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Operational Changes Took Effect on May 1
The Lighthouse Visitor Center is now only open Fridays through Mondays. The Kenneth C. Patrick Visitor Center will be closed through late December 2013. More »
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2013 Harbor Seal Pupping Season Closures
From March 1 through June 30, the park implements closures of certain Tomales Bay beaches and Drakes Estero to water-based recreation to protect harbor seals during the pupping season. Please avoid disturbing seals to ensure a successful pupping season. More »
Douglas-fir/Mixed Evergreen Forest
A piece of the Pacific Northwest grows on the east side of Inverness Ridge. Here enough rain falls in the winter to quench the thirst of this fast-growing tree and the trees, shrubs and herbs that sprout underneath. They are buoyed in the summer by fog moisture. The plants thrive in soil derived from marine sediments. They are a diverse mix. Looking up you see the Douglas-fir trees soaring straight up to form a canopy, then you’ll see California bays, tanoaks, and coast live oaks bending upwards, and right at your eye level you can see coffeeberry, huckleberry, poison oak, hazelnuts, elderberries, honeysuckles, bouquets of ferns and small woodland herbs. This vegetation type describes over 30,000 acres of the Seashore. Sudden Oak Death is a recent phenomenon to this community; expect to see dead and dying tanoaks and true oaks in the forest canopy as Sudden Oak Death continues to spread throughout this community. Learn more about the Fire Ecology of Douglas-fir/Mixed Evergreen Forests. |
Bishop Pine Forest
Coastal Grasslands
Coastal Dunes
Coastal Scrub
Did You Know?
Deathcap mushrooms are found throughout the Point Reyes region and are the most poisonous mushrooms in the world. But they're fairly new arrivals here. They invaded the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1930s, likely brought over on cork trees from Europe for the wine industry. More...