places to stay near point reyes national seashore

The road lets you access a lovely swimming beach: the seductively named Heart's Desire, in Tomales Bay State Park. Pierce Point Rd splits off to the right from Sir Francis Drake Blvd. Every strip of sand is a long drive from anywhere but every one is worth the effort.įor families with young kids, head northwest of the town of Inverness. Depending on the time of year, you may see an array of nesting birds, pupping elephant or harbor seals and even mama and baby gray whales coming in close to shore. Point Reyes beaches are wild, white and remote. In 1962, concerned that Point Reyes would be spoiled by developers encroaching on the pristine beach, local and regional conservationists and campaigners succeeded in persuading the federal government to protect the peninsula as a relatively new national seashore – the first and only land designated as such on the west coast.Īlamere Falls as the sun bursts through the clouds. The lighthouse, which reopened in late 2019 after a multimillion-dollar renovation, sits below the headlands to reach it you need to descend more than 300 stairs. With wild terrain and ferocious winds, this spot feels like the end of the earth and offers the best whale-watching along the coast.

Hence the significance of the Point Reyes Lighthouse, which was as utilitarian as it is picturesque, warning boats of treacherous conditions for over a hundred years. Point Reyes, this broken down fishing boat was once in danger of being removed, but has been left because of its popularity with photographers © Lorenzo Marotti Campi / Getty Imagesĭespite modern navigation, the dangerous waters here continue to claim the occasional boat. Known as the Tomales Bay Shipwreck, the Inverness Shipwreck, or the S.S. The San Augustine was a Spanish treasure ship out of Manila, laden with luxury goods to this day bits of its cargo still wash up on shore. In 1595 the first of many ships lost in these waters went down. During his five-week stay he mounted a brass plaque near the shore claiming this land for England. In 1579, Drake landed here to repair his ship, the Golden Hind. One of the earliest Europeans to encounter the Coast Miwok was the famous explorer Sir Francis Drank. Today there is a replica Miwok village run by the National Parks Service called Kule Loklo, meaning 'Bear Valley,' where you can get a glimpse of what life on Point Reyes was like before the construction of the Mission San Rafael in the early 1800s. Indeed, some of the place names throughout the Point Reyes area have been retained from the Miwok language, including the town of Olema. The Kule Loklo replica Miwok village in Point Reyes National Seashore © John Elk / Getty Images Indigenous history and shipwrecksįor millennia before European colonizer arrived, Point Reyes was home to the Coast Miwok, and the peninsula supported villages such as Echa-kolum, Sakloki, and Utumia filled with thousands of people.

Places to stay near point reyes national seashore