Location: County: Marin. Nearest City: Point
Reyes Station.
Campsites, facilities: Coast Camp: There are
12 individual and two group hike-in sites, with piped water and
pit toilets. Backpacking stoves are required for cooking. No
vehicles or pets are permitted. Glen Camp: There are 12
hike-in sites with piped water and pit toilets. Backpacking stoves
are required for cooking. No pets are permitted. Sky Camp:
There are 11 individual sites and one group site (walk-in only)
with piped water and pit toilets provided. Fire grills are provided
for use with charcoal, but no wood fires are permitted in the
park. No vehicles or pets are allowed. Wildcat Camp: There
are nine individual and three group hike-in sites with piped
water and pit toilets. (The three group sites can hold 25 people
each.) Fire grills are provided for use with charcoal, but no
wood fires are permitted in the park. No vehicles or pets are
permitted.
Reservations, fees: Reservations are required; $10
per night, $30 per night for the group site (maximum of 25 people);
four-day maximum stay.
Contact: Call park headquarters at 1-415-663-8054.
Operating hours, seasons: Call the park for information;
open all year round
Directions: Point Reyes NS: From U.S. 101 in
Marin, take the Sir Francis Drake Boulevard exit and drive about
20 miles to Highway 1 at Olema. Turn right on Highway 1 and drive
a very short distance. Coast Camp: Turn left at Bear Valley
Road and drive north for two miles to Limantour Road. Turn left
at Limantour Road and drive six miles to the access road for
the Point Reyes Hostel. Turn left and drive two-tenths of a mile
to the trailhead on the right side of the road. Glen Camp:
Turn left on Bear Valley Road and drive north for seven-tenths
of a mile. Turn left at the "Seashore Information"
sign and drive to the park headquarters parking lot and the Bear
Valley Trailhead. It is a 4.6-mile hike to the camp. Sky Camp:
Turn left on Bear Valley Road and drive north for seven-tenths
of a mile. Turn left at the "Seashore Information"
sign and drive to the park headquarters parking lot and the Bear
Valley Trailhead. Wildcat Camp: Turn left on Highway 1
and drive about 10 miles south to Olema-Bolinas Road (often unsigned).
Turn right and drive 2.1 miles to Mesa Road. Turn right and drive
5.8 miles to the Palomarin Trailhead. It is a 5.6-mile hike to
the campground on the Coast Trail.
Weather, clothing: The weather can be changeable; layered
clothing is recommended.
Trip notes: Coast Camp: This is a classic ocean-bluff
setting, a hike-in camp set just above Santa Maria Beach, providing
an extended tour into a land of charm. It is a 2.8-mile hike
to get here, the northernmost camp on the Coast Trail. From Coast
Camp, the trail contours south along the bluffs above the beach
for 1.4 miles to Sculptured Beach, where there is a series of
odd geologic formations, including caves, tunnels, and sea stacks.
Reservations and a backcountry permit are required. Glen Camp:
Glen Camp is set in the coastal foothills, right at the edge
of where forest gives way to grasslands. The hike to it starts
at the Bear Valley Visitor Center, where you can obtain your
backcountry permits and hiking information, and is routed on
the popular Bear Valley Trail, a wide road made out of compressed
rock. It is 1.6 miles to Divide Meadow, with a modest 215-foot
climb, then another 1.6 miles through Bear Valley to the Glen
Camp Trail. Turn left and hike 1.4 miles, with the trail lateralling
in and out of two canyons to reach the camp. It is secluded and
quiet. Get a map, a reservation, and bring everything you need.
Sky Camp: Sky Camp is set on the western flank of Mount
Wittenberg on Inverness Ridge. To reach the camp, take the Bear
Valley Trail from park headquarters and walk a mile to the Meadow
Trail. Turn right (north) on the Meadow Trail and hike 1.5 miles
to the Sky Trail, cross it, and continue one-half mile to the
campground. No open fires and no pets are permitted. You must
have a backcountry permit from the Bear Valley Visitor Center
to camp here. Wildcat Camp: This backpack camp sits in
a grassy meadow near a small stream that flows to the ocean,
just above remote Wildcat Beach. Getting there takes you on a
fantastic hike that crosses some of the Bay Area's most beautiful
wildlands. The trail is routed along the ocean for about a mile,
heads up in the coastal hills, then turns left and skirts past
Bass Lake, Crystal Lake, and Pelican Lake, and, ultimately, to
Alamere Creek with its dramatic 40-foot waterfall, one of the
rare ocean bluff waterfalls anywhere.
© 2001, Miwok Lodge 439, Order of the
Arrow, Santa Clara County Council Inc., BSA
Revision 1.2
