Abbotts Bonanza

Pure wilderness, Pacific views, lush greenery, and wildflowers galore … yep, Point Reyes National Seashore is pretty much spring loaded. For the best of landscape, sandscape, and seascape, head to Abbotts Lagoon. The area’s 200+ acres of silky-soft sand, wind-sculpted dunes, and two popular lagoons is in its prime right now for wildflowers.

The lagoons are a mix of fresh and saltwater, making them ideal locales for wildflowers (and nesting snowy plovers in the spring). The hike to reach Abbotts Lagoon is a short and flat mile through grassland and scrub with scattered wetlands. At the bridge connecting the two lagoons you can take a detour to the left and climb a flower-filled hill for a grand panorama of the southern lagoon.

Feast your eyes on a wildflower paradise: Douglas iris, sky lupine, California poppy, pussy ear, California goldfields, western blue eyed grass, and sea rocket (Cakile maritima) carpet the area. After catching the view, head back down to the bridge and continue across the dunes for a third of a mile to reach the Great Beach, where the ocean pounds the shore, driftwood forts withstand the wind, and views span from Point Reyes Lighthouse to Tomales Point and Bodega Bay.

Be sure to keep an eye open in the restricted area (currently marked off by rope) for nesting snowy plovers. If you are lucky, you may catch a glimpse of this threatened species and their chicks. How Abbott that!

From Hwy. 1 in Point Reyes Station, follow Sir Francis Drake Blvd. west toward the lighthouse. A couple of miles after the town of Inverness, go right onto Pierce Point Rd. Follow this a few miles until you reach the Abbotts Lagoon trailhead on the left. No dogs.