Point Reyes National Seashores Tour

9:00 AM   Pick Up

Pick up from your hotel in downtown San Francisco, Fisherman's Wharf, Sausalito and Marin County. Our tour guide will come to your hotel to meet and greet you with a sign displaying your first and last name.

9:00 AM - 9:30 AM   Drive to Muir Woods

Your tour guide will pick you up at 9 am and head north to Muir Woods National Park through the iconic Golden Gate Bridge. Your tour guide will drive you then on the Panoramic Highway to Muir Woods to enjoy the views over Marin County, San Francisco Bay Area and the Pacific Ocean. An optional side trip may take you to Muir Beach overlook.

9:45 AM - 11:15 AM   Roam through this ancient forest of Redwoods

We will get to Muir Woods National Monument round 9:45 am. You will first enjoy an exciting guided tour before you roaming through this ancient forest, home of the majestic Giant Redwoods. Did you know that these redwoods are so tall that three of them would equal the Eiffel Tower in Paris! Capture the serenity, beauty, fauna and flora of this amazing national monument. The park offers numerous smooth hiking trails along the creek, a gift-coffee shop and public restrooms.

11:15 AM - 12:30 PM   Visit Muir Beach overlook & Stinson Beach

Drive through Kent Canyon to the to beautiful Muir Beach overlook where we will start winding our road up on California scenic highway 1, and then down to the spectacular Stinson Beach which was once home to dairy farms and countryside ranches. Stinson Beach's community was created by refugees who lost their homes in San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake. They built the first hotel and boutiques and changed the name to Stinson Beach, in honor of N. Stinson who was the largest landowner since 1866. Stinson Beach had passed from county to state hands, and in 1972, it was transferred to the Golden Gate Recreation Area and National Park Service. You may want to enjoy your lunch at Stinson Beach where you may see kite surfers and hang gliders landing on the beach. The dramatic scenery of Stinson Beach has been the perfect setting for a number of famous movies including: Basic Instinct, The Fog, Play It Again Sam, Shoot the Moon, and Memoirs of an Invisible Man.

12:30 PM - 1:00 PM   Drive to Bolinas

The coastal town of Bolinas is located off highway one surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, lagoons and wetlands. The trough in which the lagoon sits was formed by the San Andreas Fault which runs directly through it. The lagoon is separated from the main bay by a small spit of land, known as Stinson Beach. Bolinas Lagoon is a tidal estuary and part of the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary.

As for Bolinas's community, it is known for its reclusive residents and only accessible via unmarked roads. The road signs that points the way into town where torn down. Bolinas and its reclusive reputation are featured in the 1981 novel "Ecotopia Emerging" by Ernest Callenbach. It was also the mythical setting for Richard Brautigan's "novel In". Bolinas has indeed a long history of not only tolerance but also environmentalism and characterized by its hippy spirit. Bolinas is also known for its spirited community of surfers, poets, actors, artists, and writers. The few visitor who make it to Bolinas appreciate its earthy hand-built houses topped with lurching towers, commune with shingled New England-style cottages with achingly sweet gardens. Some of Bolina's houses where constructed in the post Gold Rush Era including the post office. One of the famous residents of Bolinas is Alice Waters , she is an American chef and owner of "Chez Panisse" , the world-renowned restaurant in Berkeley famous for its organic, locally-grown ingredients and for pioneering Californian cuisine. Your lunch may take place in Bolinas or Point Reyes.

1:00 PM - 3:30 PM   Visit Point Reyes Natural Wonders

We will now head west to Point Reyes through rangeland, farmlands and beautiful country side back roads. Picture the scenic and spectacular scenery as we travel through Point Reyes National Seashore, one of the best kept secret and hidden natural wonders of Northern California. Admire its unique flora and fauna including wild flowers, harbor seals, sea otters, elk, and elephant seals. Enjoy your lunch at a local beach restaurant and visit Point Reyes historic lighthouse where whales and dolphins may swim by, depending on the season. We will also visit Bear Valley visitor center considered as a museum of natural history and much more.

Point Reyes is a 70,000-acre preserved National Seashore since 1962. It's located within Point Reyes Peninsula in Marin County north of San Francisco. The Point Reyes peninsula is geologically separated from the rest of Marin County and almost all of the continental United States by a rift zone of the San Andreas Fault, about half of which is sunk below sea level and forms Tomales Bay. The northernmost part of this peninsula is maintained as a reserve for Tule Elk and the south is a protected beach for elephant seals.

The rest of the peninsula includes wild coastal beaches, headlands, rangeland, grasslands historic ranching , oyster farming, dairy farms, estuaries, uplands, with a coastline that bears a striking resemblance to Cape Point, Cape of Good Hope, South Africa. This volcanic area is home of a rich variety of fauna and flora including beautiful trees like Coastal Douglas-fir, Coast live oak, Tanoak, cypress trees, Bishop pine and Monterey pines.

Did you know:

• The park rangers at Point Reyes National Seashore uses Toyota RAV4 electric vehicles. Because these RAVs are powered by the electric solar arrays on park buildings, they provide true zero-emission, zero-carbon, zero-petroleum transportation, helping meet the Park's environmental goals.
• Point Reyes is a terminus of the American Discovery Trail which is the only transcontinental trail in the United States. For backpackers, Point Reyes has four hike-in campgrounds available by reservation.
• Did you know that the movie The Fog Directed by John Carpenter was as filmed right here at Point Reyes lighthouse Starring Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis and Janet Leigh.
• The Point Reyes Lighthouse attracts whale-watchers looking for the Gray Whale migrating south in mid-January and north in mid-March.
• The Point Reyes Lifeboat Station is a National Historic Landmark. It is the last remaining example of a rail launched lifeboat station that was common on the Pacific coast.
• Did you know that the native Kule Loklo village was recreated after the Coast Miwok village style few miles a way from the from the visitor center.

Best Hiking trails in Point Reyes:

-Bear Valley Trail is the most popular hike in the park. Taking off from the visitor's center, it travels mostly streamside through a shaded, fern-laden canyon, breaking out at Divide Meadow before heading gently downward to the coast, where it emerges at the spectacular ocean view at Arch Rock. Three trails connecting from the west with the Bear Valley trail head upward toward Mt. Wittenberg, at 1,407 feet the highest point in the park.

-Across the parking lot at the Visitor's Center is the which (0.97 km) loop that runs directly over the San Andreas Fault is a 0.6-mile led Earthquake Trail deep underground, so that visitors stand straddling the fault line that provides descriptions of the fault and the surrounding geology.

-At the western end of the Point Reyes Peninsula is the historic Point Reyes Lighthouse, reached by descending 308 steps. Unlike many lighthouses, that were built high so the light could be seen by ships far out to sea, the Point Reyes lighthouse was built low to get the light below the fog that is so prevalent in the area.

Tomales Bay State Park

An optional side trip may take you to Tomales Bay State Park. The Coastal Indians called the Miwok were the first to inhabit the coastal area of sheltered coves, tidal, beaches, marshes, and forest of Bishop pines known today as Tomales Bay State Park, located 38 miles north of San Francisco. In 1579, Sir Francis Drake was the first to reach this area, followed by the Spaniards in 1595. Also, German and Russian scientists explored the Tomales Bay back in the early 1800s.

3:30 PM - 4:00 PM   Mill Valley & Tamalpais High School

Mill Valley was inhabited the Coast Miwok for over 10.000 years before the Spaniards and the Mexicans settled in. This small charming community is located 5 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge in Marin County. It's characterized by its scenic views, marshlands & wooded canyons. Mill Valley is known for being a village with a strong artistic heritage & home to many present & former musicians, authors, actors, poets & TV personalities including John Lennon, Sammy Hagar, Janis Joplin, Jack London, Kathleen Quinlan, Michael Tucker, Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman , Eve Arden and Mariel Hemingway . It's also home to Mill Valley Film Festival & was immortalized by the song "Mill Valley" (recorded in 1970).

In July 2005, CNN ranked Mill Valley tenth on its list of the 100 Best Places to live in the United States! Tamalpais High School is located in Mill Valley & named after nearby Mount Tamalpais, which rises more than 2,500 feet above Mill Valley. Some of the notable alumni & students who studied at this high school are: Joe DeMaestri, Daniel Caldwell, Signy Coleman, Tupac Shakur, & the Actress Kathleen Quinlan who attended this Tamalpais High School where she began her acting career in George Lucas' "American Graffiti" that was also filmed in this school. Some of the other notable who live in Marin County today are: Barbara Boxer, Andre Agassi, George Lucas, Sean Penn and Carlos Santana among others.

4:00 PM - 4:30 PM   Visit Sausalito- a Mediterranean-Style coastal town

We are now heading toward the picturesque Sausalito where you can enjoy a walk downtown this charming Mediterranean-style coastal town, filled with history, culture, & beautiful waterfront shops. Stay an hour or spend the rest of the day at this enchanting village for a romantic dinner and return to San Francisco on the ferry (tickets are not included). Picture Sausalito's cliff-hanging cottages and houseboat that contributes to Sausalito's Mediterranean ambiance.

History of Sausalito: Sausalito was once a settlement for the native Coast Miwok . The Spanish explorer Don José de Cañizares who reached Sausalito in 1775 looking for a suitable anchorage for vessels, reported friendly native Miwoks & a wide populations of deer, elk, bear, seals and otters. In 1776, the Spaniards led by Juan Bautista de Anza (who has already opened the overland route from Mexico to California), decided to establish the first settlement in the Presidio of San Francisco instead of Sausalito. During the Mexican Era (1821-1846), the British mariner William Richardson was the first to develop the site of Sausalito as a private rancho. By 1825, Richardson had assumed Mexican citizenship, converted to Catholicism and married the daughter of Don Ignacio Martínez, commandant of the Presidio to acquire lands including Sausalito. In the post-Gold Rush era, Sausalito played a major role in leisure, commercial and even military Maritime transportation where many fishermen & wealthy yachting enthusiasts had already settled in Sausalito. This era came to an end in May 1937 with the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge bypassing Sausalito and making these large-scale ferry operations redundant. But Sausalito will soon receive a steady stream of visitors thanks to this new bridge. In 1942, Sausalito Yacht Club was founded to promote yachting for both racing and cruising.

Sausalito & the "House Boat Wars"

When the United States entered World War II, Fort Barry on Point Bonita was reoccupied. Fort Baker also hosted large numbers of troops. Also, a major shipyard was sited along the shoreline of Sausalito. After the War, a lively waterfront community grew out of the abandoned ship yards. By the late 1960s at least three house boat communities occupied the waterfront along and adjacent to Sausalito's shore. Beginning in the 1970s, an intense struggle erupted between house boat residents and developers. It was dubbed the "House Boat Wars". Forced removals by county authorities and sabotage by some on the waterfront characterized this struggle. This long fight pitted the waterfront against the wealthy "Hillside community" .Today three house boat communities still exist — Galilee Harbor in Sausalito, Waldo Point Harbor and the Gates Cooperative. Today, the houseboat community consists of more than 400 houseboats of various shapes, sizes, and values, along the north end of town, approximately two miles from downtown. It's in a houseboat at Waldo Point in Sausalito where the singer Otis Redding wrote his famous "Dock of the Bay" in 1967: " I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay - Watching the ships roll in…the tide roll away - I left my home in Georgia - Headed for the 'Frisco bay - Just to make this dock my home"

Sausalito in the media & Notable residents

Sausalito featured in many novels and movies including ; The Lady from Shanghai(Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth ) in a section of the 1892 novel "The Wrecker" by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osborn, in the opening of "The Sea-Wolf" by Jack London is set on a ferryboat travelling from Sausalito to San Francisco, in many scenes of the 1965 film "Dear Brigitte" with James Stewart, in the 1968 film Petulia when Richard Chamberlain fishing Julie Christie out of the water at the foot of Johnson Street, a scene from the 1972 movie, Play It Again, Sam which was shot using interiors of the Trident (the Horizons) restaurant and exteriors of the Spinnaker restaurant in Sausalito, actor Woody Allen and Tony Roberts were also in another movie filmed at the Spinnaker restaurant. Sausalito also featured in the 1978 novel "The House of God" and in Sausalito's fictional "Cetacean Institute" from Star Trek IV. Sausalito was & still home to wealthy and celebrities. Some of the past and present of these notable residents of Sausalito are: Gina Berriault, Gordon Onslow Ford, Phil Frank, cartoonist, Jerry Garcia, Actor Sterling Hayden, William Randolph Hearst, Otis Redding, Actress Julie Christie, Isabel Allende ( Chilean-American novelist), Tim Lincecum, (San Francisco Giants pitcher), Carlos Santana and Georges Lucas who both live few miles north of Sausalito.

4:30 PM - 5:00 PM   Golden Gate Bridge Sky View Overlook

Return to San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge where a great photo stop is scheduled at Marine Headland overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco Bay area. Thanks to its astonishing colossal architectural and engineering dimensions, the Golden Gate Bridge becomes the most photographed bridge in the world. These spectacular and sweeping views over the Golden Gate and San Francisco Bay have drawn millions of tourists from all over the world. The Golden Gate Bridge inspired Hollywood most famous movies, such James Bond, in a "View to Kill" and much more.

5:00 PM - 5:30 PM   Drop Off

Our tour guide will drive you back to your hotel via the famous Pacific Heights (optional), the most expensive district in San Francisco where some movies stars and celebrities live including Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Don Johnson, Danielle Steel, Nancy Pelosi, Francis Ford Coppola, Lars Ulrich and more. We may see some famous movie locations including the Victorian house where Mrs. Doubtfire was filmed. The Pacific Heights is home to beautiful Victorian houses we show on our daily San Francisco city tours.