Alamere Falls via Coast Trail from Palomarin Trailhead

Dogs No Dogs

Features Birding · Commonly Backpacked · Lake · Views · Waterfall

Explore this 13.7-mile out-and-back trail near Bolinas, California. Generally considered a challenging route, it takes an average of 5 h 49 min to complete when hiked (faster as a run). This is a very popular area for backpacking, birding, and camping, so you'll likely encounter other people while exploring. The trail is open year-round and is beautiful to visit anytime. You'll need to leave pups at home — dogs aren't allowed on this trail.

Alamere Falls is a tidefall waterfall that flows into the Pacific Ocean. This quintessential Marin County hike is located in Point Reyes National Seashore, northwest of San Francisco. The hike to Alamere Falls can be started from the Coast Trail via the Palomarin Trailhead. The parking lot can be accessed at the end of Mesa Road outside of Bolinas. Be sure to arrive early on weekends as this lot fills up quickly. The trail offers great ocean views, including scenes of the Farallon Islands on a clear day as well as Bass Lake, Pelican Lake, Ocean Lake, and Wildcat Lake.

Do not attempt to take the Alamere Falls Trail, as this is not a maintained trail, and the National Park service highly discourages hikers from using this trail. This trail is known to have crumbling and eroding cliffs, poison oak, and ticks, which all pose hazards to hikers.