A wide waterfall pours in a silky white curtain off a rugged coastal cliff onto the beach below, with dark rock, tan bluffs, and a gray overcast sky framing the scene. A lone person in a blue jacket stands near the water’s edge, giving scale to the dramatic tidefall.

Alamere Falls

Bolinas, CA

A rare tidefall where Alamere Creek cascades approximately 40 feet directly onto Wildcat Beach in Point Reyes National Seashore. It is one of only two tidefalls in California where a waterfall drops directly onto an ocean beach. The falls flow year-round but are most dramatic during the wet season.

Photography Guide

Best Time: afternoon
Crowds: Quiet
Shot Types: landscapelong-exposurewide
Best Seasons: winterspring

Practical Tips

The recommended route is via the Coast Trail from the Palomarin Trailhead (8.5 miles round trip). The unofficial shortcut from above is dangerous and has caused fatalities; use the beach approach from Wildcat Camp instead.

Is it a good day to go?

7-day outlook

Mild, dry days with light winds are the most comfortable for a visit.

Forecast by Open-Meteo. Verdicts weigh the forecast against the conditions that suit this spot.

Gallery

Afternoon light washes over Alamere Falls as a thin white stream spills off a steep, mossy cliff onto Wildcat Beach, with tiny hikers scattered along the dark sand below. Bright ocean glare fills the right side of the frame, while low waves and distant offshore rocks stretch across the horizon. Photo: Akos Kokai / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0

A small waterfall spills over dark rock into a sandy, scrub-covered ravine, with several hikers crossing the ledge above it under a clear blue afternoon sky. The wide view emphasizes the steep tan cliffs and green coastal vegetation around the falls. Photo: Akos Kokai / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0

Alamere Falls pours over a low cliff into a rocky creek bed, with dark water winding across pale stone toward the beach. Sunlit tan bluffs and patchy green coastal scrub rise under a clear blue afternoon sky. Photo: Akos Kokai / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0

A wide waterfall pours straight off a rocky seaside cliff onto a dark sand beach, with white water fanning over the rock face and pooling into a shallow stream below. Soft afternoon light and a clear blue sky highlight the green vegetation clinging to the cliff. Photo: Renedrivers / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 3.0

Water pours over a dark, mossy rock ledge into a small pool, with a second thinner cascade spilling from the upper right into the same basin. Tan sandstone cliffs and patches of green coastal vegetation frame the falls in bright afternoon light. Photo: Thewellman / Wikimedia Commons / CC0

A twin ribbon of waterfall drops over a tan coastal cliff onto a broad, empty sandy beach, with bright green moss clinging to the wet rock at the base. The wide view shows layered bluff walls, a pale afternoon sky, and a long, weathered driftwood-like ledge in the foreground. Photo: Eric Leung / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 3.0

A small waterfall spills over a rocky ledge into a dark pool, framed by steep tan cliffs and patches of green coastal scrub. In bright afternoon light, two tiny hikers stand above the falls near the center of the gorge under a clear blue sky. Photo: Thewellman / Wikimedia Commons / CC0

Golden afternoon light hits a small waterfall spilling over dark rock into a narrow pool, framed by steep tan cliffs and scrub-covered slopes. A patch of green vegetation and a few yellow flowers brighten the rocky foreground beneath the flowing water. Photo: Dan Fletcher / Wikimedia Commons / CC0

A thin white waterfall spills over a dark cliff onto the sandy beach below, with foamy surf and scattered rocks stretching out into a calm gray-blue ocean. Soft afternoon light glows through a hazy sky, and green cliffside plants frame the lower left foreground. Photo: Jeffrey Pang from Berkeley, CA, USA / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0

Nearby Places

Low tide reveals a broad, rock-strewn shoreline with rounded boulders, wet seaweed, and shallow water stretching to the horizon. Warm morning light catches the stones and a few larger offshore rocks beneath a pale, cloud-streaked sky.

Hidden Gems

Bolinas, CA

Bolinas Overlook at Duxbury Reef

Duxbury Reef is the largest shale intertidal reef in North America, extending over a mile into the ocean at low tide. The Agate Beach County Park trail provides clifftop views of the reef and tide pools below. At extreme low tides, the exposed reef creates an otherworldly landscape of channels and pools.

morningwinter · spring

Top-down aerial view of a narrow coastal point where a road, parking lot, and small buildings sit beside marshy shoreline and dark tidal water. A thin dock extends into the bay, and low tide exposes curving sandbars and wet mudflats around the peninsula.

Hidden Gems

Point Reyes Station, CA

Five Brooks Trailhead to Bass Lake

A 3-mile round-trip trail through mixed Douglas fir and bay laurel forest to a small, secluded lake surrounded by dense woodland. Bass Lake is one of only a few lakes in the Point Reyes peninsula. The still water reflects the surrounding trees, and the forest canopy creates soft, diffused light ideal for nature photography.

morningspring · fall

A coyote stands in tall marsh grass at the edge of Bolinas Lagoon, with calm blue water and a dense stand of reeds behind it. Soft morning light highlights the animal’s fur and the wetland shoreline.

Waterfronts

Bolinas, CA

Bolinas Lagoon

A 1,100-acre tidal lagoon along Highway 1 between Stinson Beach and Bolinas, designated a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention. Great blue herons, great egrets, and harbor seals are commonly visible from the highway pullouts. The lagoon drains almost completely at low tide, revealing extensive mudflats and eelgrass beds.

morningwinter · spring