Little Tomales Bay State Park, with only 2,000 acres, is dwarfed by the surrounding parklands of Point Reyes National Seashore. A handful of trails traverse gently sloping wooded hillsides and access four beaches on Tomales Bay. Shell, Pebble, Heart's Desire, and Indian Beach, all downslope from and sheltered by Inverness Ridge, are calm and scenic, perfect for family seashore excursions. Departing from a trailhead a stone's throw from the shoreline, Jepson and Johnstone Trails create a loop through a gorgeous and dense forest, lush with huckleberry, ferns, coast live oak, tanoak, Bishop pine, and hazelnut. The loop is short, but truly awesome; one of the most beautiful woodland hikes in the bay area. You can extend the circuit with a 5.2 mile out-and-back excursion on Johnstone Trail, to Shell Beach, or stretch the hike another mile with an out-and-back visit to Indian Beach.
     On the first day of summer I hiked through Tomales Bay State Park wearing a fleece jacket. Point Reyes, one of my favorite destinations during bay area hot spells, is a great place to hike on summer mornings. When fog lingers near the ocean, the wind blows, trees moan and whisper with the breeze, outside noise is drowned away, and gusts of cool air keep the temperature pleasant on the trails. In this thick forest winter storms toss quite a few trees onto the trails, and sections that are damp even in summer get seriously muddy. Spring and autumn are pleasant, and less crowded than summer.
      Begin at the parking lot at the end of the park road. You might have noticed the start of Jepson Trail, on the right, as you drove through the horseshoe-shaped parking lot. Either walk back along the road, or if you're parked in the lower section, look for a shortcut trail about mid-lot, leading to the upper lot (away from the beach paths). The signed trail, open to hikers and equestrians only, steps into a stunning forest of huge gnarled coast live oaks, California coffeeberry, hazelnut, ferns, and huckleberry. As the path winds easily uphill, the lush vegetation creates a nearly impenetrable thicket. You may hear deer crashing through the woods, but unless they are on the trail, you probably won't see them. Bishop pine overtakes coast live oak as the dominant tree, but you might also see a few madrone. In the understory, the nearly omnipresent huckleberry and coffeeberry are accompanied by occasional clusters of poison oak, ceanothus, toyon, thimbleberry, currant, gooseberry, and sticky monkeyflower. There are masses of salal, a low glossy-leaved shrub often used in flower arrangements. After ascending easily for 0.94 mile, you'll reach a signed junction with a connector path heading right to Pierce Point Road. Continue straight on Jepson Trail.
     Here, the forest thins a bit, and the trail is lined with tall, hedge-like shrubs of coffeeberry, toyon, and coyote brush. At 1.00 mile, the trail crosses a paved road which accesses private Shallow Beach. Continue straight.
     This segment was a bit overgrown on my visit, and I dodged a few overzealous branches of poison oak, along with runaway dangling honeysuckle vines, fragrant with pink blossoms in early summer. At 1.10 miles, you'll reach a signed junction, and the end of Jepson Trail. (You can extend this hike on the out-and-back part of Johnstone, to the right -- it's 5.2 miles round trip to Shell Beach and back to this junction.) Turn left onto Johnstone Trail.
     The trail, closed to cyclists, enters a familiar combination of Bishop pine, coffeeberry, huckleberry, coast live oak, and hazelnut, but tanoak is also common. Look for blossoms on manzanita shrubs mid-winter, followed, in March, by displays of hound's tongue and milkmaids, as well as sweet-smelling flowers on huckleberry and madrone. At 1.29 miles, you'll cross the paved road again, then begin an easy descent through a woodland slightly more open than the thickets of Jepson Trail. There's a bench on the left, with views to Tomales Bay somewhat screened by tree cover. Johnstone Trail reaches a damp area not far from a creek, and the grade sharpens a bit as the trail switchbacks downhill. You might notice some huckleberry shrubs nearly 5 feet tall, along with chinquapin, gooseberry, currant, and salal. Alders, which thrive near waterways, mix through the other plants. Some sections of the trail are muddy, although a few short elevated walkways keep visitors out of the wettest areas. In spring look for a few salmonberry shrubs along the trail -- their pink blossoms are conspicuous. Labrador tea shrubs put forth white azalea-like flowers in late spring and early summer. Johnstone Trail levels out, travels through a damp, shaded, and grassy stretch, then returns to a more firm footing, where madrone, coast live oak, and hazelnut line the path. At 2.17 miles you'll reach a signed junction with a path to Pebble Beach. Turn right.
     The narrow path descends under tree cover, then steps out onto the beach, at 2.20 miles. If you're visiting on a summer day and seek some peace and quiet, this beach is generally less crowded than Heart's Desire, and the rocky shoreline makes a good no-frills lunch stop. When you're ready, retrace your steps back to the previous junction, then bear right, back onto Johnstone Trail again.
     The trail passes through more beautiful coast live oak, as well as California bay, madrone, huckleberry, hazelnut, and creambush. The grade remains nearly level. At 2.51 miles, Johnstone Trail emerges in a clearing near the restrooms, back at the trailhead. (If you want to cut short your hike here, simply turn left and walk back to the parking lot.) Continue straight, following the sign for Heart's Desire Beach.
      After a short foray under tree cover, Johnstone Trail bisects a grassy group picnic area. When it's empty, this is another good place for a lunch break. I especially like the bench on the right, at the edge of the picnic area, overlooking Heart's Desire Beach, Indian Beach, and the bay. Johnstone Trail continues, weaving through some coast live oaks, then descending on a short segment of long steps. At 2.68 miles, the trail reaches Heart's Desire Beach. (From here, you can continue across the beach, then pick up Indian Nature Trail to Indian Beach.) When ready, retrace your steps back to the clearing near the restrooms, then turn right and return to the trailhead.

Total distance: 2.85 miles
Last hiked: Tuesday, March 9, 2004

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