Winter Shuttle Bus System

 

Please note: The shuttle bus system has been indefinitely suspended and is no longer available.

Sir Francis Drake Boulevard and Chimney Rock Road are open to privately owned vehicles from 6 am to midnight, seven days a week.

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Visitors at Drakes Beach boarding a bus bound for the Point Reyes Headlands in 2012.

Shuttle System History

In the mid-1990's, the park experimented with a variety of options to meet the increased demand for parking. Options included closing the road, numbering parking spaces, and running van shuttles. Those options, unfortunately, resulted in two hour waits and lines of cars backing up in the South Beach parking lots. The whales were passing by as visitors waited patiently in their cars.

In 1998, to relieve this congestion and eliminate the two-hour waiting period, Point Reyes National Seashore contracted large 40-passenger buses to provide transportation from Drakes Beach to the Headlands. The 1998–1999 lighthouse shuttle bus experiments proved successful, parking lot congestion was relieved, and visitors were provided with a comfortable and quick trip to the Headlands. The success of the lighthouse shuttle bus prompted the National Park Service to continue this service through 2020.

In March 2020, the Winter Shuttle Bus System was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and was cancelled for Winter 2020–2021 and Winter 2021–2022. As of early 2022, Point Reyes National Seashore has no plans to resume the Winter Shuttle Bus System.

Feedback Welcome

The National Park Service at Point Reyes appreciated your support of the shuttle service and welcomes your comments. The bus service was an important means by which park managers and the public could better protect and manage the fragile Headlands area for visitor enjoyment and safety.

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