This is an incredibly scenic beach, but you need to be willing to take the trouble to get to it. It's almost a secret, probably deliberately. No signs point to it (at least when I was there a few years ago). The poorly-marked road to it, Sycamore Canyon Road, is about a mile south of the entrance to Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. The paved, but narrow one-lane road leads down to the beach. There are numerous turnouts to let on-coming traffic pass. There's a paved parking lot at the end of the road. There was plenty of parking when we visited it late in the afternoon, but I got the feeling that it gets filled up in mid-day. The path to the beach passes by a warm creek-fed lagoon. The beach is surrounded by steep rocky cliffs. Waves crash on the off-shore rocks. The surf hits the curving the beach to the left. The beach in the center (see the picture above) is protected by a rock ridge, which is pierced by sea tunnels. To the left of that, the wind has blown the sand far up the cliffsides, forming slopes that kids can climb up and roll down on (which is where the above picture was taken from). The beach curves to the right, with tidepools and a sandy beach favored by those who can't seem to afford a swimsuit.
This state park is south of Pfeiffer Big Sur. The drive along Hwy 1 to reach it is one of the most spectacular drives in California. The park entrance and parking lot is on the inland side of the highway. A short trail leads under Hwy 1, past a Pelton Wheel exhibit, and ends up at a lookout over the beach, with a rare sight: McWay Creek shoots off a cliff and takes an 8-story plunge as McWay Falls and crashes directly onto the beach or into the ocean, depending on the tide. It's the only major waterfall in California to directly drop into the ocean. The cliffs above the falls are great for winter gray whale watching. The looks small from the road, but actually encompasses 3600 acres, most of which is inland. The park has inland hiking trails through redwood forests, steep fern-covered canyons, oak woodlands, and open grassy slopes.
Point Lobos State Reserve is one of the crown jewels of the state park system. Most of the shoreline is made up of sheer cliffs or rocky beaches. However, in a protected grotto, surrounded by sea caves and tunnels, is tiny China Cove. A long wooden staircase leads down to the beach, passing by cliffs covered with colorful succulents. With its white sands and clear green waters, it looks like it was transported from a mythological Grecian Isle.
The entire Mendocino Coastline is like one giant park. Every mile brings incredible scenery into view. One of the most scenic spots along this coast is Russian Gulch State Park. It's a long thin park that mostly follows Russian Gulch and spreads out at the headlands. Inland trails lead through dense fern-covered redwood forests to Russian Gulch Falls. The graceful arch bridge of Hwy 1 spans the sandy beach where the creek empties into the protected cove. Children play in the calm waters here, while divers swim out in search of prized abalone. The headlands offer views of the cove (see above) and coast. On the headlands is the Devil's Punch Bowl, a collapsed sea cave that has formed an inland bowl. Water surges in and out of the tunnel and creates a blow-hole effect under storm conditions.
Just down the road from the Monterey Bay Aquarium is Lover's Point. The rocks there are fun to climb on. They form high vantage points to watch for sea otters and sea lions. At low tide, offshore rocks form a network of tidepools, great for observing (but not touching) tidepool life. Next to that is the small sandy beach shown above. It's on Monterey Bay and faces inland away from the open sea, so the waves are gentle. Next to that is a swimming beach shown in my page on Best places to go swimming in Northen California.
Angel Island is a jewel in the middle of San Francisco. It's accessible only by boat or ferry. Much of its shoreline is steep and rocky, with incredible views of the Bay. There are some sandy beaches however, particularly near the visitor's center at Ayala Cover. For more information, see my Bay Area Hiking - State Parks entry on Angel Island.
This beach is one of the best places on the coast for tidepooling. It's easily reached. It's just off Hwy 1 north of Half Moon Bay. A huge expanse of flat rocks provides nooks and channels to capture seawater. Low tide reveals a massive complex of tidepools accessible even by small children, who love to look at the teeming sealife in the pools. (Look, but don't take. It's against the law.) There's also a wide arc of sandy beach nearby, as well as coastal bluffs.
This beach is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. It's located in the Presidio of San Francisco, near the Golden Gate Bridge, as you can see by the picture. Baker Beach and neighboring China Beach (see below) have some of the best and most scenic views of the bridge, when it's not obscured by the famous San Francisco fog.Since it's near the Golden Gate, Baker Beach a hot spot for catching striped bass on their spawning migration up into the Sacramento River Delta.On warm sunny days, the beach can be jam-packed with sun-starved San Franciscans. On cool foggy mornings, however, you can almost have the beach to yourself. In the dunes behind the beach are some old concrete gun emplacement bunkers. In one of the bunkers is a huge cannon, called a disappearing rifle. Kids can climb onto the gun and play war games. In one of the bunkers is a small museum showing the old coastal defenses in the area. Farther back from the beach are cypress-shaded picnic areas. For more information on the GGNRA, see my Bay Area Hiking - National Parks and Monuments page entry on it.
This beautiful little beach is in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, like its bigger neighbor Baker Beach to the north. It's much harder to find, however. It's almost a secret. A tiny parking lot is on the cliffs behind the million-dollar houses in the Seacliff district. A walkway leads down to the beach, where there is a large building with restrooms and changing areas.
Tomales Bay State Park has some of the best beaches in Northern California. Heart's Desire is the most popular and the best for swimming. You can see it on my "Best Places to Go Swimming in Northern California" page. Heart's Desire Beach has parking lots, picnic grounds, restrooms, and showers, so it's the most crowded. However, a short and easy stroll through the shady woods takes you other beaches that you can sometimes have almost to yourself. Tiny Pebble Beach is to the south. Much larger Indian Beach is to the north. A bridge at the south entrance to Indian Beach crosses the creek (see the picture above) that drains into Tomales Bay. You can wade in the creek or explore the marsh upstream. Some reconstructed Indian bark teepees are on the beach. A long sandy beach, much longer and wider than at Heart's Desire, stretches along the bayshore. This is a favorite place for kayakers to put ashore. The beach becomes rocky and narrower at the northern edge, but at low tide, you can explore more of the shores of Tomales Bay, along the base of the cliffs. For more information on Tomales Bay State Park, see my Bay Area Hiking - State Parks page entry on it.
Point Reyes National Seashore has miles of accessible beaches. Ten-Mile Beach is the longest, on the ruler-straight northwestern face of the park. It's scenic and uncrowded, but the waters are much too treacherous for swimming. Drakes Beach (see the picture above), on the other hand, sandwiched between the point at Point Reyes and the mouth of Drakes Estero, faces south into Drakes Bay and is more protected. It's the most popular swimming beach.There's a parking lot there, restrooms, a visitor's center, and a cafe. Limantour Beach is another nice beach, much larger and less crowded than Drakes Beach. It's on the northeastern curve of Drakes Bay. Between Limantour Beach and the southern edge of the park are miles of rocky, rugged coastline, reachable only by long hikes. These are some of the most scenic beaches in the area, with sea caves, tunnels, and waterfalls, so they're worth the effort to reach them. For more on Point Reyes, see my Bay Area Hiking - National Parks and Monuments page entry on Point Reyes.
You have to hike a mile or so along an easy, flat trail to reach this beautiful curving beach, but it's worth it. The Big Sur River enters the ocean here. Bridges cross the river, which is deep enough for swimming and wading. Coastal bluffs frame the beach. For more information, see my Bay Area Hiking - State Parks page entry on Andrew Molera State Park.
This is one of the largest beaches along the San Mateo Coast. It has a wide variety of habitats and terrain. Inland is the Pescadero Marsh complex, a prime area for bird watching. The marsh is fed by Pescadero Creek, which drains into the ocean here. The creek drainage is a fun and safe place for kids to wade in or play in the sand. To the north of the creek mouth is a long stretch of huge sand dunes (see the picture above). A walkway winds through the dunes. To the south of the creek are rugged rocky areas, great for fishing, rock-hopping, and tidepooling.
This scenic beach is in the heart of the Marin Headlands, north of the Golden Gate Bridge at the end of Bunker Road. It's part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. It's a lovely curving cove, surrounded by the steep Marin Headlands, and backed by tranquil Rodeo Lagoon. It's a relaxing place to stop while exploring the Marin Headlands area.
This small, lovely beach is in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, near the tourist-jammed Muir Woods. Trails lead from here into other parts of the GGNRA. There's a creek, a lagoon, and dense woods here.
This is probably the most popular beach in the North Bay. It stretches straight for 3 miles along Hwy 1, between the Marin Headlands and Bolinas, at the base of Mt. Tamalpais, and is part of the GGNRA. It gets crowded on sunny fall weekends. It tends to be foggy in the summertime, so it's less crowded then. The waves make it a popular surfing area. People go swimming here, but only briefly, because the water is cold.
This is a very scenic beach, adjacent to the famous upscale village of Carmel-By-the Sea and north of Point Lobos State Reserve. The city beach follows along the arc of Carmel Bay. The middle section has a long crescent of wide, sandy beach (see the picture above). The northern corner has rocks for climbing and otter-watching. The state beach is located in a corner surrounding the mouth of the Carmel River, easily reached from Hwy 1. It's at the head of deep undersea Carmel Canyon, which makes the waters here extremely treacherous for swimming.
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Ron Horii, San Jose
Created 10/6/97. Last update: 9/4/98, repaired 5/28/12