Bear Valley Trail to Miller Point

Bear Valley Trail to Miller Point is a 9-mile out-and-back, counting the full return from Bear Valley Trailhead. The route follows Bear Valley Trail 4.1 miles to Coast Trail, then goes south another 0.4 mile to a small headland; you retrace the same line. Plan on 4 to 5 hours for this moderate hike. It suits someone who wants a long forest-and-coast outing, not a quick stop at a beach. The first part stays inland for a while, but the payoff is an open view across Drakes Bay.

Bear Valley Trail starts wide and gently graded, with packed dirt and gravel running through Douglas-fir forest beside Bear Valley Creek. After 1.6 miles you reach Divide Meadow, an open gap with vault toilets. Its name is apt: here the Bear Valley and Coast Creek drainages part ways. This is the last facility on the route, so use the toilets before continuing.

Beyond the meadow, the path re-enters forest and parallels Coast Creek downhill toward the coast. After about 1.5 miles, the Glen and Baldy trails join; keep straight on Bear Valley Trail. About 0.9 mile later it meets Coast Trail, 4.1 miles from the start. Past the first three miles, the track gets narrower and less even, so do not assume the broad opening section predicts the whole route.

At the Coast Trail junction, bear left (south) for 0.4 mile. The trail bends sharply left and starts climbing steeply; this is Miller Point and the usual turn-around. It is a small headland, not a sandy beach landing. From the point the view turns northwest across Drakes Bay toward Limantour Beach and the Point Reyes Headlands; the collapsed site of Arch Rock lies in that direction. If you continue uphill beyond the turn-around, Coast Trail opens views south toward sea stacks and Wildcat Beach, but that adds distance and changes the outing.

Stay on maintained tread around the bluff; the ground is unstable and there is no safe beach access within four miles of Miller Point.

Allow 4 to 5 hours; between the distance and the return climb, four hours is brisk and five allows comfortable stops. The route follows the same corridor back. The large gravel hiking lot east of the access road just northeast of Bear Valley Trailhead has about 210 spaces; paved lots by the Visitor Center are much smaller. No hike-specific permit or reservation is required, though park entrance fees may apply. Pets are prohibited, and no food or water service was found along the route. Divide Meadow is the final restroom stop. Bicycles are permitted only on the northern 3.1 miles of Bear Valley Trail, so the route beyond the Glen and Baldy junction is off limits to bikes; strollers and other wheeled devices are prohibited in the wilderness. Heavy winter rain can flood parts of the trail and leave them muddy or wet. Spring can be windy, and coastal fog is common from July through September. A shorter 3.2-mile round trip to Divide Meadow gives you the creek-side forest and meadow without continuing to the coast.