike together.

Getting There

This outing officially begins at 9 a.m. on day one at the Bear Valley Visitor Center, our gathering spot. The nearest airports to fly into are San Francisco and Oakland, each about 45 miles from our meeting place, and there’s good lodging nearby in San Rafael. 

One advantage of this trip starting near a population center is that there are public transportation options to get to our meeting place. Ride-sharing is strongly encouraged, and a roster of trip members, driving directions, and public transportation options will be sent well ahead of time to facilitate this. Return flight reservations should be made for late in the day the trip concludes, or the day after the trip concludes. Please do not make travel arrangements until the leader has confirmed you as a trip member.

Accommodations and Food

On our first night, we’ll be car camping at a group campsite in the state park. Our four wilderness backpacking camps will have picnic tables, food lockers (to keep those pesky raccoons and ravens out of our food and personal toiletries), vault toilets, and potable water.

The trip price includes all meals from lunch on day one through lunch on day six. Group camping gear (stoves, cooking pots, fuel, etc.) will be provided. The staff enjoys creating wonderful meals that include home-dehydrated fruits and vegetables. The food will be nutritious, high-energy, and tasty. When you complete your trip paperwork, please indicate to the leader if you have any food allergies or limitations or if you are vegetarian. Chicken, fish, cheese, and some red meat will be on the menu. Vegetarians can be easily accommodated. Participants unable to eat dairy or gluten should contact the leader with their restrictions. Participants will be divided into cook crews and share in meal preparations and cleanup in the Sierra Club tradition.

Trip Difficulty

References

Maps:

• Wilderness Press Recreational Map: Point Reyes National Seashore and West Marin Parklands
• Tom Harrison Maps: Point Reyes National Seashore Trail Map

Books:

• Evens, Jules, Natural History of the Point Reyes Peninsula.
• Lage, Jessica, Point Reyes: The Complete Guide to the National Seashore and Surrounding Area.
• Salcedo-Chourre, Tracy, Exploring Point Reyes National Seashore and Golden Gate Recreation Area.
• Hart, John, Walking Softly in the Wilderness, The Sierra Club Guide to Backpacking.
• Wayburn, Edgar, Your Land, and Mine: Evolution of a Conservationist.

Websites:

• Point Reyes National Seashore: http://www.nps.gov/pore/
• Point Reyes National Seashore Association: http://www.ptreyes.org/

Conservation

This trip will be in the traditional lands of the Coastal Miwok indigenous people, who are one community acknowledged as the first inhabitants in the Point Reyes area over 5,000 years ago and who left over 120 known village sites.

Point Reyes National Seashore celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2022. During the trip, we will discuss some of the park’s history and how it informs and inspires us on current and future public land issues. Much of our hiking will be in a federally designated wilderness, yet just a few miles from one of the largest urban areas in the United States — a unique situation in which to learn backpacking along with conservation history and ideas. We will discuss some of the many management challenges the park faces.

In the early 1800s, Mexican land grants established ranchos for cattle grazing and dairy farming that are still functioning today. As development pressure mounted in the 1960s, an unusual partnership was formed between the Sierra Club, other groups, and the remaining ranchers to preserve Point Reyes as a National Seashore. Ranchers have been living on the land now part of Point Reyes for over 150 years. They continue to be able to ranch on parkland under special-use permits issued by the federal government. Currently, environmentalists are suing the federal government, to have the ranches removed from the park, arguing that the cattle harm the wildlife environment of the park.

Tule elk currently populate a couple of different areas of the park. This subspecies of elk, found only in California, nearly went extinct by the mid-1800s. In 1978, a small herd was re-established at Tomales Point, from only 10 animals. Since then, their numbers have grown to over 450. The park now faces new challenges to keep this population at a healthy size without impacting ranchers, who want to prevent elk from interacting with cattle on their ranches. Groups File Lawsuit Over Ag Management Plan At Point Reyes

In 2014, Drakes Oyster Company, which was located within the park at Drake's Estero, was closed. This oyster farm had been in commercial production for over 100 years but was closed due to the impact the farm had on the surrounding environment within the park. The park is currently in the process of doing restoration work at the site of the Oyster Company. This is just one example of Pt. Reyes National Seashore's unique management issues and challenges, which we will discuss during the trip.

We will help keep the Seashore wild by learning and following Leave No Trace practices and principles.

Sierra Club National Outings is an equal opportunity provider and when applicable will operate under permits obtained from U.S. federal land agencies.