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Palomarin Beach Trail in Point Reyes National Seashore

Point Reyes National Seashore, CA

Palomarin Beach Trail

A short Coast Trail spur reaches a beach beneath eroding bluffs.

Length
1.2mi
Time
45min
Elev. change
248ft
Difficulty
Easy
  • No dogs
  • High point 280 ft
DirectionsMap

Hear the audio tour

Palomarin Trailhead and Alamere Falls

Overview

About Palomarin Beach Trail

Why go

  • A short, direct Coast Trail spur reaches the beach.

Heads up

  • The return retraces the same path uphill.
  • Reaching the connector from Palomarin parking requires extra Coast Trail walking.

Map & elevation

The route

Loading the Point Reyes map
Full map
Elevation32–280 ft
TrailheadCoast Trail junction / north end of Palomarin Beach Trail37.93510, -122.74891
Keep this map with you offline in the Parkwolf app

Plan your hike

Before you go

Parking

Use the gravel Palomarin Trailhead lot at the end of Mesa Road; the final 1.2 miles are unpaved and often potholed or washboarded. The named segment begins where it leaves Coast Trail, so the walk from the lot to that junction is additional and not included in the 1.2-mile out-and-back distance.

4 active Point Reyes alerts

  • ClosurePalomarin Beach Trail closedMentions this trailPalomarin Beach Trail is closed to all visitors, employees, and residents until further notice; do not use the trail. - The trail is closed because unstable and failing sections have made it unsafe.Official details
  • ClosureOld Tocaloma/Platform Bridge closed to vehiclesDo not drive across the Old Tocaloma/Platform Bridge; it is closed to all vehicular traffic until further notice.Official details
See all 4 alerts
A park ranger sits on a dash-mounted phone, talking, as Parkwolf’s Tour Guide plays “Army Cutworm Moths: A Grizzly Bear Buffet” on Grand Loop Road below Dunraven Pass in Yellowstone
Parkwolf Tour GuideThe highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.

Point Reyes Tour Guide

Your drive to Palomarin Beach Trail, narrated.

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

Palomarin Trailhead and Alamere Falls
0:00 / 0:32
“You're approaching Palomarin Trailhead, the start of the long Coast Trail hike to Alamere Falls.”

Plays on the road 0.2 mi from the trailhead in the Parkwolf Point Reyes Tour Guide.

More stories near here in the app

  • After the Pelican's Splash
  • The Bird Record on Mesa Road
  • The Coast Miwok Story Continues
  • Why the Radio Stations Stood Apart
  • 61 audio storiesacross Point Reyes’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
  • Wildlife heatmapsfor Northern Elephant Seal, Grey Whale, Humpback Whale, and 13 more
  • Works offlinemaps, 65 trails, 41 places, and audio download before you lose signal
  • CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
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“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!!!!”
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Trail guide

Hiking Palomarin Beach Trail

The beach spurPalomarin Beach Trail is a 1.

Palomarin Beach Trail is a 1.2-mile out-and-back from the Coast Trail junction, using the named 0.6-mile connector to the beach and back. It is a short side trip for walkers already on Coast Trail: the dirt path drops to a narrow shore below pale, eroding bluffs and dark intertidal rocks.

Effort and payoffThe route loses about 250 feet between its Coast Trail end and the beach.

The route loses about 250 feet between its Coast Trail end and the beach. The return retraces the same connector uphill. Allow roughly 45 minutes for the route out and back with a brief look at the shore; time to reach the junction from the parking area is extra. This distance and time do not include that approach or a longer beach walk.

AccessPark at Palomarin Trailhead, a gravel lot at the end of Mesa Road. The final 1.

Park at Palomarin Trailhead, a gravel lot at the end of Mesa Road. The final 1.2 miles of road are unpaved and often rough with potholes or washboarding. A vault/composting toilet is at the lot. The connector begins farther along Coast Trail, not in the parking area. Pets are not permitted on trails from Palomarin.

beachoutbackcoastal bluffshorelinedirt trailintertidal rocks

Wildlife

Wildlife in Point Reyes

All Point Reyes wildlife maps
Northern Elephant Seal2,552 sightingsNorthern Elephant SealMost seen around 11 AMSighting mapGrey Whale127 sightingsGrey WhaleMost seen around noonSighting mapHumpback Whale109 sightingsHumpback WhaleMost seen around 10 AMSighting mapSteller Sea Lion29 sightingsSteller Sea LionMost seen around noonSighting mapCalifornia Sea Lion203 sightingsCalifornia Sea LionMost seen around noonSighting mapHarbor Seal352 sightingsHarbor SealMost seen around 7 AMSighting map

Sighting maps show where each species has been reported across Point Reyes. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.

Keep exploring

Near Palomarin Beach Trail

See it all on the map

Trails that start nearby

ChallengingAlamere Falls via Palomarin and Wildcat Beach13.2 mi · 7.5 hr · 0.1 mi awayA long coastal hike ends at a waterfall spilling onto Wildcat Beach.ChallengingCoast Trail: Palomarin to Laguna Road16 mi · 9 hr · 0.1 mi awayA full-day coastal traverse linking two hike-in camps.ModerateBass Lake via Coast Trail5.7 mi · 3 hr · 0.1 mi awayBluff-top surf views lead inland to a small lake.ModerateWildcat Beach via Coast Trail11 mi · 5.5 hr · 0.1 mi awayA long coastal hike to a wild beach and back.ModerateCoast–Lake Ranch–Ridge Loop11.1 mi · 6 hr · 0.1 mi awayOcean cliffs, a forest pond and a quieter ridge in one dayModerateRidge Trail6.2 mi · 4 hr · 0.9 mi awayA long shaded ridge walk that ends away from its start.ChallengingPablo Point Trail5.4 mi · 4 hr · 2.3 mi awayA 5.4-mile out-and-back to an unmaintained meadow spur.ChallengingMcCurdy Trail4 mi · 2.5 hr · 2.3 mi awayClimb through pasture, redwoods and chaparral to Bolinas Ridge.

Places near the trailhead

Sight · 2.3 mi awayAlamere FallsA 40-foot cascade spilling over coastal cliffs onto a wilderness beachBeach · 3.1 mi awayWildcat BeachRemote 2.9-mile beach with Alamere Falls dropping onto the sandCampground · 3.4 mi awayWildcat CampgroundHike-in bluff meadow above the surf, a mile from Alamere FallsCampground · 4.3 mi awayGlen CampgroundQuiet wooded valley camp, 4.6 miles in, no ocean viewPicnic area · 4.4 mi awayFive Brooks Picnic AreaSix trailside tables, some beside an abandoned mill pondBeach · 7.2 mi awaySecret Beach and Skylight CaveCollapsed sea cave and hidden beach reached only at negative tidesBeach · 7.4 mi awaySculptured BeachWave-carved rocks and low-tide pools, two miles down a wild shoreSight · 7.8 mi awayMorgan Horse RanchWorking park horses and ranch history on a short hillside walk

Parkwolf’s Point Reyes ranking

Top-rated trails in Point Reyes

All 65 trails
  1. 1Tomales Point TrailChallenging · 9.5 mi
  2. 2Alamere Falls via Palomarin and Wildcat BeachChallenging · 13.2 mi
  3. 3Chimney Rock TrailEasy · 1.8 mi
  4. 4Abbotts Lagoon TrailEasy · 2.8 mi
  5. 5Bear Valley Trail to Miller PointModerate · 9 mi
  6. 6Drakes Head via Estero TrailModerate · 8.8 mi

Take Parkwolf to Point Reyes.

The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.

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