Wildcat Camp of Point Reyes National Park

Tsunami Warning Information — Wildcat Campground
We were a group camping in in Coast Campground–
Campsite 2 (aka 002AB (lg)) –farthest from the beach.
The campground has a warning sign:
«TSUNAMI HAZARD ZONE
IN CASE OF EARTHQUAKE GO
TO HIGH GROUND OR INLAND
This is good advice– because if an earthquake happens nearby,
the park rangers may not have time enough to evacuate the beach.
The campground would be evacuated if a tsunami were predicted,
such as when the 2011 earthquake in Japan caused a tsunami
that struck Hawaii hours later.
The campground does not have tsunami warning sirens.
NOAA Weather Radio (NWR, aka «NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards»)
worked intermittently around our campsite 2 (aka 002AB (lg)),
I did walk with the NWR radio from our campsite past all the other campsites
but I didn’t get a steady signal until I was past all of them,
on the cliff overlooking the beach.
6 041 is the Specific Area Message Encoding number (SAME) for Marin county.
From the coverage maps, I expected Channel WX2 162.4to work, but when
I arrived only one other channel worked, and
it never seemed to work when the radio was next to my sleeping bag!
Next time I’ll bring an external antenna!
Many models will have a port to hook up an external antenna.
You can buy an external antenna from an electronics store or make your own.
The antenna will be similar to the type you use for your stereo:
a two-​conductor piece of wire attached to a wall and
stretched up the wall toward the ceiling.
When it nears the ceiling, split the wire conductors to
form a T where the wire splits into it’s horizontal section,
each section should be at least 18 inches long.
Another hint– before you go DON’T read
«Night of the Howling Dogs» by Graham Salisbury!
It’s a great story based on an earthquake and tsunami that
actually happened– but in another National Park.

Great place to go backpacking. Intensity level is easy to moderate, so perfect for beginners. Starting out at bear valley trailhead will be just over 6 miles. During the week Wildcat camp was pretty secluded, even though all the campsites were supposedly reserved. Campsite #6 is great for privacy and you can’t beat the view, as it is the closest site to the ocean. Easy walk on the beach will take you to Alamere Falls. Definitely worth going back!

Super cool campground and definitely great for beginner backpackers since the trail is very well marked and you have a vault toilet and potable water there. Also can’t deny the location, you really are a couple minute walk down to the beach. And yes there are wild animals that roam around here (we saw bobcat, deer, coyote, and tons of quails)
Get permits early (6 months in advance is the earliest). Especially for weekends in the summer since the campground does get full. See here for permit costs information
Aerial view of the campsite (you can see it’s a short walk down to the beach):
Once you hike in (about a 5 – 6 miles easy to moderate hike via Bear Valley trail, there is a little bit of uphill climb), you can do a bunch of different day hikes from there. Take the Coast Trail is going to Alamere waterfall (a couple miles south) that starts behind the bathrooms. But go early in the morning since in the afternoon it becomes infested with A LOT of day hikers. Or you can walk south down the beach until you see Alamere waterfall.
The reason why I didn’t give this 5 stars is cuz it does get a little run over by a lot of backpackers and day hikers so you don’t get the same sense of remoteness like you would get in the Sierras for instance. But for the location next to the beach and the fact that you can bring in a lot of heavy booze since it’s not a challenging hike, it’s still worth checking out!
Photo of the bluffs on the trail hiking in:
Bobcat spotting by the vault bathrooms:
Our campsite #5

This was my first hiking camping experience (as opposed to car camping), and I genuinely despised every minute of it. Living in the Bay Area, the average picnic in Berkeley or drive to get some cheese in Marin has views at least as nice as these — except those change more often. If you’ve driven up and down highway 1, you’ve pretty much seen what this place has to offer. (Sure there’s a nice beach, but there are plenty of closer ones. In any case, it’s still too cold to swim.)
On the upside, now that I’ve been on a hike with such good reviews, I never need to go on another one and won’t wonder what I’m missing.
The site itself (#7) was fine but has no tree cover, so it feels pretty close to the other campers even though it’s supposedly the most secluded. You can hear the waves but you can only see the ocean if you stand up and look in a particular direction.
I totally support nature in theory, but in practice Dolores Park is as much of it as I personally need.

Maybe it was just because I read so many 5 star reviews, but honestly I was underwhelmed with this campsite. The trail going in was not very well maintained and their was a lot of poison oak and stinging nettle taking over the path. Though camping on the bluffs was kind of neat, the campsites are really just spaces in a big field of weeds. Every site but #6 and #7 are clearly visible from the other sites and there isn’t much privacy. Most of the campsites (again with the exception of #6/#7) are not near enough to the bluff to see the ocean. Wildcat Falls, though pretty, was not as large or interesting as I expected. There are a couple of caves and decent tidepools past the falls that are worth checking out. When we went we found tons of seashells, crab shells and miniature sand dollars on the beach. The bathrooms were well stocked and well maintained.
I am not quite sure why this location is SO popular– it was booked solid through almost the entire summer, but we will not be coming back.

loved this site. Cant wait to go back.

This campsite is one of the greatest location in the Bay Area.
If you are a beginner and don’t want to go backpacking in Eastern Sierra or Yosemite, this is close and easy in terms of distance and altitude.
This site is 2 min from the beach and able to walk to Alamere falls on the beach.
Each site is not close enough, so it’s quiet.
The problem in Marin County is that it is often foggy. If it is sunny, view is amazing. If it is foggy, still view is nice but I need to go back because I want to see clear sunny view as well.

This campsite is everything it’s cracked up to be! The hike is about 6 miles, and half of it has a view of the coast. Each campsite is self-​enclosed and surrounded by mustard plants (which are delicious). My new favorite campsite in the bay area; I’m just glad I found this is one year, not 17!

2011-​03-​31 Thurs, Night #2 of 4:
Hiked from Glenn Camp to Wildcat Camp in about an 1hr/​15mins, just under 3 miles. This coastal camp is set on an open meadow on a bluff overlooking the ocean. We had site #6 which I think is the second to best site here based on view and privacy. Alot of the sites are double which means you will be sharing/​interacting within the immediate vicinity of neighbors. We arrived at noon, set up camp and hit the beach for some more hiking. Did a loop to Alamere Falls, Bass, Ocean, and Wildcat Lakes for another 6 miles. At sunset we had a campfire on the beach just below our site. It was awesome with the surf crashing and the lighthouse flashing in the distance. When we got back to our site we found our tents and gear that was left out got completely soaked from the moisture in the air from the ocean. We had a great night here!

Awesome camping site so close to the city.
I have stayed here twice. Once in July 2009, and again December 28, 2010. Both times at «coveted» number 7. This site is definitely the best, sitting on the bluff, right beside the ocean. Somewhat secluded from the other campers. As previously mentioned, this particular site is good for only 4, but making 2 tents fit will be challenging, unless they are both 2 person tents.
Site has running water and a vault toilet. About a 6.2 mile hike from the headquarters, and only took us about 2 hours to get there.
You can hike the beach to the base of Alamere Fall (about a mile), or take the trail at the horse’s watering pit to the backside of the Fall. We hiked to the top of the Fall and had lunch overlooking the ocean.
In July, the site is a little drab. Mostly brown, typical of summer in CA. The top of the Fall, though, was vibrant green with wildflowers. Winter months is nice, with lots of green, but good chance of rain. Be prepared!

After 17 years I discovered my favorite place in the Bay Area.
This is a beautiful camp in a notch in the hills next to the ocean, along the wild coastline of Point Reyes National Seashore. Be prepared for serious dew and dampness overnight, otherwise I imagine in bad weather it’s a bear, but gorgeous in the typical sunny weather of Fall.
Like all Point Reyes campsites, it’s luxurious for a trail camp: vault toilets, potable water, trash and recycling, picnic tables, charcoal grills, and food lockers.
Sites 1 – 4 are relatively open and in clear view of each other, 6 – 7 are up in the reeds near the edge of the bluff and more private, 5 relatively private and gets the earliest sun (for drying out the overnight dew!) 7 has a view of the ocean through the notch where the creek drains. There is beach for miles in each direction, though maybe not at high tide. If you want to walk to Alamere Falls along the beach, do it at low tide.
And … if you choose your day carefully … weekday away from holidays or summertime, the weather not *too* good … you could have it to yourself!

Beautiful hike and campground for as many as 24 peeps. Go to the waterfall to cool off. Campsite even has running water!

Because of the beautiful ocean views, this is my favorite bay area hike.

Watch my video of the hike to Wildcat Camp, shot in June:
On the beautiful Pt. Reyes seashore. Be sure to take the Coast Trail part of the way there — it lengthens your trip by about a mile but takes past the gorgeous Arch Rock, perched over the ocean.
Wildcat is in a grassy meadow, next to the sea — incomparable vistas and the sound of crashing waves to put you to sleep. It is an especially good place to camp because it is only 6.5 — 7.5 miles from the Bear Valley Trailhead near the visitors center.

go for site #7 when you make a reservation. it’s closest to the ocean and secluded from the other *very* open group sites. private with an ocean view (and you can hear the waves). though technically it can accomodate 4, there’s really only room for 1 tent.
the hike there from palomarin is a little more hilly than the walk to coast camp, but inclues great views of the whole coast, lakes, and a couple of bridges to cross.
oh and the site has a built in bathroom area to pee. it’s surrounded by bushes and is accessible only from site #7. use it so you don’t catch something from the pit toilets.

Point Reyes is about 1 hour north of San Francisco. The campsite is 6.3 mi from the trailhead. At Wildcat there is a vault toilet, water spigot, 2 picnic tables, grill and food storage locker. The campsite is a very short walk to the beach and a 1 mile walk to Alamere Falls.
I’ve come to this campsite twice with my brother… the outdoor guru. The hike in is not bad, an average, trained hiker can do it with no problem. Wildcat Camp is spacious and each campsite is somewhat isolated from the other sites. Since it is on a bluff near the beach, nights can be windy and chilly so make sure you pack layers!
The hike and view of Alamere Falls is beautiful. Bring your Teva’s or Chaco’s and you can play in the water. On one occasion that we went, there was a beached whale on the sand… incredible to see!

At first blush, Wildcat Camp doesn’t look wildly anything. Tall brown weeds separate one flat campsite from another. All in all, just a patchy meadow to rest up. And I would of been OK with just that, Point Reyes is stunning, who cares about the campsite? But over our night’s stay, I came to love our little meadow home for many reasons.
-) It’s on a bluff right on the beach, with a beautiful walk to the Alamere Falls
-) Collect driftwood along the sand & make a bonfire right in front of the ocean. My favorite wood looked like a stone until you got real close.
-)There are two shared bathrooms that always smelled nice, are clean and have copious rolls of tp! A portapotty never looked so good.
-) Each campsite has picnic tables, a pantry (as we called our food locker) and even a grill! Next time, were camping in with burger fixings!
-)Though the campsite was full, it’s well spaced so you can make noise & not be bothered by others’ noise
-)There’s a hose gushing with water (but yes, you need to treat it).
-) There are no bugs at night in August Not that I noticed anyway!
-)Last but not least, the resident coyote! I know coyote are supposed to be mangy scavengers, but this coyote carried herself like a regal dame.
The campsite is only accessible by trail (thankfully). We took the very scenic Coast Trail from Palomarin (5.5 miles, nice low stress day hike)