We will enter a different world on this Point Bonita Lighthouse hike. We walk on a good path and leave the shore, traversing a safe trail halfway up a high spine of land that juts out like a long arm into the tumultuous ocean. We walk through a tunnel, cross a bridge and end up at the Point Bonita Lighthouse by hiking just a half-mile from our trailhead.
Somehow, in just this short distance, we are extended out over the Pacific with amazing views of San Francisco and the Marin Headlands. All around are whitecaps, swirling water and wind-lashed rock — and, almost always within sight, the looming presence of fog. Importantly, the trail is only open and accessible on certain days with relatively short hours as set forth below.
• Summary of the hike: The entire hike is short — from the lower parking lot just 1.5 miles round trip and from the upper one, which adjoins the trailhead, just 1 mile round trip. The footing throughout is excellent, but going to the lighthouse, there is one steep descending section of less than 100 yards and returning, a corresponding steep ascent. If you can climb up and down and you take as long as needed to traverse the short steep section, you can complete this hike. Restrooms with non-flush toilets are available at both parking areas. No dogs allowed.
• Days and hours open: The tunnel and bridge to the lighthouse are open 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays, and 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. weekends; they’re closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays. You must enter at least 10 minutes before closing time. The lighthouse is not accessible when the tunnel and trail are closed.
• Getting there: Going south on Highway 101, take the Alexander Avenue exit, the last one before the Golden Gate Bridge, turn right and proceed under the freeway. Stop at two stop signs and then almost immediately take the first left onto Bunker Road (controlled by a five-minute light), heading through the tunnel to the Marin Headlands.
Go straight for 2 to 3 miles and take a left turn on Field Road. Follow it for .6 to .7 miles to one of two parking areas. The first area is on the right, signed as parking for the Point Bonita Lighthouse and several other destinations, and has plenty of space. The second parking area is a quarter-mile farther up the road on the left. It is next to our trailhead but contains only 10 parking slots and may be filled when the lighthouse trail is open.
• The hike: From the trailhead adjacent to the upper parking area, the trail to the lighthouse is only .5 miles with a steep descending section of less than 100 yards, a tunnel, a bridge and then the lighthouse.
The trail is dramatic from the start with views of the ocean, the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco. You should look both out and down to enjoy the views. Below you most likely will see some lounging harbor seals. On your left, Monterey cypress trees stand upright, seemingly unfazed by the lash of the ocean winds. These trees are extremely limber and thus thrive in the ocean exposure and storms in the only two groves where they grow naturally: north of Carmel along Cypress Point and Pebble Beach and south of Carmel at Point Lobos. Although they are some of the world’s rarest trees existing naturally, Monterey cypress are easily cultivated and widely planted, as they are at Point Bonita.
We soon head down the steep slope of the trail and then walk on a wood plank path, which leads to the tunnel with the large, rugged rock slab towering above us. The tunnel is dark, but the path is wide with good footing, so don’t be worried. When we leave the tunnel, we soon cross the bridge and reach the lighthouse still operated by the Coast Guard.
The lighthouse was first built in 1855, higher and more inland — at the site of the present radar station with its rotating antenna, which you can see from the trail. In 1877, the lighthouse was moved to its present location to avoid the fog, which sometimes exists higher, but not lower where the lighthouse is now located. You may be familiar with the phenomenon, as it is similar to that at the Golden Gate Bridge, where the fog sometimes obscures the upper portions of the towers but not the bridge deck and roadway.
There is no entry to the lighthouse, but as you walk around it, you feel like you are walking out on a rock perch, just above the danger of the waves and the chill tumult of the Pacific Ocean. I know of no other Bay Area experience with a feel quite like it.
When you return and climb up the steep incline, it will seem steeper than you remembered. Back at the trailhead, you can explore more by taking the trail that begins just right of the restrooms to the Battery Mendell only .1 mile away and the scenic Bird Island Overlook .2 miles away. From it, you can see guano-covered Bird Island and from the area, a good portion of the Marin Headlands.
See you in two weeks for another adventure.
A longtime avid hiker and Marin resident, Jim Holden is the author of two nonfiction books: “It Happened in Marin” and “Adventurous Lives, Daring Acts.” He can be reached at MarinhikingJim@gmail.com.
