Muir Beach/Stinson Beach)
and rejoin Hwy 1/Shoreline
Hwy, winding north along
this spectacularly scenic and
curvy Pacific Ocean byway.
Trace Bolinas Lagoon, where
waterfowl prowl during low tide
and harbor seals often frolic,
and take the very first left after
the lagoon. Go left onto Olema–
Bolinas Rd into central Bolinas.
5 Bolinas
Don’t look for any signs
directing you here.
Residents from this
famously private town
tore the road sign down
so many times that state
highway officials finally
gave in and stopped
replacing it years ago.
Known as ‘Jugville’
during the Gold Rush
days, the sleepy beachside
community is home to
writers, musicians and
fisherfolk. Stroll along the
sand from access points at
Wharf Rd or Brighton Ave.
Hikers should veer
off Olema–Bolinas Rd
to Mesa Rd and follow
it 5 miles to road’s end
at Palomarin Trailhead,
the tromping-off point
for coastal day hikes
into the Point Reyes
National Seashore. On
a toasty day, pack some
water and a towel and
hightail it out from here
to Bass Lake, a popular
freshwater swimmingspot reached by way of a
3-mile hike skirting the
coast. Another 1.5 miles
of walking brings you
to the a fantastic flume
of Alamere Falls, which
tumbles 50ft off a cliff to
the beach below.5 p56
The Drive » Return to Hwy
1 and continue 12 miles north
through Olema Valley. Just past
Olema, drive 23 miles west on
Sir Francis Drake Blvd (towards
Inverness), following the
‘lighthouse’ signs. Raptors perch
on fence posts of historic cattle
ranches, and the road bumps
over rolling hills as it twists
towards the sea.Sausalito