Point Reyes Lighthouse Hike 8/5/17

We ventured to the Point Reyes Lighthouse a weekend in August. While there were bright blue skies in Davis, it was a different story at the Point Reyes National Seashore along the coast of California. We were a bit disappointed but should have known the weather could be iffy when getting closer to the ocean.

The drive from Davis to Point Reyes was about 2 hours. We did stop beforehand at Point Reyes Station to grab some lunch. The weather was actually really nice while having lunch but once we got closer and closer to the ocean the cloudy skies encompassed us. The trail head parking lot is decent sized but there are so many people visiting (even on a cloudy day) that we had to look to the side of the road for parking. We were lucky to find a spot not too far from the trail head but some were not as lucky and had to walk pretty far from their parking spot to the start of the trail. There are restrooms at the parking area.

The trail is wide and concrete. It is a slight up hill from the start for a bout a quarter of a mile and then levels out. 

The visitor center is about .6 mile out. I took this pic of the boys with the cool looking whale just outside it. There is lots of neat information inside the visitor center. Just beyond the center is the stairs down to the lighthouse.  

There are a little over 300 steps down. There can be lots of people so you need to be patient of those that need to stop and take a break or just go slower.

We did go inside the lighthouse which was pretty neat. There was a ranger inside when we were there, talking about the lighthouse.

A clear shot of a cliff and some waves.

It's a neat lighthouse.

The hike is a total of about 1.6 miles round trip according to my Garmin watch. It is a doable hike for anyone. Just be aware that going down the stairs is pretty easy but for some going back up can be a challenge. The 300+ stairs is equivalent to about 30 stories so just keep that in mind. 

Overall it was a nice short hike. We just wish that it wasn't such a foggy day but we made do. Definitely a cool place to check out a lighthouse. It would also be a great place to take out of town visitors. Maybe next time we go we'll get lucky and get a sunny day. I'll leave you with a video of our trip.

Happy hiking!