One of the tough things about Death Valley being so far away from home (about 9 hours driving) is finding good hikes to do in between trips there. For the past few years, I had heard that the best hike in the Bay Area was the hike to Alamere Falls. However, due to a variety of factors, I held off on doing this hike. One of the factors was that when I finally did the hike to Alamere Falls, I wanted to see the waterfall at its best and fullest capacity. That is only possible in the late Winter and early Spring, in particular after a good rainstorm has come through the area. Another factor was the need to visit Alamere Falls during low tide. Thus, it is necessary to consult tidal charts for the area and plan the hike so that you arrive at the waterfall during low tide. Otherwise, you will not be able to get down to the beach. Alamere Falls is located along the Point Reyes National Seashore. It can be reached by driving to the town of Bolinas and following Mesa Road all the way to the end, past the Point Reyes Bird Observatory to the Palomarin Trailhead parking area. From there, the hike follows the coastal trail for 2.2 miles along some spectacular cliffs with stunning views of the Pacific Ocean. Then, the trail turns inland for the next 1.6 miles as it passes by Bass Lake and Pelican Lake. Finally, a side trail to the left leads 0.4 miles down to the base of Alamere Falls on the beach. Getting down there can be a bit tricky and involves some minor scrambling. The park service actually describes the route as having "dangerous conditions". We found it relatively easy, with one slightly risky area (shown in pictures below), especially in comparison to what we have done in Death Valley. Alamere Falls is an extremely special waterfall, comprised of the upper fall, middle fall, and lower (main) fall. What makes Alamere Falls so unique is that it is 1 of only 2 major waterfalls (also known as tidefalls) in the state of California that plunge directly into the Pacific Ocean. The other waterfall is McWay Falls in Big Sur. I have even seen Alamere Falls listed as 1 of the top 10 lesser known most beautiful waterfalls in the world. That's quite a statement, but if you visit Alamere Falls, you will see why. The total hiking distance is about 4.2 miles each way (8.4 miles round-trip). At the bottom, we have added some newer pictures from our third hike out to Alamere Falls in April of 2011.
Starting point for the hike at the Palomarin Trailhead along the Point Reyes National Seashore in Marin County, California:
The hike starts out with the trail taking you through a thick canopy of trees:
This includes passing through a giant grove of Eucalyptus trees:
It isn't long before the trail passes by some cliffs which drop off hundreds of feet down into the Pacific Ocean:
Looking out at the waves of the Pacific crashing into the shoreline:
Purple Iris wildflowers were growing along the trail in February:
As the trail turns away from the ocean, it continues through a forested area:
The main trail is very well maintained and easy to follow:
Passing by Bass Lake off to the left, 2.6 miles from where we started:
Following the trail through some towering trees in between the two lakes:
This is Pelican Lake, located a short distance past Bass Lake. Pelican Lake is formed by a natural dam (right rear of picture), which prevents the water from draining into the Pacific:
The turn-off onto the Alamere Falls trail, including warnings that it is unmaintained and potentially dangerous:
The brush is very thick and the trail is narrow. Keep an eye out for poison oak in the late Spring and Summer:
Nice view of the ocean from along the trail:
Getting closer now, as the trail descends rather quickly towards the beach:
This is Upper Alamere Falls, which is the first part of the waterfall which the trail leads you to. Even though this is not the main waterfall, it is still very pretty and worth seeing:
The next three pictures show some various views of Upper Alamere Falls:
And two pictures of Steve with Upper Alamere Falls in the background:
The middle portion of Alamere Falls has two smaller waterfalls, both of which are unique. This is the first one:
Here we are looking at the first waterfall in the middle portion and Upper Alamere Falls together in the same picture:
Looking down towards the ocean and eventual final drop-off of Alamere Creek:
In this picture, both waterfalls in the middle portion are visible together:
A close-up of the second waterfall in the middle portion. It's actually worth coming here just to see the upper three waterfalls, without even seeing the main one:
And here it is... Alamere Falls plunges down onto the beach of Point Reyes National Seashore:
Looking down at the 40 foot drop of cascading water. During high tide, the ocean water comes all the way up to the base of the cliffs:
Looking to the west along the coastline:
Heading down the scrambling route to try to reach the beach:
The next two pictures show Annie and Jered carefully working their way down the cliff made up of loose rocks. Caution is definitely in order here, and anybody who is older, out of shape, or who has bad balance may not be able to safely do this:
For those who can't do this, there is an alternative route which is about 2 extra miles each way, where you continue west back on the main trail to Wildcat Camp, drop down to the beach, and hike east to reach this spot:
First view of Alamere Falls from the beach:
Three pictures of the 40 foot waterfall taken from directly in front of it:
Jered and Annie getting their picture in front of Alamere Falls:
A picture of Steve standing in the run-off corridor where the fresh water of Alamere Falls flows into the salt water of the Pacific:
And a picture of Steve with his sister Annie:
A close-up taken from directly beneath the base of the falls:
The next three pictures are taken from the right side of the falls:
Looking east along the shoreline at the tide pools and continuing beach:
Two views looking out towards the ocean and incoming waves on a cloudy day:
Three more views of Alamere Falls from this location, before crossing back over the drainage corridor:
The next three pictures were all taken from the left side of the falls:
Annie and Jered carefully crossing back over the drainage corridor, but still getting wet:
And one final picture of Steve with Alamere Falls as he finally accomplished this absolutely beautiful hike:
We returned to Alamere Falls on April 6, 2011 for our third time. The waterfalls were much fuller because we had a great amount of Winter and Spring rainfall. Enjoy the following newer photos and the surprise at the end:
We found this baby harbor seal resting on the beach during our April 2011 hike. His mother was out in the ocean feeding. If you ever find a baby seal, leave it alone and do not worry about it or think it has been abandoned. The mother will return to the beach after feeding to care for her young one:
