Phantom Falls

Phantom Falls at very low flow

Location: Pt. Reyes National Seashore, near Bolinas, Marin County Height: ~160 ft. Access:         Distance: 13.2 miles (RT) Elevation: 250 ft. (+400 ft., -500 ft.) Season: Dec-May Difficulty: Lat/Long:37.97919, -122.79964 Directions:Take Hwy #101 to San Rafael, and take the Sir Francis Drake Blvd. exit. Drive 20 miles to Olema, then drive south on Hwy #1 for 9.1 miles to Bolinas Rd. (unsigned). Turn right and drive 1.8 miles to Mesa Rd. Turn right and drive 4.7 miles to Palomarin trailhead.

Phantom Falls is the tallest waterfall on Californias coast, dropping 160 ft. off the huge cliffs onto the beach in Pt. Reyes National Seashore. The conditions must be perfect to see it however. It is only accessible at low tide. Also, it only flows after there has been a lot of rain, and will be just trickling or non-existent otherwise (hence the name: Phantom Falls). Phantom Falls is on an unnamed and unmarked little stream; thus, it needs plenty of rain to be flowing. When I was here in December, there had not been enough recent rain, and it was only trickling. But I will be sure to return in the future. When it is flowing, it is quite a sight to see because it is so tall.

I started my hike from the Palomarin trailhead near Bolinas, and hiked up the Coast Trail to Wildcat campground. From Wildcat Beach, it is another 0.8 miles north along the beach to Phantom Falls. Be sure to check the tide conditions before making this trip. At high tide, it is quite probable the waves will be crashing right up against the base of the cliffs. You do not want to get trapped here. There are no exit points up the steep and very crumbly cliffs. At low tide though, it is an easy (and beautiful) jaunt up the beach to the waterfall. From the beach, you can also see Alamere Falls a mile to the south, and that waterfall can also be accessed at low tide along the beach.

In addition to Phantom Falls, there is another small 15-20 ft. waterfall (called Horsetail Falls), which is a further 0.5 miles north of Phantom Falls. This waterfall also can only be accessed at low tide (and you will probably still get wet going up to that one).

Zoom out on map to see all nearby waterfalls:

Other waterfalls nearby:

Alamere Falls	1.93 miles
Stairstep Falls	5.64 miles
Morses Gulch Falls	8.22 miles
Carson Falls	8.27 miles
Cataract Falls	9.30 miles
Cascade Falls	9.41 miles
Loma Alta Falls	10.27 miles
Steep Ravine Falls	11.40 miles
Arroyo San Jose Falls	12.43 miles
Dawn Falls	12.96 miles
Cascade Falls	13.26 miles
Pacheco Creek Falls	13.85 miles
Warner Falls	14.13 miles
Mountain View Falls	15.50 miles

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