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Contact: John Dell'Osso, 415-464-5135
Since assessments of trails and roads began on Monday, over 40% of the trails within Point Reyes National Seashore have been checked for damage. Over 150 trees alone were counted along the Bayview and Inverness Ridge Trails. Limantour Road will continue to remain closed to the public until further notice due to two major failures in the form of slides that have undermined the road. All backcountry campgrounds will remain closed through this 3-day weekend, and crews are attempting to reopen them as soon as possible. Many areas within the Seashore remain open to the public. Those areas include: the Bear Valley Visitor Center, Earthquake Trail, Cross Marin Trail, Bolinas Ridge Trail, the Ken Patrick Visitor Center, the Point Reyes Lighthouse and visitor center, North Beach, South Beach, Kehoe Beach, Tomales Bay State Park (except the Johnstone Trail), and Samuel Taylor State Park. Muir Woods National Monument has a partial trail closure on the main trail and caution should be used when hiking to Muir Beach during high tide. In the Marin Headlands, part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, all roads and trails are open with some minor slides along Coastal, Miwok, and Oakwood Valley trails. These conditions could change as the weather becomes severe or high tides overcome low lying areas. Sawyer crews from Yosemite and Sequoia Kings Canyon National Parks and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area are arriving at Point Reyes next week to begin the process of clearing trails with downed trees. The timing of this removal is important since the northern spotted owl, and endangered species, begins its nesting season at the beginning of March, and the noise of chainsaws could disrupt the owls nesting habits. Point Reyes has the highest density of northern spotted owls in the world. “Even though we are trying to open trails to the public as quickly as possible, we also have the duty of preserving the resources in this extraordinary National Park.” stated Frank Dean, Assistant Superintendent. -NPS- |
Last updated: February 28, 2015