Parking
Use the Five Brooks Trailhead lot just off Highway 1; the signed Stewart route starts beside Five Brooks Pond. Two vault toilets are at the trailhead.
Overview
About Stewart–Greenpicker Loop
Why go
- Fern and Douglas-fir climb with an old logging-road story.
- The broad Stewart path makes both the approach and return less rough.
Heads up
- Greenpicker can turn deeply muddy after rain.
- Narrow single-track puts poison oak and horse traffic close.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Point Reyes map
Full mapElevation276–1,319 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 Stewart–Greenpicker Loop, 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
Five Brooks Picnic Area0:00 / 0:25
“Five Brooks is coming up, a quiet picnic stop among woods and trails. Six free, first-come tables sit along Stewart Trail, some beside a mill pond built for a sawmill in nineteen fifty-six.”
Plays near this trailhead in the Parkwolf Point Reyes Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- A Pond Made by a Fault
- The Mill Behind Five Brooks Pond
- The Butter Brand Worth Copying
- A Fence Shows the 1906 Shift
- 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 Stewart–Greenpicker Loop
A shaded loop with a steady climbThe Stewart–Greenpicker Loop is a roughly 7-mile loop from Five Brooks Trailhead.
The Stewart–Greenpicker Loop is a roughly 7-mile loop from Five Brooks Trailhead. It climbs Inverness Ridge on Stewart and Greenpicker, then returns on Stewart; the first roughly 1.2 miles is shared on the way back. Allow around 4 hours; published times range 3–6 hours, and the route gains about 1,100 feet. This is a half-day forest walk rather than a coastal-view hike.
From the pond to the ridgeThe route leaves Five Brooks beside a former mill pond tied to local logging.
The route leaves Five Brooks beside a former mill pond tied to local logging. Follow wide, graded Stewart for about 1.1–1.2 miles, then take Greenpicker to the right at the switchback. This is the route’s steeper, narrower section: a single-track climb through ferns and Douglas fir, with bay and maple in the mix. The name recalls Italian immigrant “greenpickers,” who harvested ferns and salal; the path follows part of an old logging road reconstructed as a gentler trail.
Greenpicker can become deeply muddy in the wet season and after rain. Poison oak grows close to the tread, and horses use the narrow path, so passing takes care.
Near Firtop and backAround 3.2 miles, Greenpicker reaches the ridge near Firtop and reconnects with Stewart.
Around 3.2 miles, Greenpicker reaches the ridge near Firtop and reconnects with Stewart. The high point is marked 1,324 feet, but the dense Douglas fir canopy blocks far-reaching views. Take Stewart for the return; continuing farther on Greenpicker toward Wildcat makes a longer hike. The route then follows Stewart downhill to Five Brooks.
Access and rulesStart at the Five Brooks Trailhead lot just off Highway 1.
Start at the Five Brooks Trailhead lot just off Highway 1. There are two vault toilets, but no potable water at the trailhead. Pets are prohibited on this route. The main commitment is the long climb and the muddy single-track; the broad Stewart path makes the approach and descent more comfortable.
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.
