Hiking in Point Reyes National Seashore

A view of the bow of the Point Reyes, one of many shipwrecks along the Point Reyes Headlands.

Guides prepare to take a group of kayakers on a tour of Tomales Bay from Heart Desires Beach.  (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

A surfer passes through a ray of the setting sun in Bolinas Bay.

The view from the trailhead to the lighthouse overlooks Point Reyes Beach.

Visitors walk the half-mile trail approaching the Monterey cyprus trees en route to the historic Point Reyes Lighthouse.

A sparrow sings on the side of the trail to the Point Reyes Lighthouse.

It’s 308 steps down and 308 back up to the historic Point Reyes Lighthouse, which began operating in December 1870 and was decommissioned in 1975.   (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times )

The Point Reyes Lighthouse stands watch over the Pacific.

A kayaker paddles out as a fisherman returns in Bolinas Bay.

Visitors find natural places to nap at the Bear Valley Visitor Center.

Surrounded by tall grasses, visitors walk along the Earthquake Trail at the Bear Valley Visitor Center.

John Lill of Kentfield enjoys the scenery as he reads on a sandbar along Tomales Bay.

The Marin-chic village of Point Reyes Station has one gas station, a bevy of boutiques and “little star,” a.k.a. Osteria Stellina, a big-city Italian restaurant in a charming little town.

The view through the balcony at a newly renovated room at Tomales Bay Resort in Inverness.

Drakes Beach is a landscape of cliffs-meet-surf.

The surf swirls at Drakes Beach as the sun creates prism images.

You can find solitude and dramatic cliffs at Drakes Beach.  (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Stunning cliffs fill the landscape at Drakes Beach.

An elephant seal takes a swim as others nap in the setting sun at Chimney Rock in Iverness.   (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times )

Early morning fog hovers over a cattle ranch near the trailhead to the Giacomini Wetlands. The trail down to the restored wetlands habitat meanders through a series of cattle gates and is a good birding spot.

A cow wanders in the early morning fog near the trailhead to the Giacomini Wetlands.

Tule elk stand poised on a hillside in the Tule Elk State Natural Reserve. The native elk once numbered in the thousands, until they were nearly hunted to extinction in the 19th century. Today, the elk population is the largest it has ever been in California.

Surf and sun create a dreamscape at Drakes Beach.

Beachgoers walk through the dunes and grasses at Limantour Beach.   (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times )

Beachgoers enjoy vast sandbars along Tomales Bay.

Clear water and the deep blue sky at Tomales Bay.