Photos from 8-mile minus-tide hike along Duxbury Reef in Bolinas, CA. The hike is feasible only during low tide.

Trail head location: Check out the Google Map for Commonweal parking lot on Mesa Rd. This parking lot is quite prominent. It allows parking for about 10 cars. Duxbury Reef Trail is also shown on this Google map. The trail head lies about 0.1 miles north of the Commonweal parking lot. To get onto Duxbury Reef Trail, you have to enter a gate behind which lies a blue sign announcing that the area belongs to Duxbury Reef Reserve. The trail is initially faint. However, within a few hundred yards, the trail becomes prominent and well maintained. Towards the very end of the trail, you’d have to climb down a pair of ropes that facilitate descent onto the beach. Once on the beach, the hike is straightforward except two rock formations which warrant careful scrambling.

Alternate routes: From Commonweal parking lot, there is a paved road headed towards the beach. At the end of the paved road, a trail provides beach access. From Commonweal parking lot, there is an unpaved trail to the left of the paved road. This trail goes through a cattle ranch and also provides beach access. See Tom Harrison’s Point Reyes Map for details.

Trail Map: Duxbury Reef coastline is part of the California Coastal Trail. The entire route is shown here. In Dec 2011, I parked my car close to Bolinas Beach, which lies at the southern end of Wharf Road in Bolinas, CA. The road soon turns into Olema Bolinas Road. After walking 0.6 miles, I turned left on to Mesa Road. After walking 2.6 miles along Mesa Road, I reached the trail head, just beyond the parking lot for Commonweal. Walking along Mesa Road is not recommended because there is no shoulder along this road for many sections. You should follow the roads and trails shown in the trail map here. The route is well described in the book Hiking the California Coastal Trail – Volume 1 – Oregon to Monterey (320 pages, 2002) by Bob Lorentzen and Michael Nichols.

View at Picasa Gated entrance to Duxbury Reef Trail. Note the sign in blue.11-Dec-2011 15:35, Panasonic DMC-LX5, 2.8, 5.1mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 80	View at Picasa Duxbury Reef Trail - sign close to Mesa Rd11-Dec-2011 15:36, Panasonic DMC-LX5, 2.8, 5.1mm, 0.005 sec, ISO 80	View at Picasa Duxbury Reef Trail11-Dec-2011 15:38, Panasonic DMC-LX5, 2.8, 5.1mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 80	View at Picasa A rope helps you descend to the beach11-Dec-2011 15:46, Panasonic DMC-LX5, 2.8, 5.1mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 80	View at Picasa Rope for descending to the beach11-Dec-2011 15:52, Panasonic DMC-LX5, 2.8, 5.1mm, 0.005 sec, ISO 80
View at Picasa Beach View -- there's a second rope for the last section of the descent11-Dec-2011 15:53, Panasonic DMC-LX5, 2.8, 5.1mm, 0.005 sec, ISO 125	View at Picasa Sandy beach with nobody else in sight11-Dec-2011 16:03, Panasonic DMC-LX5, 2.8, 5.1mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 80	View at Picasa 11-Dec-2011 16:04, Panasonic DMC-LX5, 2.2, 5.5mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 80	View at Picasa 11-Dec-2011 16:06, Panasonic DMC-LX5, 2.8, 5.1mm, 0.004 sec, ISO 80	View at Picasa Rocky beach11-Dec-2011 16:15, Panasonic DMC-LX5, 2.5, 5.1mm, 0.01 sec, ISO 80
View at Picasa 11-Dec-2011 16:24, Panasonic DMC-LX5, 2.5, 5.1mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 80	View at Picasa Tidepools11-Dec-2011 16:28, Panasonic DMC-LX5, 2.8, 7.9mm, 0.005 sec, ISO 125	View at Picasa 11-Dec-2011 16:30, Panasonic DMC-LX5, 2.8, 5.1mm, 0.006 sec, ISO 125	View at Picasa Trail leading to Agate Beach County Park11-Dec-2011 16:43, Panasonic DMC-LX5, 2.8, 5.1mm, 0.006 sec, ISO 80	View at Picasa A rock formation requiring careful climbing.11-Dec-2011 16:48, Panasonic DMC-LX5, 2.0, 5.1mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 125
View at Picasa 11-Dec-2011 16:53, Panasonic DMC-LX5, 2.0, 5.1mm, 0.017 sec, ISO 250	View at Picasa A short wall requiring a climb11-Dec-2011 17:05, Panasonic DMC-LX5, 2.0, 5.1mm, 0.01 sec, ISO 125	View at Picasa 11-Dec-2011 17:25, Panasonic DMC-LX5, 2.0, 5.1mm, 0.017 sec, ISO 125	View at Picasa 11-Dec-2011 17:34, Panasonic DMC-LX5, 2.0, 5.1mm, 0.013 sec, ISO 80	View at Picasa 11-Dec-2011 17:43, Panasonic DMC-LX5, 2.0, 5.1mm, 0.017 sec, ISO 200
View at Picasa A bench overlooking the northern end of Stinson Beach11-Dec-2011 17:46, Panasonic DMC-LX5, 2.0, 5.1mm, 0.017 sec, ISO 125	View at Picasa A shop near the beach, where the hike ended.11-Dec-2011 17:49, Panasonic DMC-LX5, 2.0, 5.1mm, 0.017 sec, ISO 200	View at Picasa 11-Dec-2011 17:13, Panasonic DMC-LX5, 2.0, 5.1mm, 0.017 sec, ISO 125	View at Picasa 11-Dec-2011 16:13, Panasonic DMC-LX5, 3.0, 14.9mm, 0.013 sec, ISO 400	View at Picasa 11-Dec-2011 17:17, Panasonic DMC-LX5, 3.3, 19.2mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 100
View at Picasa 11-Dec-2011 16:26, Panasonic DMC-LX5, 2.0, 5.1mm, 0.017 sec, ISO 100	View at Picasa 11-Dec-2011 15:09, Panasonic DMC-LX5, 2.2, 5.1mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 80	View at Picasa 11-Dec-2011 15:45, Panasonic DMC-LX5, 2.8, 5.1mm, 0.005 sec, ISO 80