Advertisement: A 4-mile stretch of coast in Point Reyes hikable only at very low tides. You’ll meet no (or few) other people, see a lot of tidepool life, explore a cave and wade around promontories.
More photographs.
Difficulty: Easy, 4 miles with little elevation. Requires some sure footing when wading as rocks can be slippery.
Preparation: I learned about this hike from Phil Arnot's book; a more detailed hike description can be found there. This hike should only be attempted at very low tides, e.g. -0.7 tides. Some promontories are not safely passable at -0.2 tides. You won’t travel much faster than 1 mph on average due to slippery rocks, sand, and wading. Hike from north (McClures Beach) to south (Kehoe Beach) so that the Elephant Rock promontory can be cleared in the beginning rather than end, and start hiking an hour or so before low tide.
Bring warm clothing for your core (possibly 3 layers) since it may be windy and foggy. I took shorts since your legs will get wet anyway (there will be wading despite very low tides). Expect to be wet up to your waist. I wore a pair of lightweight sneakers (essentially water shoes) without socks which I wore for the entire hike.
There isn’t much danger of going the wrong way, but the sequence of the hike goes: McClures beach, the first promontory, Elephant Cave, exit through the keyhole in the back, rocky beach, sandy beach (”second beach”), second promontory (pass though cave), short sandy beach, third promontory (pass through keyhole), short rocky section, and Kehoe Beach (long and really obvious). If you have two cars, you can shuttle from Kehoe Beach to McClures Beach so that you don’t have to do the return hike on the road.
Summary: This is a fun short adventure hike. I actually enjoyed the wading aspects, it was something new and fun. Elephant Cave is very cool. 5/5
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| A seal wakes up on McClures Beach and returns to the sea |
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| Elephant Rock and Birdshit Rock |
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| Bat starfish and kelp |
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| A submerged anemone in a tidepool |
More photographs.
Difficulty: Easy, 4 miles with little elevation. Requires some sure footing when wading as rocks can be slippery.
Preparation: I learned about this hike from Phil Arnot's book; a more detailed hike description can be found there. This hike should only be attempted at very low tides, e.g. -0.7 tides. Some promontories are not safely passable at -0.2 tides. You won’t travel much faster than 1 mph on average due to slippery rocks, sand, and wading. Hike from north (McClures Beach) to south (Kehoe Beach) so that the Elephant Rock promontory can be cleared in the beginning rather than end, and start hiking an hour or so before low tide.
Bring warm clothing for your core (possibly 3 layers) since it may be windy and foggy. I took shorts since your legs will get wet anyway (there will be wading despite very low tides). Expect to be wet up to your waist. I wore a pair of lightweight sneakers (essentially water shoes) without socks which I wore for the entire hike.
There isn’t much danger of going the wrong way, but the sequence of the hike goes: McClures beach, the first promontory, Elephant Cave, exit through the keyhole in the back, rocky beach, sandy beach (”second beach”), second promontory (pass though cave), short sandy beach, third promontory (pass through keyhole), short rocky section, and Kehoe Beach (long and really obvious). If you have two cars, you can shuttle from Kehoe Beach to McClures Beach so that you don’t have to do the return hike on the road.
Summary: This is a fun short adventure hike. I actually enjoyed the wading aspects, it was something new and fun. Elephant Cave is very cool. 5/5
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