May Flowers at Tomales Point, Point Reyes National Seashore

Stats: (up to) 9.5 miles | 1,100 feet gain

Hours: 3-5

Trailhead: Tomales Point Trailhead

Type: Out-and-back

Date Hiked: May 2023

The Tomales Point trail is a coastal out-and-back trail in Point Reyes National Seashore. The trail extends 4.7 miles one-way along a peninsula bordered by the Pacific Ocean on one side and Tomales Bay on the other. The hike has little elevation change with only a few rolling hills. This trail is more about the journey than the destination since the scenery doesn't change much, and it's definitely worth hiking even if you don't go all the way to Tomales Point at the end. It's a great hike for all-ages and fitness levels.

It was early May 2023. I had already seen the millionth post about Tomales Point in a Facebook group called the California Wildflower Tipline. The name is self-explanatory. It's a tipline, but for wildflowers. In the spring, people post fomo-inducing wildflower photos with locations and dates. When I joined the Facebook group end of April this year, it was already deep into the spring wildflower frenzy, with dozens of posts each day on the latest intel. This was all new to me, since this spring was actually the first that wildflowers had crossed my mind. Perhaps it was because of the very rainy winter which brought about a more abundant wildflower season and also more hype.

The hype led to me learning about the Tomales Point hike, a local wildflower epicenter. Point Reyes is a popular weekend destination for San Franciscans. I’ve gone several times and also done the Tomales Point hike before, but the 2-hour drive to the Tomales Point trailhead meant I hadn’t gone in ages. The wildflower tipline photos were enticing, so we decided to make the day trip to Point Reyes.

The wildflowers started immediately on this hike. In fact, we saw them as we drove to the trailhead too. They were everywhere. The coastal views are also immediate. There were a lot of people on this hike, so don’t expect solitude, but the crowds thin out the farther you hike. Besides flowers in the spring, this hike is also known for its tule elk sightings. We saw many groups of these, and perhaps a rarer sight—we also saw a coyote!

We didn’t hike all the way until Tomales Point, but stopped around mile 4 where there was an incredibly large cluster of flower atop a small hill. It was an explosion of color—huge bushes of yellow lupine and a carpet of yellow poppies. I think this is the perfect turnaround point if you don’t want to go all the way to Tomales Point.