Stewart Trail to Wildcat Beach

This 13.4-mile out-and-back starts at Five Brooks and reaches Wildcat Beach by way of Stewart Trail, Fir Top and Wildcat Camp. The mileage is round trip and includes the short path from camp to the sand; return by the same corridor. It is a strenuous ridge walk that ends at an open bluff above a nearly three-mile beach.

Follow Stewart northwest to the Olema Valley junction and stay right on Stewart. The trail is a wide service road of packed dirt and gravel, but the climb is real: it gains and loses more than 1,300 feet. About 0.8 mile after the junction, Greenpicker branches off. That steeper shortcut trims roughly 0.7 mile, but this route stays on Stewart's switchbacks for about 2.6 miles to Fir Top. At 1,324 feet, Fir Top is the high point of southern Inverness Ridge. Douglas fir blocks far-reaching views there, so treat it as a forested high point rather than a lookout. The trail descends 2.7 miles to Wildcat Camp; the final half-mile can open to the ocean when fog lifts.

Wildcat Camp sits in an open meadow on a bluff above the beach. A well-worn path along the camp's south side reaches the sand; this is the only safe access to Wildcat Beach. From the sand, turn back to include the meadow on the bluff above the shoreline. Wildcat Camp began as Wildcat Ranch, bought by the park in 1966 and developed as a campground. There are vault toilets and potable water at camp, but no food service on the route.

Plan around six hours for the full hike; the park's estimate is four to six and a half. Five Brooks has a medium-sized gravel lot, a vault/composting toilet, picnic table, kiosk and trash/recycling. The final 0.3 mile to the lot is an unpaved road that is often potholed and washboarded. Day hiking is allowed year-round, from 6 a.m. to midnight. There is no trail activity fee, though park entrance fees may apply. Pets are prohibited on trails to Wildcat; bicycles and horses also use Stewart.