Many of California’s hostels are situated along the state’s long, long coastline, which seems only natural. Not every state has a coast, let alone so much of it, so of course people want to go coastal here. But the Golden State barely even begins at the Pacific Ocean. There are worthy hostels inland as well.

Before we consider them, let’s recap the benefits of hostel-based travel, always the first choice of those who prefer to spend small but live big.

At many hostels these days fresh linens and towels are the rule rather than the exception (no need to BYO bedding), not to mention the option of couples’ and family rooms. Hostels typically offer lots of shared living space along with TV, computers, free wifi, and endless other communications and entertainment options. Most include laundry facilities and a full kitchen, preparing your own meals being a major cost savings.

The main point: Hostels aren’t “youth hostels” anymore. They offer the opportunity to meet a great variety of fellow travelers, people of all ages and backgrounds from around the world—because hostels are typically located in, or within easy reach of, the places people most want to go.

A CAPITAL HOSTEL

It’s one of Sacramento’s best secrets. Aside from being an inexpensive and safe choice to hang one’s hat, the Hostelling International Sacramento Hostel is an unusually elegant place to just hang out. There’s no hostel quite like it anywhere in the United States.

Open since 1995, the Sacramento Hostel is housed in the historic Llewellyn Williams mansion—also known locally as Mory’s Place, after previous owner Mory Holmes—downtown near city hall at 925 H Street (at 10th). This 1885 Italianate Victorian was restored to its original grandeur at a cost of $2.1 million, thanks to financial support from American Youth Hostels, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the Sacramento City Council. Sure to draw anyone’s eye are stunning features such as the original chandeliers, embossed wallpapers, and painted-glass skylight; hand-carved oak staircases, wall panels, and other decorative details; parquet floors; period-style carpeting; and handcrafted marble fireplaces.

But there are many modern comforts, starting with fresh, airy guest rooms. Dorm beds are about $30 per night; the eight private rooms sleep from one to four people and range from $60 to $100. Facilities also include modern shared baths and a roomy, sleek, fully stocked, and accessible kitchen. Common areas include two parlors downstairs—available even during the day—and dining room (complimentary continental breakfast is served each morning). When it’s not blistering hot—and even in summer it may not be, thanks to Sacramento’s heavenly Delta breezes—you can enjoy the wraparound front veranda or the patio furnished with umbrella tables and barbecue. Head to the basement rec room for TV and movies, games, and books to borrow. Conveniences include free wifi, onsite laundry, secure lockers, and storage for bikes and baggage.

Parking can be a challenge, given the downtown location. Best bet if you’re driving is to arrange onsite gated (uncovered) parking for $5 per night. There’s a nearby public lot that charges $7.50 per day. Another neighborhood option is street parking (free overnight) then feeding the meters between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., a viable plan if you’ll be out and about most of the day anyway.

Sorry, Fifi and Fido. No pets.

HOSTEL TAHOE

Borrowing or renting a cabin is the classic Tahoe stay, but if you don’t want to “go big,” consider Hostel Tahoe in Kings Beach near the lake’s northern shore, a real treat for cost-conscious travelers.

Homey and welcoming as all get out, Hostel Tahoe is a reborn motel that offers appealing private rooms as well as dorm-style bunkrooms. The shared living area features a fireplace—that Tahoe essential—plus free wifi, movies, books, board games, even a guitar to play. There’s a well-stocked kitchen too, plus free weekend breakfast featuring homemade granola and baked goods.

Special freebies include free bikes complete with helmets, locks, and carry baskets (first-some, first-served), and bike racks if you’d rather bring your own; a spacious outdoor patio with BBQ and tables; personal dorm lockers (BYO lock); and free maps plus helpful savvy-local advice about where to go and what to do. The hostel provides free day storage for your luggage plus outdoor gear storage (BYO lock for that too).

Rates are $30 to $35 for a dorm bed (higher rates in summer and winter, lower for stays longer than a week), $65 and up for a queen room (sleeps two), and $75 and up for a family room (sleeps three or four). All rooms feature private bathrooms—complete with Dr. Bronner’s organic soaps—even the four-bed male and female dorms.

No pets, though true service animals are allowed.

YOSEMITE BUG RUSTIC RESORT

Need to get away from it all? For many of us, Yosemite is the ultimate escape. Luckily the area even offers a resort for the 99 percent.

Also known as Hostelling International’s Midpines Hostel, the Yosemite Bug Rustic Mountain Resort outside Mariposa—just 26 miles from Yosemite Valley via Highway 40—is in many respects a destination in its own right, what with the good-food June Bug Cafe, affordable spa, yoga classes, and all. Yosemite Bug could even be an inspiring yet affordable reunion or meeting choice. No in-room TVs or phones. What could be better?

Accommodation options here are almost as varied as the real-food cafe menu, ranging charming, full-service private cabins with down duvets (some have shared private baths) to hostel bunkbeds and classic rubberized canvas or heated, furnished tent cabins

Prices for “camping bathroom” stays range from about $25 to $30 per person per night for bunk beds in the single-sex or group dorm cabins to $40-$65 and up for tent cabins (two to four people).

The most affordable options for private rooms in cabins are those that use the “camping baths” (communal bathrooms), with multiple sinks, toilet stalls, etc., much like bathrooms at campgrounds, dorm-style stays starting at $50 per night for two to four people. Private cabins that share a large bathroom between two rooms are $65 to $115 per room (up to four people, additional rollaway bed sometimes allowed). Cabin rooms with well-appointed private rooms—complete with private decks and outdoor tables—are $75 to $155 per night.

The Bug is pet-friendly, too, at $20 per stay, though you can’t leave four-legged family members in your room all day.

One potential drawback for aging boomers is ease of access; you might have to hoof it up and down hills for 500 feet one-way just to get from your car to where you’re staying. However, two cabins are accessible (call to make arrangements), as are the restaurant and onsite meeting rooms. Another option, especially for families or small groups, is the nearby Starlight House just off the highway in Midpines proper ($260 and up).

Hostellers and other guests enjoy all the benefits here that most hostels offer, including a fully stocked, self-serve kitchen and laundry facilities (small fee), storage lockers, games, Internet access, and free wifi. Unique attractions include Bug trails, swimming hole (drought permitting), and summer fireside singalongs on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

A $10 day pass lets you enjoy the spa’s spring-fed, stainless steel hot tub, hot-rock sauna, and seven-jet and cold-rain showers. Massages, specialty baths, and body scrubs are extra.

And believe it or not, you don’t even need a car to get here—or to get from here into Yosemite. Shuttles from valley Amtrak connections and Yosemite’s YARTS bus stop at the bottom of the Bug’s driveway.

About that café: The June Bug serves three meals a day, everything reasonably priced, with local and organic foods, produce from the Bug’s garden, and sustainable fish and meat choices worked into the menu as much as possible. Vegan and vegetarian options here are much more than an afterthought, so everyone will eat well here. The dinner menu changes ever few days. Children’s menu, too. You can even request a homemade sack lunch (order during breakfast). Premium wines and locals beers and ales served.

Hostel up, whichever inland option you choose.

What do you think? Let us know by sending a letter (a.k.a. email). Send your comments to editor@uptheroad.org. Please include a phone number in case we need to chat.

Up the Road’s Editor Kim Weir has been scribbling away at one thing or another for a shocking number of years.

A member of the Society of American Travel Writers since 1991, as a nonfiction writer Weir tends to focus on California and the West. She holds a bachelors degree in environmental studies and analysis and a MFA in creative writing.

Said it before and will surely say it again: Hostels are among the best travel bargains around, for travelers of all ages. And hosteling now, during the off-season, is ideal for Californians. You won’t meet as many international travelers, always an appeal of hostel stays. But you’ll have an easier time getting reservations where and when you want them—with the possible exception of special events such as whale-watching and the annual return of the elephant seals. 

Keep in mind, you don’t have to be destitute to be a happy hosteler. Many of the people you meet won’t be. They’re solidly middle class, simply adventurous enough to avoid cookie-cutter accommodations, seeking instead good company in a homey, safe, and welcoming community. Communal kitchens to prepare meals, on-site laundry facilities, and extras such as hot tubs and free bikes all add up to a fine, friendly, frugal getaway.

Seeking salt air and some outstanding scenery? California’s coastal hostels serve up both in abundance. Starting either north or south of San Francisco, you can even hostel-hop up and down the coast—visiting all of them during one extended trip or enjoying them in separate adventures.

NORTH OF SAN FRANCISCO

If you love the idea of San Francisco but find the actual experience overwhelming, then stop just short of the city, in Marin County, and gaze out at it from the other side of the Golden Gate. You’ll never regret staying a while to bird-watch, beach-comb, and hike the vast expanses of Golden Gate National Recreational Area and Point Reyes National Seashore. One of the Bay Area’s outposts of affluence, Marin offers a surprising wealth of low-rent choices—two fine hostels and two historic rustic stays.

MARIN HOSTELS

Hostelling International’s historic HI Marin Headlands Hostelat 1907-vintage Fort Barry, 415-331-2777, offers 103 beds and early-20th-century hospital buildings in a park-like setting. Basic dorm-style accommodations predominate here but private rooms and family rooms in the annex are available by advance reservation. (No private bathrooms; shared hallway baths.) Facilities also include a great kitchen (bring your groceries), dining room, a welcoming common room with fireplace, even laundry facilities, game room, tennis court, and bike storage. Quite popular in summer and on good-weather weekends, so reservations are advised. Rates in early 2015: $28-35 for dorm rooms, $82-132 for a private room sleeping up to three. Towels and linens are provided. Call for information and reservations or reserve online. Ask about group rates.

Ideal for a seashore stay is HI’s Point Reyes Hostel on Limantour Road in Point Reyes Station, 415-663-8811. Pluses here include location, location, location, and all that beach, just a couple miles away. Advance reservations advisable. Rates for dorm beds are $26-29 per night for adults, $13-14 for children, and private rooms (sleep up to five) are $87 to $134 (two-night minimum on weekends). Reserve online or by phone; call to reserve group rooms.

RUSTIC IN MARIN

The very reasonable price of two rustic stays put them within reach of hostelling groups or families. The state’s Steep Ravine Environmental Cabins on Rocky Point in Mount Tamalpais State Park look out to sea from near Stinson Beach. Before the state wrested custody of these marvelous cabins from the powerful Bay Area politicians and other clout-encumbered citizens who had up until then held long-term leases, photographer Dorothea Lange wrote about staying here in To a Cabin, co-authored by Margaretta K. Mitchell. Even the walk down to the bottom of Steep Ravine Canyon is inspiring, Lange noted, with “room for only those in need of sea and sky and infinity.”

These 10 small, rustic redwood cabins offer just the basics: platform beds (bring your own sleeping bag and pad), woodstoves, separate restrooms with pit toilets, and an almost-private beach below in a spectacularly romantic setting. Rates are $100 per night (each sleeps five). One cabin is wheelchair accessible; none have electricity, but they do have outside running water. Bring your own provisions.

To reserve a cabin—plan well in advance—try ReserveAmerica (cabin link above) online or call 800-444-7275. Cabins and environmental sites at Mt. Tamalpais may be booked from 10 days to seven months prior to the arrival date. Be determined!

Also notable and inexpensive in the area is the historic, rustic West Point Inn, built in 1904 as a traveler’s stop for the Mill Valley/Mt. Tamalpais Railway and now operated by a nonprofit association dedicated to its preservation. One of the five rustic cabins is wheelchair accessible, and there is a single-use restroom in the main lodge featuring a roll-in shower. Lodge rooms are coziest in winter months. Travelers with disabilities can drive in on an access road, but otherwise this is strictly a hike-in or bike-in experience. (Bring your own food. Lodge cooking facilities available.) Rates are $25 to $50 per person per night, with a two-night minimum for cabins. For more information and reservations, try the website or call 415-388-9955.

SOUTH OF SAN FRANCISCO

Affordable and dramatically different even by California hostel standards are the two appealing lighthouse hostels offered by Hostelling International (HI) just south of San Francisco, on the coast north of Santa Cruz.

POINT MONTARA HOSTEL

North of Half Moon Bay between Montara and Moss Beach is HI’s picturesque Point Montara Lighthouse Hostel, quite popular with bicyclists and also accessible via bus from the Bay Area. People also come to kayak (rentals just a few miles away), surf, and otherwise enjoy nature. Half Moon Bay is another draw.

The 1875 lighthouse itself, originally a fog signal station, is still operated by the U.S. Coast Guard. Hostel facilities include two kitchens with stainless steel countertops, “view” dining rooms, laundry, bunkrooms, and couples’ and family quarters. Other amenities include DSL Internet and free WiFi, free parking, and an espresso bar. Popular, so reserve in advance.

Rates for HI members are $27 for bunk beds (both shared co-ed and one-gender dorms are available) and $78 to $101 for private rooms. Group reservations are also available. HI membership ($28 per year or $3 per day) is required. Call 650-728-7177 from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. or reserve online.

PIGEON POINT HOSTEL

Closest to Santa Cruz is HI’s Pigeon Point Lighthouse Hostel, the inexpensive place to stay while visiting the elephant seals at Ano Nuevo. Named  after the clipper shipCarrier Pigeon, one of many notorious shipwrecks off the coastal shoals here, the 115-foot 1872 lighthouse is now automated but still impressive with its Fresnel lens and distinctive 10-second flash pattern. The lighthouse has been closed to public tours since 2001, when exterior brick and other trim started raining down. But you can wander around on the outside, visit the docent-staffed gift shop, and take docent-guided history walks on weekends.

The hostel itself is made up of four former family residences for the U.S. Coast Guard—basic male or female bunkrooms, plus some simple couples’ and family rooms. The old Fog Signal Building is now a rec room; there’s also a hot tub perched on rocky cliffs above surging surf. In addition, come for the fabulous sunset views, wonderful tidepools, great whale-watching. Get groceries in Pescadero and prepare meals in the well-equipped communal kitchens, or ask for local restaurant suggestions. Satellite Internet, free WiFi, and free parking.

Rates are $25.50 to $28 per dorm bed for HI members, offered in both co-ed and one-gender shared rooms. Private rooms with double bed (for one or two people) are $76; double bed with single bunk for three people, $104; family room with six bunks, $168. Membership in HI is $28 per year, or $3 a day if you’re just passing through. Time in the cliff-top, ocean-view hot tub, open 4 to 10:30 p.m. only for hostel guests, is no longer free, alas. It’s $8 per half-hour session, with a minimum of two people and a maximum of four. Make hot tub reservations when you check in. Call 650-879-0633 between 7:30 a.m. and 10:30 p.m. daily or reserve online.

Santa Cruz, Monterey & SLO Hostels

Next south in Santa Cruz is HI Santa Cruz @ The Carmelita Cottages, a collection of charming Victorian cottages in a park setting on Main Street just a couple blocks from the beach and Boardwalk, and also an easy stroll downtown.

For HI members high-season rates (June through September) are $26 for adults or $15 youths for bunk beds, offered in four- or six-bed dorms. Private rooms with shared baths start at $60 for one or two people Private rooms with private bathrooms are $90 for one to three people, $10 for each additional person. Prices are slightly lower at other times. Call to make reservations 831-423-8304 between 8 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. or 6 and 10 p.m., or book online through HI’s main website.

Another great choice is in Monterey, at the other end of crescent-shaped Monterey Bay. Not on the coast but pretty darn close—just four blocks from Cannery Row, the coastal trail, and the amazing Monterey Bay Aquarium—the HI Monterey Hostel offers 45 beds, men’s and women’s dorms, and private rooms too, with shared bathrooms all around. The onetime Carpenter’s Union Hall also offers the latest in water conservation technology—from token-operated showers, metered faucets, and ultra-low-flow, half-gallon Microphor toilets to water-saving appliances.

Monterey dorm rates for HI members are $27 to $37 per night for adults (highest rates in summer), $18 for children or youths. Private rooms are $79 to $99. Non-members, add $3 per person per night. For groups, discounts on overnight fees are available for youths and children. There’s free on-site parking, but to avoid adding to local traffic woes leave your vehicle here and take public transportation. Given the area’s popularity, advance reservations are usually essential. Call 831-649-0375 to make reservations directly or book online through HI’s main website. For information, email the hostel:info@montereyhostel.org. The office is open daily 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Sourdough pancakes for breakfast, anyone? If you’re heading farther south still, consider the college town of San Luis Obispo and HI’s homey Hostel Obispo for your next stop, just one block from Amtrak. This friendly hostel offers 28 beds in a converted Victorian, with dorm beds $27 to $31, private rooms (very popular) $60 and up. Fully equipped kitchen, laundry, free parking, plus free WiFi and public computer. For reservations call 805-544-4678 from 8 to 11 a.m. or 4:30 to 10 p.m., or email reservations@hostelobispo.com.

Next time: hostels elsewhere in Northern and Central California.

Up the Road’s Editor Kim Weir has been scribbling away at one thing or another for a shocking number of years. A member of the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW) since 1991, as a nonfiction writers she specializes in California and the West. Weir wrote most of Moon Publications’ original California travel guides, including the ever popular Northern California Handbook.

Not just “youth hostels” anymore, California’s classy low-rent accommodations welcome travelers of all ages, and certainly anyone with a mild sense of adventure plus a willingness to toss sleeping bags onto bunks.

But these days, fresh linens and towels are the rule rather than the exception (no need to BYO bedding anymore) along with the option of couples’ and family rooms. Hostels typically offer living space to share, with TV, computers, free wifi, and endless other communications or entertainment options. Most also include laundry facilities and a full kitchen, so travelers can keep it clean for free as well as prepare their own meals, other cost savings. Best of all, hostels offer the opportunity to meet a great variety of fellow travelers, of all ages and backgrounds, from around the world. And many are located within easy reach of some of the most stunning scenery or lively city scenes in the state.

How can you beat all that for less than $30 per night? It costs more, of course, for hotel-style rooms, and for ocean- or bay-view couples’ or family accommodations. But still. Such a deal.

Say you’re pining for some time in San Francisco but can barely pay your cell bill. You can plan a sublime time for next to nothing.

Consider starting along the waterfront in Golden Gate National Park with a stay at Hostelling International’s San Francisco Fisherman’s Wharf Hostel in Fort Mason, looking out onto San Francisco Bay. Housed in historic buildings (the main building used to be the infirmary) the Fisherman’s Wharf Hostel offers right-there views of Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge, not to mention easy access to some of the city’s prettiest parklands.

Step out the hostel’s back door onto paved paths that run right along the water, heading either east to Fisherman’s Wharf or west to the Marina Green, Crissy Field, the Presidio, and the Golden Gate Bridge. It’s also an easy stroll from the hostel to North Beach and the Marina District.

The range of accommodations at Fort Mason including both shared dorm rooms and private rooms, with rates in the $30 to $42 range for dorm beds and $75 to 100 for private rooms. Families with kids under 12 need a private room or an entire dorm room. Other restrictions apply to U.S. citizens under 18 who are traveling without a legal guardian.

There’s a nice kitchen to DIY at meal time (free continental breakfast) but also an onsite, three-meals-a-day cafe, Cafe Franco, for great bay vistas. Bring in your breakfast to drink in the view. Other common areas include a spacious lounge, theater-style TV room, rec room (billiards, anyone?), and outdoor deck. Staff members organize all kinds of daily activities, too, from history walks to pub crawls.

If for you downtown is where the action is, HI’s San Francisco Downtown Hostel is the place, just one block from Union Square shopping, near China Town, an easy amble through the city’s museum district, and close to all public transit systems (including BART).

Recently renovated guest rooms include four-bed dorms (55 of them) and private rooms, available with or without private bathroom. Rates are $29 to $49 for dorm beds, $89 to $149 for private rooms. (Lower group rates are also available, for eight people or more.) On the second floor there’s a well-equipped shared kitchen (free continental breakfast) plus guest lounge/media room. Staff offer organized San Francisco-style fun almost daily here also.

At home in a 1920s boutique hotel near the Civic Center and Little Saigon, the San Francisco City Center Hostel is also newly renovated. This is a great “affordable foodie” stay, located as it is near excellent inexpensive restaurants and non-touristy nightlife.

The hostel offers shared four- or five-bed dorm rooms as well as private and “premium” private rooms. All City Center guest rooms have private bathrooms, a big plus for many folks. The onsite Ivy’s Place cafe serves free continental breakfast in the morning, and snacks plus beer and wine in the evenings. Other pluses include the City Center’s big, well-equipped kitchen, multiple guest lounges, and full roster of urban activities. Free tea tastings, anyone?

The ever popular and award-winning USA Hostels San Francisco on Post Street is also near the city’s center and a few blocks from Union Square. It offers the usual amenities and many, many more, including a 45-seat TV/movie theater, “privacy pods” in dorm rooms, and private rooms (some have private baths) with duvet, MP3 player, cable TV, in-room frig, and microwave. Big kitchen with eight cooking stations, not to mention a very generous free breakfast. Dorm beds start at about $30, private rooms around $50.

San Francisco hostels popular with a broader traveling public include the family-owned, kid-friendly Mayflower Hotel at 975 Bush Street, with comfy private rooms with bathrooms, in-room frig, microwaves that start at about $55.

Many cater to the younger set, of course, including the livelyGreen Tortoise Hostel (“San Francisco’s #1 Party Hostel”), which also books adventure tours aboard the famous Green Tortoise bus. There’s a newer Green Tortoise hostel in Seattle.

For other San Francisco hostel ideas try hostel-booking umbrella sites such as hostels.com, which list just about everything and typically offer traveler reviews.

Up the Road’s Editor Kim Weir has been scribbling away at one thing or another for a shocking number of years. A member of the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW) since 1991, as a nonfiction writers she specializes in California and the West. Weir wrote most of Moon Publications’ original California travel guides, including the ever popular Northern California Handbook.

Point Reyes Lighthouse. Photo by Anita Ritenour/ CC BY 2.0.

The coast will be even clearer in Fall if you can travel during the week, when families with kids are otherwise occupied (though you may encounter those kids on field trips). But even weekends are lighter in terms of fellow travelers, at least once you get well north of Marin. You may even find it possible to pitch a tent at state park campgrounds without a reservation. Kind of like California in the 1950s. 

Choosing how you’ll get where you’re going is every bit as important as your destination, or so it seems to me. Always be willing to sacrifice efficiency for serendipity and you’ll be a happier camper.

If you’re heading to Sonoma County from the Sacramento Valley, for example, you could easily take Hwy. 20 straight past Clear Lake to connect with 101 and then head south, what I call the engineer’s option (go straight here, go straight there). But a much more scenic route delivers you directly into Napa Valley wine country. Take the cutoff south to Clearlake (the town), a route that continues through Middletown and past easily missed Robert Louis Stevenson State Park—great for a quiet hike—before corkscrewing down into Calistoga. That wild ride down the hill thrilled me every time when I lived in Sonoma County, a sure sign I was almost home. From the outskirts of Calistoga it was just a half-hour more, past California’s modest version of Old Faithful Geyser on Tubbs Lane, past the Petrified Forest too, then west on River Road past Four Corners and Korbel and on into to Guerneville—pronounced GURN-vil, not GUR-nee-vil, which is how tourists say it.

PART 1: POINT REYES AND VICINITY

Points Reyes National Seashore. Bird-watching. Whale watching and elephant seals. Teeming tidepools and open ocean vistas. Cowgirl Creamery. Need anything more?

Cheese at Cowgirl Creamery. Photo by Michael LoRusso/ CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

The inland reaches of Marin Country are well-populated and a tad tony, but miracle of miracles, the west is still wild. If you’ve got the time, spend some here. Point Reyes National Seashore is the perfect place to start exploring, with some 65,000 acres of fog-shrouded lagoons, lowland marshes, sandy beaches, coastal dunes, and ridgetop forests. Point Reyes also features windy headlands and steep, unstable, colorful cliffs, populations of tule elk and grazing cattle, nesting snowy plovers, and a wonderful lighthouse all too popular for winter whale-watching. A dramatically dislocated triangular wedge of land with its apex jutting out into the Pacific Ocean, Point Reyes is also land in motion: this is earthquake country. Separated from mainland Marin County by slitlike Tomales Bay, the Point Reyes Peninsula is also sliced off at about the same spot by the San Andreas Fault. When that fault shook loose in 1906–instantly thrusting the peninsula 16 feet farther north–the city of San Francisco came tumbling down.

Elephant Rock Sunset, Point Reyes National Seashore. Photo by Steven Bratman/ CC BY 2.0.

Get oriented at the park’s barnlike Bear Valley Visitor Center, just off Bear Valley Rd. (off Hwy. 1 near Olema), which, in addition to natural history and fine arts exhibits, includes a seismograph for monitoring the earth’s movements. There are also three solar-powered electric vehicle charging stations, as of this month. Near the picnic tables at the visitor center is the short Earthquake Trail loop (wheelchair accessible), which demonstrates the San Andreas seismic drama, from sag ponds and shifts in natural boundary lines to the old Shafter Ranch barn, a corner of which slid off its foundations during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Also near the Bear Valley Visitor Center are the short, self-guided Woodpecker Nature Trail; the Morgan Horse Ranch, where the Park Service breeds and trains its mounts; and Kule Loklo, an architectural re-creation of a Coast Miwok community. Limantour Estero near Drakes Estero and Drakes Beach is great for bird-watching; McClures Beach is best for tidepooling; and both North Beach and South Beach north of Point Reyes proper offer good beachcombing but treacherous swimming. Protected Drakes Beach and Limantour Beach along the crescent of Drakes Bay are safe for swimming.

Tidepools. Photo by John Curley/ CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Other western Marin highlights include portions of Golden Gate National Recreation Area(GGNRA), including the endlessly hikable Marin Headlands; the still-operating 1877 Point Bonita Lighthouse, one of the first on the west coast, actually just a massive Fresnel lens approached via hand-dug tunnels and a swaying foot-bridge; and remnants of military installations, including the tourable Nike Missile Site. “The Rock,” infamous Alcatraz, onetime military outpost, then island prison and federal hellhole for hard-core criminals, is also part of GGNRA. Schedules vary but tours are available year-round.

You can also take the ferry to Angel Island State Park, where you can explore the beautifully restored United States Immigration Station museum. Make reservations for the shuttle to and from, open-air tram rides, Segway island tours, and the ferry ride.

Don’t overlook the national monument and other state parks effectively surrounded by the GGNRA, all worth some time. Muir Woods National Monument within the boundaries of Mt. Tamalpais State Park is peaceful and serene but quite a popular place—not necessarily the best destination for getting away from them all. Avoid the crowds from all those tour buses by getting away from the visitor center and the trails near the parking lot. Mt. Tamalpais State Park stretches downslope to the sea, taking in views of Marin County, San Francisco Bay, and the Pacific Ocean, and otherwise has it all: redwoods and ferns, hillsides thick with wildflowers, 200 miles of hiking trails with spectacular views, beaches and headlands, also camping and picnicking.

This battered boat is an icon in Inverness along Tomales Bay. Photo by Richard James/ CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Among the half-moon beaches and secret coves along the steep cliffs and shores of Tomales Bay are those protected within fragments of Tomales Bay State Park.  One section is just north of Inverness, via Pierce Point Rd. off Sir Francis Drake Blvd., and others are scattered along Hwy. 1 north of Point Reyes Station on the east side of the bay. Heart’s Desire Beachis perfect for picnicking and is usually empty on weekdays. East of Point Reyes National Seashore and hemmed in by the GGNRA is Samuel P. Taylor State Park, 2,600 acres of redwoods, mixed forests, and upcountry chaparral reached via Sir Francis Drake Boulevard. The park offers an extensive hiking and horseback trail system, a paved bicycle path running east-west, family campsites, group camps, and no-frills camping. Bolinas Lagoon and Audubon Canyon Ranch are also well worth a visit, seasonally.

FARALLON ISLANDS, “CALIFORNIA’S GALAPAGOS”

If you’re here in Fall for the natural history, consider a trip out to the Farallon Islands wildlife refuge and marine sanctuary with the nonprofit Oceanic Society, offering nature-watching outings on weekends from May through November. Protected as the Farallon National Wildlife Refuge and the largest seabird rookery south of Alaska, these islands are one of the five most ecologically productive marine environments on earth, now part of an international UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Sometimes called “California’s Galapagos,” these 948 square nautical miles of ocean from Bodega Head to Rocky Point are included in the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. Rugged granite islands rising up 27 miles west of San Francisco, the Farallons are actually the above-sea-level presence of the Farallones Escarpment, which parallels the coast from the tip of Point Reyes to south of the Golden Gate. The natural but rare phenomenon of upwelling around the islands, with warm offshore winds drawing cold, nutrient-rich ocean water to the surface in spring, creates the phenomenal algae and plankton populations that support the feeding frenzies and breeding successes of animals farther up the food chain.

On an Oceanic Society tour of the Farallon Islands. Photo by Ken-ichi Ueda/ CC BY-NC 2.0.

But during recent centuries, life was almost undone at the Farallons. In the 1800s, “eggers” exploited the rookeries here to provide miners and San Franciscans with fresh eggs at breakfast. The islands have also survived assaults from sealers, whalers, gill netters, bombers, ocean oil slicks, and radioactive waste dumping.

In the summer, more than 250,000 breeding birds—from tufted puffins and petrels to auklets and murres—consider the Farallones home. Seals (including the once-almost-extinct northern elephant seal) and sea lions also breed here, and gray and humpback whales as well as northern fur seals are often spotted in the area.

For more information about the Farallon Islands and the surrounding marine sanctuary, contact the Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association, headquartered at the Presidio in San Francisco.

GOING ON THE CHEAP

You’ll find a friendly assortments of B&Bs, historic hostelries, and family-owned motels in the area. For some great choices contact the Western Marin Chamber of Commerce in Point Reyes Station.

For aficionados of traveling on the cheap, western Marin offers a surprising wealth of choice—including two fine hostels and two historic if fairly primitive options. There are also two very inviting, publicly owned conference centers, if your company or organization is seeking someplace inspiring for that next retreat.

Hostelling International’s historic Marin Headlands Hostel at circa-1907 Fort Barry, 415-331-2777, offers 103 beds, early-20th-century hospital buildings, and a park-like setting. Basic dorm-style accommodations predominate here but family rooms in the annex are available by advance reservation. (No private bathrooms; shared hallway baths.) Facilities also include a great kitchen (bring your groceries), dining room, common room with fireplace, even laundry facilities, game room, tennis court, and bike storage. Quite popular in summer and on good-weather weekends, so reservations are advised. For 2014 rates were $28-35 for dorm rooms, $82-132 for a private room sleeping up to three. Towels and linens are provided. Ask about group rates.

Ideal for a seashore stay is HI’s Point Reyes Hostel on Limantour Rd. in Point Reyes Station, 415/663-8811. Pluses here include location, location, location, and all that beach, just a couple miles away. Advance reservations advisable. Rates in 2014 for dorm beds: $26-29 per night for adults, $13-14 for children.

The state’s Steep Ravine Environmental Cabins on Rocky Point in Mount Tamalpais State Park look out to sea from near Stinson Beach. Before the state wrested custody of these marvelous cabins from the powerful Bay Area politicians and other clout-encumbered citizens who held long-term leases, photographer Dorothea Lange wrote about staying here in To a Cabin, co-authored by Margaretta K. Mitchell. Even the walk down to the bottom of Steep Ravine Canyon is inspiring, Lange noted, with “room for only those in need of sea and sky and infinity.” These 10 small, rustic redwood cabins offer just the basics: platform beds (bring your own sleeping bag and pad), woodstoves, separate restrooms with pit toilets, and an almost-private beach below in a spectacularly romantic setting. Rates are $100 per night (each sleeps five). One cabin is wheelchair accessible; none have electricity, but they do have outside running water. Bring your own provisions. To reserve a cabin—plan well in advance—tryReserveAmerica online or call 800-444- 7275. Cabins and environmental sites at Mt. Tamalpais may be booked from 10 days to seven months prior to the arrival date. Be determined!

Also notable and inexpensive in the area is the historic, rustic West Point Inn, built in 1904 as a traveler’s stop for the Mill Valley/Mt. Tamalpais Railway and now operated by a nonprofit association dedicated to its preservation. One of the five rustic cabins is wheelchair accessible, and there is a single-use restroom in the main lodge featuring a roll-in shower. Lodge rooms are coziest in winter months. Travelers with disabilities can drive in on an access road, but otherwise this is strictly a hike-in or bike-in experience. (Bring your own food. Lodge cooking facilities available.) Rates are $25 to $50 per person per night, with a two-night minimum for cabins. For more information and reservations, contact the West Point Inn, 1000 Panoramic Highway in Mill Valley, 415-388-9955.

As for those conference centers: Along the eastern edge of Tomales Bay the Marconi Conference Center, 18500 Hwy. 1 in Marshall, occupies the 1914 Marconi Hotel once owned by Guglielmo Marconi, inventor of the wireless. This onetime communications center facility—taken over by the U.S. Navy during World War I, later operated by RCA, and in the 1960s home to the much-praised then pilloried Synanon alcohol and drug abuse program—is now a state-owned conference center operated on the model of Asilomar on the Monterey Peninsula.

Fairly new to the Marin Headlands is Nature Bridge, a conference and event center on the beach at Fort Chronkite. Nature Bridge offers dorm-style accommodations (some semi-private rooms available), good food, lots of meeting space, even guided hikes. Day use and overnight rates available.