Point Reyes National Seashore, CA
A ridge connector with ocean views from Limantour to Chimney Rock.
Overview
Map & elevation
Plan your hike
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Point Reyes Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Point Reyes National Seashore. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
Recorded for this area
The Beaver Without a Pond“Despite its name, the Point Reyes mountain beaver doesn't build dams. It's a short-tailed, burrowing rodent, and the subspecies here lives nowhere else.”
Plays on the road 0.3 mi from the trailhead in the Parkwolf Point Reyes Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Trail guide
Bucklin Trail is a 5.4-mile out-and-back from Point Reyes Hill to Muddy Hollow Road Trail, including roughly 0.4 mile each way on Inverness Ridge before the named connector. The connector itself is 2.3 miles one way. Allow about 3 to 3.5 hours. Its reward is an open ridge with views from Limantour Beach toward Chimney Rock. For a one-mile sampler, follow the same approach, continue 480 feet along Bucklin to a view bench, then turn back.
The route crosses a brushy slope of bishop pine, ceanothus, coyote brush, grasses and lupines. Higher up, exposed decomposed granite and rock show through. The view opens over the coast from Limantour Beach toward Chimney Rock. Tall grass has buried parts of the tread on past visits; watch the path where brush crowds in. Frame the tan track against the ridge and coast beyond. The route drops to Muddy Hollow Road Trail, then returns on the same path, so the way back climbs to the trailhead.
Start at the Point Reyes Hill Trailhead; the small dirt lot holds about 30 vehicles. Mount Vision Road is one lane for two-way traffic, with sharp switchbacks; vehicles over 24 feet or towing trailers are prohibited. No restroom is reported at the trailhead; food and drinking water on route were not found. Pets and bicycles are not allowed on Bucklin.
Wildlife
2,552 sightingsNorthern Elephant SealMost seen around 11 AMSighting map
127 sightingsGrey WhaleMost seen around noonSighting map
109 sightingsHumpback WhaleMost seen around 10 AMSighting map
29 sightingsSteller Sea LionMost seen around noonSighting map
203 sightingsCalifornia Sea LionMost seen around noonSighting map
352 sightingsHarbor SealMost seen around 7 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Point Reyes. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
ChallengingBucklin–Muddy Hollow Road–Drakes View–Inverness Ridge Loop7.7 mi · 5 hr · At the trailheadA strenuous ridge loop with wide Drakes Bay views.
ChallengingBucklin–Muddy Hollow Road–Bayview–Inverness Ridge Loop8.6 mi · 5 hr · At the trailheadAn 8.6-mile strenuous loop from ridge views into pine forest.EasyPoint Reyes Hill Trail1 mi · 30 min · At the trailheadA short ridge walk ends at a bench above Drakes Bay.
ModerateInverness Ridge Trail3.2 mi · 1.8 hr · At the trailheadA quiet ridge crossing opens toward Drakes Estero and the Pacific.
ModerateInverness Ridge–Drakes View–Bayview Loop4.9 mi · 2.8 hr · 2 mi awayA wooded five-mile loop with one steep, pine-soft descent.
ModerateDrakes Head via Estero Trail8.8 mi · 5 hr · 2.4 mi awayLong pasture miles end at a bluff above Drakes Estero.
ModerateSunset Beach via Estero Trail7.8 mi · 4 hr · 2.4 mi awayEstuary views and working pasture lead to a rocky wetland shore.
ModerateEstero–White Gate Loop11.4 mi · 5.5 hr · 2.4 mi awayTwo estuaries, marsh ponds, and a four-mile retrace.
Sight · 0.4 mi awayMount VisionDrive-up peak with panoramic views over esteros, headlands and ocean
Sight · 1.5 mi awayPoint Reyes ShipwreckCollapsing wooden fishing boat settled into Tomales Bay mudflats
Lodging · 2.8 mi awayLimantour LodgePark's only roofed lodging, tucked in a valley near Limantour Beach
Sight · 3.3 mi awayDrakes Estero Kayak LaunchPaddle into a hushed marine wilderness of seals, rays and birds
Sight · 3.4 mi awayHistoric Life-Saving Service CemeteryFour surfmen's graves behind a white picket fence in eucalyptus
Food · 3.7 mi awayBovine BakeryMorning buns, almond croissants, and strong drip coffee
Campground · 3.8 mi awaySky CampgroundHike-in ridgetop tent sites with sweeping Drakes Bay and ocean views
Sight · 4.1 mi awayCypress Tree TunnelQuarter mile of 1930s Monterey cypress arched into a green tunnelParkwolf’s Point Reyes ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
