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

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