Photo: Renedrivers · CC BY 3.0Alamere Falls
If you're passing
Is it plungeworthy?
A waterfall on Alamere Creek.
The details
- Watercourse
- Alamere Creek
- Coordinates
- 37.95376, -122.78336
About Alamere Falls
Alamere Falls is a waterfall in California, on Alamere Creek.
Fed largely by snowmelt, it runs hardest in late spring and early summer and can thin to a trickle by late season.
Plungeworthy rates Alamere Falls 4/10 — if you're passing. The score weighs its scale, how confidently it's mapped, and its character.
What you'll find
A waterfall that ends on a beach: Alamere drops off the Point Reyes bluffs directly onto Wildcat Beach sand, forty feet from the Pacific. One of two true tidefalls in California, and the only one you reach by hiking a wilderness coastline.
Getting there
- Trailhead
- Palomarin (shortest), Bear Valley, or Five Brooks — all via the Coast Trail to Wildcat Camp, then 1.1 beach miles at LOW TIDE only
- Parking
- Free lots at all three trailheads
- Road
- Paved
- Hike
- 13.2 mi round trip, 1,900 ft of climb (hard)
- Heads up
- There is no official 'Alamere Falls Trail.' The infamous 8-mile 'shortcut' is unmaintained, crumbling, poison-oak-choked, and generates rescues yearly — the Park Service pleads against it, and so do we.
When to go
December through April for real flow — it's rain-fed and can dwindle to a trickle by fall. Every season demands tide planning: Wildcat Beach disappears at high tide, and winter surf can reach the bluffs even at low.
Rules & fees
- Fee / pass
- None — Point Reyes has no entrance fee
- Dogs
- Prohibited on all routes
- Hours
- Sunrise to midnight
- Camping
- Wildcat Campground (permit via recreation.gov) puts the falls a morning stroll away — the best way to do this trip
- Warnings
- Check NOAA tides before you commit the beach section. Skip the shortcut; the coastline is the point anyway.
Researched from NPS — Alamere Falls · NPS — trail advisories. Conditions change — verify before you drive. Been to Alamere Falls recently? Post a conditions report below.
Where it is
Before you go
The pin marks the feature, not a trailhead or a legal route in. Some sit on private land or need a real hike, and conditions change with season and rain. Check local access, don't trespass, and never enter water — hot or cold — where it isn't safe.
Common questions
Where is Alamere Falls?
Alamere Falls is a waterfall in California, at 37.95376, -122.78336.
Is Alamere Falls worth visiting?
If you're passing — Plungeworthy rates it 4/10.
Gear for the trip
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