Point Reyes National Seashore

Point Reyes is as far as you can get into the Pacific Ocean without ever leaving land around San Francisco. It's a 10-mile long peninsula that juts into the ocean just north of the city. If you are ever in SF, I highly recommend a day trip there. First of all, just the road to Point Reyes is spectacular: called CA-1, it's a twisty two-lane that hugs the rocky and hilly seashore and gives you a million-dollar view at every turn. Rent a sports car and enjoy! Once you get to the park, drive all the way to the end (past several dairy farms imaginatively called "Farm A" to "Farm G"). You'll cover all sorts of terrain, from grassy plains, to groves of very Californian-looking pines, to sheer cliffs on which the ocean waves incessantly break. In the right season, you can watch the whales right from the coast. On the way back, make a side-trip to Muir Woods and walk along the huge redwoods they have there.

Here ends the travel guide section, and come the pictures:




Typical sight on the ocean-facing hillsides: deer balancing on the narrow side-trails:


Pelagic Cormorant - an ocean bird - gliding up along a sheer coastal cliff:


Iconic lighthouse at the very tip of Point Reyes:


The 300+ steps you have to take down (and then back up) to get to the iconic lighthouse:


Colony of Common Murres, another ocean bird, on the other side of the lighthouse:




Another common morning sight:


The winds at the tip of the peninsula never stop. It's a cliff about 200 feet high, with the road and the parking lot on top of it. Over there, 20-mph winds are normal. 40-mph winds are common (that's when they close the stairs to the lighthouse). The rangers really start worrying when it gets to 60-mph or so... Here's what the winds do to the trees there:


Here is a million-dollar view. This picture was taken over the top of a flower-bed in the park ranger's front yard. You can see the beach below stretching for miles!




Here is what I meant by Californian-looking pines. I can't imagine these evergreens anywhere else. Look closely to where they have their pinecones:




Finally, this is something I noticed on my way back - a dozen or so seals (not sure if Common or Harbor or some other type) lounging around a lake or inlet next to CA-1: