The Historic U.S. Coast Guard Chimney Rock Boathouse.

Chimney Rock is located at the eastern spur of the Point Reyes Headlands. The Chimney Rock area is a popular destination for visitors wishing to view elephant seals, birds, and wildflowers. The 1.75-mile (2.8-km) round-trip Chimney Rock Trail leads along the ridge crest of a narrow peninsula, offering spectacular views of Drakes Bay and the coastline stretching to the southeast. The historic Chimney Rock Lifeboat Station offers a glimpse into the harrowing jobs of rescuing crew and passengers from ships that ran aground along this rugged coastline.

Come Prepared

• Print out the Chimney Rock Area map. (125 KB PDF)
• Fuel: The closest gas station is 20 miles (32 km) away in Point Reyes Station. Be sure you have sufficient fuel in your vehicle for a minimum 40-mile (64 km) round-trip drive, not including side trips to other points of interest within the National Seashore.
• Weather: Visitors may experience stiff winds, cool temperatures, fog, and/or rain at Chimney Rock; so dress appropriately. Wear layered clothing.
  National Weather Service Forecast for the Chimney Rock area
• Water: Bring a water bottle. There are no potable sources of water at Chimney Rock. The nearest potable source of water is a water bottle filling station/water fountain located near the east end of the green garages that are located approximately 100 yards (100 meters) before one arrives at the Lighthouse Visitor Center or a water fountain located in the courtyard of the Kenneth C. Patrick Visitor Center at Drakes Beach. Bottled water is not sold at Point Reyes National Seashore’s visitor centers or bookstores.
• Food: There are no food services west of Inverness, which is a thirty-five-minute drive from the Chimney Rock parking lot. Bring food from home or purchase food at one of the stores or restaurants in West Marin before heading out to Chimney Rock if it is close to mealtime.
• Restrooms: Restrooms are available at the Chimney Rock parking lot from 6 am to midnight. Be sure to use the restrooms before heading out on area trails.
• Phones: Cell phone reception is very minimal to nonexistent in the Chimney Rock area.

• Drones: Launching, landing, or operating a remotely operated aircraft (aka “remotely piloted aircraft,” “unmanned aircraft,” or “drone”) from or on lands and waters administered by the National Park Service within the boundaries of Point Reyes National Seashore is prohibited.

  If you observe drone use in Point Reyes National Seashore, please call park dispatch at 415-464-5170 or contact staff at the nearest Visitor Center as soon as possible. If you observe drone use in other National Park Service areas or if you find photographs or videos online or elsewhere that were illegally taken within National Park Service areas from drones, you can report the violation to the National Park Service tip line at 888-653-0009 or by email.

• Pets: Dogs may be walked in the parking lot and along Chimney Rock Road west of the parking lot (i.e., back toward Sir Francis Drake Boulevard); otherwise, dogs are prohibited. Please be aware that most visitors to Chimney Rock are away from their vehicle for an hour or longer. Please do not leave your dog unattended in your vehicle; leave your dog at home instead. This prohibition does not apply to working service dogs, which are allowed on trails and in public buildings. If you have a service dog, please inquire at a park visitor center for information before heading out to the Chimney Rock area. Visit our Pets page for more information about visiting Point Reyes National Seashore with your dog.

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Sir Francis Drake Boulevard passes through a number of ranches on its way to Chimney Rock and the Point Reyes Headlands.

The Drive

Chimney Rock is located at the eastern-most end of the Point Reyes Headlands. Drive west ~19 miles (~30 km) on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard. After passing through the “A” Ranch, turn left at the Y signed for Chimney Rock and follow Chimney Rock Road ~0.9 miles (~1.5 km) to the Chimney Rock parking lot. Chimney Rock Road is only about ten feet (3 meters) wide, but serves as a two-way road. Please observe the speed limit and look ahead to keep watch for oncoming traffic. If you do notice a vehicle heading your way, pull into the next turnout until the other vehicle has had a chance to pass.

Sir Francis Drake Boulevard is windy and slow-going, so allow forty-five minutes to drive the ~20 miles (~32 km) from the Bear Valley/Olema/Point Reyes Station area to the Chimney Rock parking lot (one hour and thirty minutes round-trip), not including any time you will spend in the area. Allow one hour and forty-five minutes for the drive (three hours and thirty minutes round-trip) from the Santa Rosa area, northwest San Francisco, or the northern East Bay. Many visitors spend at least an hour or two in the Chimney Rock area.
Directions to Chimney Rock from the Bear Valley Visitor Center.

RVs and Trailers

Recreational vehicles (RVs) and vehicles pulling trailers with a combined length in excess of 24 feet (7.3 meters) are prohibited on Chimney Rock Road. If you are traveling with a trailer or are driving an RV towing a passenger vehicle, consider unhitching at the bus/RV/trailer-only parking lot at Bear Valley and taking only the passenger vehicle for the drive out to the Chimney Rock area. Overnight parking/camping in RVs and trailers is prohibited throughout Point Reyes National Seashore.

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Parking

The parking lot at the Chimney Rock Trailhead can only accommodate twenty vehicles. As a result, parking space availability is very limited, particularly in the afternoon. Please observe all “No Parking” signs. Please refrain from parking along the shoulder of the road or off of the pavement. Doing so kills vegetation and increases erosion.

Parking Lot

Chimney Rock Parking Lot

• 
  
  20 total spaces
  

• 
  0 oversized spaces
  

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  37.995124821, -122.979734524
  

A small paved parking lot with space for 20 vehicles. Park here to hike the Chimney Rock Trail, walk to the Elephant Seal Overlook, or visit the Historic Point Reyes Lifeboat Station. A vault toilet is located at the southeast corner of the parking lot. The Chimney Rock Parking Lot is approximately 45 minutes by car from the Bear Valley Visitor Center via Sir Francis Drake Boulevard.

Parking Fee

No parking or entrance fees are charged at Point Reyes National Seashore.

Cost: $0.00

Closures & Seasonal Exceptions

Amenities

Accessible Lot
Yes
Number of ADA-designated spaces
1
Number of ADA van-accessible spaces
1
Number of ADA step-free spaces
0
Total number of spaces
20
Number of oversize vehicle spaces
0

Accessibility

The parking lot at Chimney Rock has one van accessible parking spot and is composed of asphalt. The path to the Elephant Seal Overlook involves a rather short but moderately steep descent along an asphalt driveway (which is degraded in places), and then a flat traverse along a rammed-earth 0.2 mile-long (0.3 kilometer) trail. Individuals in wheelchairs may need assistance with the descent and accent of the driveway.

Individuals with a Disabled Person parking placard or plate may drive their personal vehicle to the Lifeboat Station’s Boathouse parking area. Please drive slowly and carefully since this section of the one-lane access road doubles as the pedestrian path from the main Chimney Rock parking lot to the Boathouse. Volunteers sometimes staff the Boathouse on weekends and holidays from January through March. The Boathouse’s first floor and boat bay are wheelchair accessible. There is also an accessible restroom within the Boathouse. At other times, visitors may explore the Lifeboat Station grounds, where wayside exhibits provide information about the U.S. Lifesaving Service and U.S. Coast Guard history at Point Reyes.

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Stay on designated trails

The only official trails in the Chimney Rock area are shown in the map to the right.

Hiking along the bluff tops can be unsafe and is not recommended. Stay away from cliff edges. Loose soil and/or rock can give way suddenly and you may fall. Do not climb cliffs.

Visitors walking off of official trails and paths trample vegetation, which may lead to the death of the trampled plants. Over time, as more and more visitors use a route, it starts to look more and more like an official trail, and more and more visitors use it, resulting in a feedback loop that makes the “trail” look “official.” However, these “social paths” tend to exacerbate erosion and harm threatened and endangered species. These paths also can lead to locations where visitors may be more at risk to injury, endangering themselves and any potential rescuers.

Do not “hop” the fences to get a “better” photo or for any other reason. Fences and other barriers are there for your safety. The bluffs and cliffs in the Chimney Rock are prone to collapse with little warning. Stay well away from the bluff tops. Individuals who are found on the wrong side of fences will be cited for entering a closed area.

During the winter, hundreds of northern elephants seals can be seen from the Elephant Seal Overlook.

Elephant Seal Overlook

From the Chimney Rock parking lot, walk down the driveway 150 feet (~50 meters), bear left at the Y, and continue along the Fish Docks access road another 260 feet (~80 meters) to the trailhead for the Elephant Seal Overlook Trail. The relatively flat dirt trail leads 850 feet (~260 meters) northwest to the Elephant Seal Overlook. While it may be possible to view northern elephant seals from here on any given day of the year, December through March is the period during which visitors may view several hundred elephant seals hauled out at the southwest end of Drakes Beach as the seals return to give birth and to mate.

Please visit our Viewing Elephant Seals page for more information.

Chimney Rock Trail

This spectacular 1.75-mile (2.8 km) hike offers views of Drakes Bay and the Pacific Ocean and is renowned for great spring wildflowers. Rocky cliffs drop off steeply to the water, so there is no beach access. While it is possible to see a few whales any given day of the year, from March through May, dozens to hundreds of gray whales migrate north past Chimney Rock every day. Fog and wind can make this hike challenging. Start this hike from the southeast corner of the Chimney Rock parking lot.

Photo of a park employee standing over and pointing at a newly developed fissure along the Chimney Rock Trail on December 21, 2015.

Fissures Near the Chimney Rock Trail

Cracks were reported on a portion of the bluff near the Chimney Rock Trail on December 21, 2015. These fissures could indicate the possibility of a weakening cliff face in the area. The land may be unstable and a collapse or erosion could occur. Visitors are reminded to stay on designated trails.

Bluffs along the California coast are inherently unstable. They are prone to crumbling and sliding, especially in wet weather. It is very dangerous to climb or walk along the edge of cliffs. Be aware of falling rocks if walking near the base of a rock face.

View:
Close-up photograph of the fissure. (172 KB jpg)
Photograph of the area with the fissure from the southeast. (117 KB jpg)
Aerial photograph of the location of the fissure marked in yellow. (216 KB jpg)

The Historic U.S. Coast Guard Chimney Rock Boathouse.

Historic Lifeboat Station

Despite the efforts of the men and women who worked at the Point Reyes Lighthouse, which was constructed in 1870, ships continued to wreck on the rocks and beaches along the dangerous Point Reyes peninsula. In 1889, the U.S. Life-Saving Service opened a Life Saving Station on the Point Reyes Beach, the first of two built at Point Reyes. The U.S. Lifesaving Service was combined with the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service to form the U.S. Coast Guard in 1915. In 1927, the Coast Guard moved their operations moved from Point Reyes Beach to the protected waters at the southwest end of Drakes Beach near Chimney Rock. Eventually modern technologies eclipsed the need for the Lifeboat Station at Point Reyes. In 1969,the Point Reyes Lifeboat Station was closed and, shortly thereafter, was transferred to the National Park Service for preservation.
Visit our Lifeboat Station History at Point Reyes page for more information.

The Lifeboat Station buildings are visible from the Chimney Rock Trail and the station’s access road (which is open only to NPS and other authorized vehicles). Visitors may explore the Lifeboat Station grounds, where wayside exhibits provide information about the U.S. Lifesaving Service and U.S. Coast Guard history at Point Reyes.

Today, the Historic Lifeboat Station at Point Reyes National Seashore is primarily used as an educational facility for non-profit groups learning about the resources of the natural and cultural resources of Point Reyes. The Boathouse is sometimes open to the public from 11 am to 4 pm on weekends and federal holidays from January through March, if volunteer staff is available. The Boathouse contains the historic Coast Guard Motorized Lifeboat CG-36542 and has the last intact marine railway on the West Coast. Kids activities, a 10-minute video on elephant seals, and complimentary hot beverages (cocoa, tea, coffee) are available when the Boathouse is open, along with hands-on interactive activities allowing both children and adults to learn about seal and whale adaptations.

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POINT REYES NATIONAL SEASHORE – An unexpected influx of elephant seals has restricted access to a beach at Point Reyes National Seashore, northwest of San Francisco.

The National Park Service closed access to the Drakes Beach area this week after storms and tides landed 200 elephant seals, making the path from the parking lot to the beach unsafe.

The only exception to the closure is between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekends and bank holidays when park staff is present.

Giant elephant seals spend most of their time at sea.

Males are 4.3 to 4.9 meters long and weigh up to 5,000 pounds (2,268 kilograms). Women are on average 3 to 3.6 meters long and weigh up to 907 kilograms.

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A fire that broke out in the fireplace in the lobby of the popular Olema House Hotel near Point Reyes late Friday damaged the lobby, attic and four guest rooms but did not cause any injuries, Marin County Fire Department reported.

Water damage was also reported.

When the fire department arrived shortly after 11 p.m., thick smoke came from the roof of the three-story hotel on Highway 1. About two hours later, 40 firefighters had the fire under control.

“It could have been a lot worse,” said Marin County Fire Department battalion chief Bret McTigue, who said additional firefighters happened to be on standby at Point Reyes Station due to the increased risk of forest fires. They were also supported by firefighters from Inverness, Bolinas and Stinson Beach.

McTigue said the fire in the fireplace got out of control when additional fuel was added to a compressed log of sawdust that was already burning. That started a fire in the chimney that spread to the attic, he said.

The firefighters were assisted by “built-in alarm and detection systems” installed by the hotel that automatically alerted the firefighters, McTigue said.

The upscale hotel and restaurant, where rooms are $ 275 a night and a hamburger is $ 18, will remain closed for the rest of the week, hotel officials said. The guests were moved to other hotels.

Steve Rubenstein is a contributor to the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: srubenstein@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SteveRubeSF

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The rules allow access to leisure activities within the framework of the guidelines prescribed by the respective health officer of the individual districts in order to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

One of the most significant changes came at Mount Diablo State Park, where a contingent of vehicles was ordered for the first time as part of the reopening.

The majority of the Bay Area locations that will remain closed are in the state-administered Golden Gate National Recreation Area, including parking areas in San Francisco, Alcatraz Island, and staging areas in the Marin Headlands. Other significant closings remain at all state park campsites and major recreational lakes, including the entire Los Vaqueros watershed, as well as boating and fishing at the San Pablo, Lafayette, and Del Valle Reservoirs.

Here’s the latest on what’s open and closed in the Bay Area:

Outdoors by Tom Stienstra

San Francisco

The GGNRA opened parking lots at both Baker Beach and China Beach.

The Oceanic Society, which emphasizes social distancing, will take its first whale watching tour of the season from Marina Green Harbor on Saturday.

Party boat trips started from Fisherman’s Wharf with trips out into the bay for halibut, striped bass, and rockfish, and to the Golden Gate for salmon. On Tuesday, Capt. Erik Anfinson of the Bass Tub took 12 anglers out into the bay and reported that they caught seven halibut (and released four), five striped bass (and two released), 22 cod (and 15 released), 86 rockfish (and 17 released ), plus six vermilions and a seaweed greenling.

Marin

After Point Reyes National Seashore closed in late March, it opened most of the main rest stops to access the park’s 71,000 acres: Bear Valley, Sky Trail, Limantour Beach, Drakes Estero, Drakes Beach, Abbotts Lagoon, Pierce Ranch, and Five Brooks. The kayak launch site for Drake’s Estero, which is in close proximity to Sir Francis Drake, has also opened. Major areas that are still closed include Point Reyes Lighthouse, Chimney Rock Headlands, Palomarin Trailhead, Mount Vision, and South Beach, and all visitor centers.

The Marin Municipal Water District opened its water catchment areas to parking. These include the staging areas and trailheads along Bolinas-Fairfax Road to Cataract Falls, Carson Falls and Lagunitas Creek on Kent Pump Road. Access to the trails has also been reopened by Sky Oaks for Lakes Lagunitas and Bon Tempe, as well as North Nicasio, Soulajule and Stafford counties.

Marin County Parks has reopened Agate Beach in Bolinas, Whitehouse Pool on Lower Lagunitas Creek, Chicken Ranch Beach on the southwest end of Tomales Bay, Miller Boat Launch on the northeast end of Tomales Bay, and Paradise Beach in Tiburon.

Fishing with party boats was also resumed from Sausalito.

South peninsula

At Pillar Point in Half Moon Bay, the boat ramp opened and party boat fishing finally started. The Huli Cat ventured on her first excursion Tuesday with eight anglers on board, said Captain Tom Mattusch, who reported she was caught with 80 dungeness crabs (10 per person limits) and 75 rockfish (five out of 10 fish limits for everyone on board ) had returned).

Half Moon Bay State Beach has reopened with limited parking and access to beaches and the 6-mile Coastside Trail. This contributed to beach openings last weekend, including Montara State Beach (in the Martini Creek parking lot), Mavericks Beach at Pillar Point, Francis, Venice, and Poplar Beaches in Half Moon Bay and south of Half Moon Bay the beaches at Cowell Ranch in San Gregorio, Pescadero and Bean Hollow. All offer limited parking and no on-street parking when available spaces are full, state park officials said.

In the remote regions of South Bay, the Big Basin Redwoods near Boulder Creek and Henry W. Coe State Parks reopened. In Henry Coe, ready-to-use parking areas have been opened at both the headquarters east of Morgan Hill and the Hunting Hollow car park east of Gilroy.

East bay

At Mount Diablo State Park, the reopening with a contingent of vehicle access is a major turning point for the hundreds of road cyclists who ride to the summit every day.

In the East Bay Regional Park District, both Alameda and Contra Costa County’s sheriffs ordered a 8:00 p.m. curfew this week “until further notice” in all parks. Access is available at approximately 50 parks and major catchment areas, including the Carquinez Strait Regional Shoreline, Bort Meadow for Anthony Chabot, Garin, Las Trampas, Mission Peak, Morgan Territory, Sunol, and Round Valley.

East Bay Parks also introduced new rules this week that require dogs to be kept on a leash at all times.

Tom Stienstra is the outdoor writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: tstienstra@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @StienstraTom

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