Bear Valley Visitor Center to Arch Rock, Point Reyes, California
Distance: 8.8 miles, out and back.
Parking: Plenty at the Bear Valley Visitor Center, but get there early on weekends.
Address: 1 Bear Valley Road, Point Reyes Station, CA 94956
Hike: This was the second group hike with Achint, Bincy and Sahana, with Vinay sitting this one out. We decided to head back to Point Reyes, and this time visit Arch Rock. This place is an arch formed on a cliff face over years of erosion and is accessible only at low tides. The arch at the base of the cliff provides access to a super secluded beach so close to the bay area, its mildly shocking, albeit pleasantly. A two hour car ride gets you to the trail head at the bear valley visitor center. You just have to head southwards on the trail for about 3.9mi when you will see some signs directing you towards Arch Rock. This trail is quite close to the coast trail which takes you to Wildcat beach(Alamere Falls), and thus is a very pretty walk. There is no elevation change to speak of, and should be a reasonably simple stroll. There is some scrambling at the end of the hike when you have to endure to get down to the arch from the top of the cliff. This isn't as bad as the Alamere fall cliff, but having said that, you would want to watch out for very slippery rocks. If you don't stop too often like I do for pictures, you should be done with this hike in slightly over 4 hours, after budgeting a 30 minute stop to just ogle at the cliffs and the ocean.
Maps: Point Reyes NPS
Images from the hike:
Non HDR and HDR image of Arch Rock.
Other images from the hike.
Distance: 8.8 miles, out and back.
Parking: Plenty at the Bear Valley Visitor Center, but get there early on weekends.
Address: 1 Bear Valley Road, Point Reyes Station, CA 94956
Hike: This was the second group hike with Achint, Bincy and Sahana, with Vinay sitting this one out. We decided to head back to Point Reyes, and this time visit Arch Rock. This place is an arch formed on a cliff face over years of erosion and is accessible only at low tides. The arch at the base of the cliff provides access to a super secluded beach so close to the bay area, its mildly shocking, albeit pleasantly. A two hour car ride gets you to the trail head at the bear valley visitor center. You just have to head southwards on the trail for about 3.9mi when you will see some signs directing you towards Arch Rock. This trail is quite close to the coast trail which takes you to Wildcat beach(Alamere Falls), and thus is a very pretty walk. There is no elevation change to speak of, and should be a reasonably simple stroll. There is some scrambling at the end of the hike when you have to endure to get down to the arch from the top of the cliff. This isn't as bad as the Alamere fall cliff, but having said that, you would want to watch out for very slippery rocks. If you don't stop too often like I do for pictures, you should be done with this hike in slightly over 4 hours, after budgeting a 30 minute stop to just ogle at the cliffs and the ocean.
Maps: Point Reyes NPS
Images from the hike:
Non HDR and HDR image of Arch Rock.
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Other images from the hike.
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