Most beaches on the Marin coast face the open Pacific, with cold surf and strong currents. Tomales Bay State Park is the exception. California State Parks says the park's gently sloping, surf-free beaches are protected from wind by Inverness Ridge, the backbone of the Point Reyes peninsula. Fall weekdays, after the summer crowds, are a good time to go. Here's a guide.

The basics

The park covers about 2,000 acres split between the west and east sides of Tomales Bay, about 40 miles north of San Francisco. The west side borders Point Reyes National Seashore but stayed in the state park system when most of the peninsula became a national seashore. The state park opened on Nov. 8, 1952, after conservation groups and the state bought land to secure public access to the bay. It's a day-use park. Overnight parking and camping are not allowed.

The three areas

  • Heart's Desire (1100 Pierce Point Road, Inverness): the heart of the park, with the ranger station, Heart's Desire Beach, the Vista Point picnic area and trails to Indian Beach, Pebble Beach and Shell Beach. Heart's Desire is the beach you can drive to. It has two parking areas, picnic grounds, restrooms and a swimming area with a moored platform.
  • Shell Beach (end of Camino Del Mar, Inverness): two small beaches reached by trail from a parking lot with very limited spaces. The Johnstone Trail connects it to Heart's Desire.
  • Millerton Point (15475 Highway 1, north of Point Reyes Station): on the inland side of the bay, with Alan Sieroty Beach and a loop trail.

Things to see

Indian Beach has an interpretive program about the Coast Miwok people, who lived in the area for thousands of years, including two reconstructed Miwok dwellings. State Parks says the Jepson Memorial Grove, reached by a one-mile trail, is one of the finest remaining virgin groves of Bishop pine in California. The park's wildlife list includes foxes, bobcats, deer, great blue herons, pelicans and monarch butterflies.

Rules to know

  • Dogs: not allowed on any beach or trail at Heart's Desire or Shell Beach. Leashed dogs are allowed at the Vista Point picnic area and on the Millerton Point loop trail, but not on the beach there. Service animals are the exception.
  • Mushrooms: collecting is not allowed. Everything in the park, plants and fungi included, is protected.
  • Drones: prohibited by superintendent's order.
  • Bikes: prohibited on all trails.

Parking and fees

State Parks warns that the park sees extremely high visitation and the lots often fill by mid-morning on weekends. When the Heart's Desire lot is full, cars are let in slowly as others leave. The agency suggests carpooling, coming on a weekday or arriving early or late in the day, and having a backup plan. Its page lists an $8 per-vehicle entrance fee at Heart's Desire, or $7 for visitors 62 and older.

The Vista Point group picnic area is the only reservable space in the park. The park was one of 48 state parks proposed for closure in January 2008 as part of a deficit reduction plan, but it remains open.