Parking
Use the unpaved shoulder at Randall Trailhead on the east side of Highway 1, six miles south of Olema, across from the Olema Valley (Hagmaier) trailhead. Park completely off the travel lane.
Overview
About Randall Trail
Why go
- A direct climb through redwood forest to Bolinas Ridge
- Leashed dogs, bicycles and horses are allowed
Heads up
- A sustained steep climb on the way up
- Informal Highway 1 shoulder parking is easy to miss
The route ends at the Bolinas Ridge Trail junction, not at a summit or a formal viewpoint. It suits hikers who want a short, purposeful climb through trees; skip it if you are choosing this part of the park for broad ocean views. You return on the same track.
Parkwolf’s verdictWorth the climb?Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Point Reyes map
Full mapElevation410–1,499 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
4 active Point Reyes alerts
- 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
- ClosurePalomarin Beach Trail closedPalomarin 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
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Point Reyes Tour Guide
Your drive to Randall 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
The Mill Behind Five Brooks Pond0:00 / 0:27
“The pond at Five Brooks is a piece of logging history. A lumber company built it for a sawmill in nineteen fifty-six, when this was still working timberland.”
Plays on the road 0.6 mi from the trailhead in the Parkwolf Point Reyes Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- The Coast Miwok Story Continues
- Five Brooks Picnic Area
- Why the Radio Stations Stood Apart
- Palomarin Trailhead and Alamere Falls
- 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
“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
Hiking Randall Trail
The Randall climbRandall Trail is a 3.4-mile out-and-back from Highway 1 to Bolinas Ridge, with a 1.
Randall Trail is a 3.4-mile out-and-back from Highway 1 to Bolinas Ridge, with a 1.7-mile climb each way. It starts across a grassy pasture, then follows a fairly steep old ranch and fire road into Douglas fir and coast redwood forest. The Park Service calls the hike strenuous, and the sustained climb is the main ask.
Getting there and backAllow about 2 to 3 hours.
Allow about 2 to 3 hours. Randall Trailhead is on the east side of Highway 1, six miles south of Olema. Parking is on unpaved shoulders along the road, across from the Olema Valley (Hagmaier) trailhead. The access is easy to miss, and your car must sit completely out of the travel lane. Dogs are allowed on Randall Trail on a leash shorter than six feet; bikes and horses are also permitted. Those rules change if you continue onto the longer loop west of Highway 1, where pets are prohibited.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Point Reyes
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.
