Palomarin to Alamere Falls, Point Reyes National Seashore, California.
Distance: About 8miles out and back.
Parking: Plenty at the Palomarin trail head and its free.
Address: North end of Mesa Rd, Bolinas, CA 94924
Hike: This was our first group hike in the bay area. Achint, Bincy, Vinay, Sahana and me got to this wondrous location after a close to 2 hour drive from the south bay. It is totally worth the drive!
Once you are at the Palomarin trail head, you need to hop on to the Ocean trail going north. This has to be the most beautiful trail I have been on in the bay area, with the trail hugging the ocean through most of its 4mi distance. About a mile from the trail head there is a clearing which will afford some breath taking views of sunsets on the way back, keep this spot in mind with your return plans. After a mile of not so spectacular vistas we will hit two lakes with pristine blue water, which now, I am aware of being open to swimmers. Dang it! Anyway it is too cold at the end of November to attempt swimming,or so I console myself.
A few brief encounters with banana slugs later, we make it to a spur which says we have an arduous 0.4mi hike to the top of Alamere falls in pretty awful conditions. That being no deterrent we waded through thick bush laden with poison oak, so pants and long sleeves are definitely recommended. The pants will also help with the scrambling you will have to endure to get to the beach at the bottom of the falls. The end of this 0.4mi stretch brings you to a opening with a couple of cascades with the final flourish of water at the third cascade emptying into the ocean. There is a steep cliff with rocks at the bottom, so be careful while trying to get some views from the top. You can then proceed to scramble down a deteriorating path of rocks to the beach to get better views.
Maps: Point Reyes NPS
Images from the hike:
Distance: About 8miles out and back.
Parking: Plenty at the Palomarin trail head and its free.
Address: North end of Mesa Rd, Bolinas, CA 94924
Hike: This was our first group hike in the bay area. Achint, Bincy, Vinay, Sahana and me got to this wondrous location after a close to 2 hour drive from the south bay. It is totally worth the drive!
Once you are at the Palomarin trail head, you need to hop on to the Ocean trail going north. This has to be the most beautiful trail I have been on in the bay area, with the trail hugging the ocean through most of its 4mi distance. About a mile from the trail head there is a clearing which will afford some breath taking views of sunsets on the way back, keep this spot in mind with your return plans. After a mile of not so spectacular vistas we will hit two lakes with pristine blue water, which now, I am aware of being open to swimmers. Dang it! Anyway it is too cold at the end of November to attempt swimming,or so I console myself.
A few brief encounters with banana slugs later, we make it to a spur which says we have an arduous 0.4mi hike to the top of Alamere falls in pretty awful conditions. That being no deterrent we waded through thick bush laden with poison oak, so pants and long sleeves are definitely recommended. The pants will also help with the scrambling you will have to endure to get to the beach at the bottom of the falls. The end of this 0.4mi stretch brings you to a opening with a couple of cascades with the final flourish of water at the third cascade emptying into the ocean. There is a steep cliff with rocks at the bottom, so be careful while trying to get some views from the top. You can then proceed to scramble down a deteriorating path of rocks to the beach to get better views.
Maps: Point Reyes NPS
Images from the hike:
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