Tomales Point

Frequent traffic, long hike along the sea. One of the best hikes in the bay area.

Beautiful trek. Undulating terrain. Very breezy. Great view.

Beautiful hike! Tomales Point was a great place for a picnic lunch, with views of Dillon Beach, Bodega Bay, and the ocean of course. We saw lots of birds and elk (yes, elk!) along the way. We hiked on a clear day in January... my San Francisco intuition tells me that winter is probably the best time of year to do this hike; in summer there's a high chance your view will be obscured by fog. We were a bit intimidated by the roughly 10-mile (round-trip) trail, but it turns out that those feelings were misplaced - the trail is mostly flat, wide, and well-kept, and we easily finished the hike in under 4 hours.

The end to Tomales Point Trail. When the marine layer clears you can see more clearly the Pacific Ocean and the other side of Tomales Bay. The trek here is 4.7 miles one way but you'll see Tule Elk and Wildflowers along the way. Bring an extra pair of socks for those accidental slips in the mud puddles on trail.

Tomales Point was great! Reasonably flat and very fun but fair warning: the walk is exposed to wind & sun, the path can be uneven and wet, and each hill looks (deceptively) like the last.

Also, saw a few herds of elk and a coyote!