Point Reyes

The cape protects Drakes Bay on its southern side. The headland is largely drained by Drakes Estero. Drakes Bay and Drake's Estero are named after English seafarer Sir Francis Drake who possibly hauled his ship, the Golden Hinde, up onto the beach for repairs in June 1579.{{Cite news |last= |first= |date=2012-10-21 |title=Sir Francis Drake 'first set foot on US soil in San Francisco Bay area' |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/oct/21/sir-francis-drake-san-francisco-bay |access-date=2023-09-28 |issn=0261-3077}} Inverness Ridge runs along the peninsula's northwest-southeast spine, with forested peaks around {{convert|430|m}}. West of the ridge, the land flattens out and the vegetation turns to scrub. The Mount Vision fire in 1995 burned part of Inverness Ridge, as well as the Woodward fire in 2020.{{Cite web |last=Johnson |first=Trisha |date=2020-09-18 |title=Woodward Fire |url=https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/e27903b559a346548124a78b723ce374 |access-date=2023-09-28 |website=ArcGIS StoryMaps |language=en}}

Point Reyes lends its name to the town of Point Reyes Station.

The point may once have been known as Lobes Lighthouse by the sailors of clipper ships on the meat trade.Japan, Pitcairn, San Francisco Farallon Islands, above the Fog Bank, (c. 1891) Alan Bruce Harper and friend Mr. F.W. Wilsden (Liverpool apprentices) Logs "picking up a pilot" (Lobes are ridges of slide material commonly referred to in the literature from erosion events and the point is of that shape out to sea.)

File:Point Reyes 1.jpg

The contemporary inhabitants of the Point Reyes area at the time of European arrival were the Coast Miwok.{{Cite web|url = https://www.nps.gov/pore/learn/historyculture/people_coastmiwok.htm|title = Coast Miwok at Point Reyes|website = National Park Service}} They left evidence of well over a hundred encampments on the peninsula, with a population estimated to have been nearly 3,000. Seasonal hunters and gatherers, they were nourished by fish, clams, mussels, and crab, in addition to the deer, elk, bear, mud hen, geese, and small game they hunted with spears and bows. The Coast Miwok utilized a variety of different plants growing at Point Reyes. Acorns served as a staple, as they could be stored in dry granaries to provide sustenance when food was less plentiful.

Although the Coast Miwok periodically interacted with European explorers,{{Cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/pore/learn/historyculture/people_europeanexplorers.htm|title=Early European Explorers at Point Reyes|website=Point Reyes National Seashore}} they continued their habitation until late in the 18th century when the Spanish built Mission San Rafael and missionaries began journeying to Point Reyes to recruit them to move to the mission. While attempting to convert them, these missionaries introduced diseases that brought many deaths, fewer births, and significantly increasing infant mortality rates.{{citation needed|date=September 2021}}

In 1992, Coast Miwok descendants established the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, and in December 2000, legislation passed granting the tribe federal recognition. The tribe has almost 500 members, who engage in a revival of traditional customs and ceremonies, often held in Kule Loklo, "Valley of the Bear", a replica Miwok village in Point Reyes National Seashore.{{Cite web|url = http://www.ptreyes.org/activities/kule-loklo-coast-miwok-cultural-exhibit|title = Kule Loklo Coast Miwok Cultural Exhibit|website = Point Reyes National Seashore Association}}

File:Vizcaino.jpg named the cape {{Lang|es|Punto de los Reyes}} (Spanish for "Point of the Kings"), which has transformed into the modern Spanish–English name mixture of Point Reyes.]]

On November 13, 1542, Spanish explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo sighted and named "Cabo de Pinos" (Point Reyes), but missed the entrance to San Francisco Bay, a lapse that mariners would repeat for the next two centuries and more, due to the fog that characterizes the area. The Spanish explorer Sebastián Vizcaíno named the land {{Lang|es|Punto de los Reyes}} ("Kings' Point") when his ship, the Capitana, anchored in Drakes Bay on the Day of the Three Kings (Epiphany, or the end of the 12 Days of Christmas) on January 6, 1603.{{Cite web|url = http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=66|title = Point Reyes, CA|website = Lighthouse Friends}}

File:Point Reyes and Drakes Bay.jpg

Although early explorers and Spanish trading galleons journeying between the Philippines and Acapulco passed by Point Reyes, some even anchoring briefly, it is the landing by Sir Francis Drake that dominates discussion of this era of Point Reyes early history. On June 17, 1579, during his circumnavigation, he landed in the vicinity of Point Reyes and proclaimed it Nova Albion ('New Britain') . The National Historic Landmark designation has the landing as Drake's Cove at Point Reyes National Seashore.The Drake's Cove site began its review by the National Park Service (NPS) in 1994 [http://www.nps.gov/nhl/Fall11Noms/DrakesBayES.pdf], thus starting an 18-year study of the suggested Drake sites. The first formal Nomination to mark the Nova Albion site at Drake's Cove as a National Historic Landmark was provided to NPS on January 1, 1996. As part of its review, NPS obtained independent, confidential comments from professional historians. The NPS staff concluded that the Drake's Cove site is the "most probable" [http://www.nps.gov/nhl/Fall11Noms/DrakesBayES.pdf] and "most likely" [https://web.archive.org/web/20140222133455/http://www.nps.gov/nhl/Fall11Noms/RedactedDrakesBay.pdf] Drake landing site. The National Park System Advisory Board Landmarks Committee sought public comments on the Port of Nova Albion Historic and Archaeological District Nomination [http://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2011/09/08/2011-22904/landmarks-committee-of-the-national-park-system-advisory-board-meeting#h-9] and received more than two dozen letters of support and none in opposition. At the Committee's meeting of November 9, 2011 in Washington, DC, representatives of the government of Spain, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Congresswoman Lynn Wolsey all spoke in favor of the nomination: there was no opposition. Staff and the Drake Navigators Guild's president, Edward Von der Porten, gave the presentation. The Nomination was strongly endorsed by Committee Member Dr. James M. Allan, Archeologist, and the Committee as a whole which approved the nomination unanimously. The National Park System Advisory Board sought further public comments on the Nomination [http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-09-29/html/2011-25046.htm]: no additional comments were received. At the Board's meeting on December 1, 2011 in Florida, the Nomination was further reviewed: the Board approved the nomination unanimously. On October 16, 2012, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar signed the nomination, and on October 17, 2012, The Drakes Bay Historic and Archaeological District was formally announced as a new National Historic Landmark.[http://www.doi.gov/news/pressreleases/Interior-Designates-27-New-National-Landmarks.cfm] Drake's chaplain's observations about the areas inhabitants suggest the landing occurred near a Coast Miwok settlement. These notes describe the genial welcome Drake and his men received, complete with ceremony and gifts, as well as the landscape and wildlife, and included commentary about fog which frequently obscures the peninsula during the summer months.

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Rumors of Drake's discovery of a safe harbor on the California coast intrigued the Spanish. Their trade between the Philippines and Mexico was booming, and they were constantly seeking safe harbors along their route. Many believe that Drake's discovery of such a harbor inspired the Spanish to order Sebastian Rodriguez Cermeno, a Portuguese captain trading for Spain, to survey the California coast on his journey to Mexico from the Philippines in 1595. Commanding San Agustin, a Manila galleon laden with a luxury cargo of Chinese silks, spices, and Ming porcelain bound for Acapulco, Cermeno endured both the first of hundreds of documented shipwrecks at Point Reyes, as well as one of the most amazing journeys to safety. Among the crew were Filipino mariners.{{cite book|author=Kevin Starr|title=Coast of Dreams: California on the Edge, 1990-2003|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uGOKDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA158|date=February 2006|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-679-74072-8|page=158}}

Struggling with a decrepit, heavily laden ship and a tired crew, Cermeno explored the California coast, eventually anchoring near the Point Reyes inlet now called Drakes Estero. Within a few days, a November storm beached the ship where it listed and was relentlessly pounded by the furious surf. It soon broke apart, killing several men and dumping the precious cargo, some of which was eventually collected and used by the local Coast Miwok inhabitants.{{page needed|date=November 2024}}

Cermeno salvaged a small, open launch, likened to a large canoe, and loaded it with the 70 surviving crew members to begin the long journey home. After a grueling two-month voyage, remembered as a remarkable feat of seamanship, Cermeno and all crew arrived safely in Acapulco in January 1596. Despite his amazing journey, Cermeno received no celebratory welcome, for he had not only lost his ship and cargo, but had also failed to locate the safe harbor he was ordered to find.{{Cite book|title = Point Reyes, A HarborTown History|last = Baker|first = Gayle|publisher = HarborTown Histories|year = 2011}}{{page needed|date=November 2024}}

Despite reports of a lovely land populated by friendly tribes, Spain neglected California until the second half of the 18th century. By that time, trade had become an important source of income, and it was becoming clear that the nation controlling California's harbors would reap incredible profits. When England, France, and Russia began to covet California's coast, the King of Spain knew it was time to fortify it. The Portolá expedition of 67 men and 100 pack mules left San Diego in 1769. Led by Gaspar de Portolá, the governor of Baja California, they began walking to the largest known harbor, Monterey Bay. Portolá expected more of a harbor than what they found at Monterey, and decided they must not have reached it yet. Pushing on north along the coast, they instead discovered San Francisco Bay. Prior to that, from a high point on the coast south of Pacifica, they saw and recognized (from the description of Manila Galleon pilot Cabrera Bueno) Point Reyes and the Farallon Islands.{{cite book |last=Bolton |first=Herbert E. |pages=226–227 |year=1927 |title=Fray Juan Crespi: Missionary Explorer on the Pacific Coast, 1769–1774 |url=http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000288788 |publisher=HathiTrust Digital Library }} The expedition was blocked from going farther north toward Point Reyes by the Golden Gate and San Francisco Bay, since they had no boats.

Beginning with Portolá's expedition, Spain began establishing presidios and Spanish missions in California ((1769–1833)). By 1817, Mission San Rafael was established and padres began journeying to Point Reyes, intent on enticing the Coast Miwok to the mission. Although they were successful in convincing many to settle at the mission, it was soon clear that the Coast Miwoks were not thriving. Serious outbreaks of smallpox and pneumonia killed many. Those who survived sickened from a wide variety of other illnesses, such as colds and measles. Birth rates dropped, and mortality rates increased at an alarming rate. Since the missions depended upon healthy workers for their prosperity, these illnesses foretold their demise.

In 1821, Mexico gained independence from Spain and possession of California in the Mexican War of Independence. Most mission land was subdivided and into large land grants used mainly for cattle ranching. In 1843, Point Reyes itself and Drake's Bay being mostly unsuitable for cattle, became part of Rancho Punta de los Reyes Sobrante (Sobrante means "leftover").[http://www.marinlibrary.org/research-and-learning/california-room/marin-rancho-map Marin County rancho map] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160503175601/http://www.marinlibrary.org/research-and-learning/california-room/marin-rancho-map |date=2016-05-03 }} This was only a few years before cession of California to the United States, which led to decades of confusion and boundary battles.{{page needed|date=November 2024}}

When the Spanish missions in California were dismantled, virtually all of Point Reyes was given to 'Rafael Garcia, a corporal in the Mexican Army, who was awarded two leagues ({{convert|8911|acres}}) in March 1836. Named Rancho Tomales y Baulines, it is believed to have included the entire Olema Valley from Tomales Bay to Bolinas Lagoon, although its borders were never clearly defined. Garcia's failure to survey and confirm boundaries, as required by Mexican law, set the stage for confusion and lengthy court battles when the rancho was dissolved.

Unlike many rancheros, Garcia obeyed the law by actually living there. He built a wood and thatch home near what is now the National Seashore's Bear Valley Headquarters and soon had a home for his family as well as a headquarters for his extensive ranching operation which consisted of approximately 3,000 cattle, 400 horses, and large herds of sheep and hogs.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}

When Mexico lost California to the United States, Garcia continued to prosper. Soon after the American takeover, the 1849 California gold rush brought floods of prospectors. Where his wild cattle had been valued only for hides and tallow, he could now sell them to feed hungry gold-seekers, netting as much as $35 each. Unfortunately for Garcia, these gold-rich years ended quickly: in 1851, the United States passed a law requiring rancheros to prove legal ownership of their land grants. While the Garcias continued ranching, their land began to disappear until, after 15 years of litigation, multiple court appearances, and high legal fees, Garcia had sold all but {{convert|3085|acres}} of his grant at bargain prices.{{page needed|date=November 2024}}

Although Garcia believed he owned virtually all of Point Reyes, another Point Reyes land grant was awarded the same year, 1836. It was given to an Irishman, James Berry, who had become a Mexican citizen and colonel in the army. This land grant was also in the Olema Valley, and, to add to the boundary confusion, he soon left the area and hired Garcia to oversee it. A mere two years later, Berry sold nearly {{convert|9,000.|acres}} of it to a sea captain, Joseph Snook, an act clearly prohibited by Mexican law and grounds for forfeiture of the entire grant. Although Berry understandably wanted to keep the sale secret, Snook wanted legal title. He discovered that the only way he could obtain legal title of the land he had illegally purchased was to formally denounce Berry's ownership on the grounds that he had never occupied it. He was successful and gained legal title to the land he had illegally purchased, stocked it with 56 head of cattle, and, like Berry, hired Garcia to oversee it. Three months after he won legal title, he illegally sold it.

And so began a confusing series of sales and transfers that no one seemed to be able to untangle. Finally, in 1844, the rancheros themselves asked the Mexican government to investigate titles and clarify ownership. Little was clarified, and it was not until the United States took possession of California and required rancheros to conduct surveys and make court appearances to retain their land that the confusing pattern of sales and trades were untangled. Most rancheros were eventually able to prove ownership. Unfortunately, by this time, they had run out of cash and were forced to sell to pay the survey and daunting legal fees. Entrepreneurial Americans were delighted to capitalize on the opportunity. With cash in hand, they purchased these huge Mexican land grants, often paying less than $2 per acre, thus beginning Point Reyes's next chapter as a dairying empire.{{page needed|date=November 2024}}

Settlement patterns at Point Reyes were forever changed when the Shafters acquired it in 1857. Brothers Oscar Lovell Shafter and James McMillan Shafter established large-scale successful dairy operations.

13 of the 31 dairies they established still operate today.{{citation needed|date=December 2013}}

Oscar was the first to arrive. A Vermont lawyer intent upon making his fortune and returning home as soon as possible, he left his family to journey to booming San Francisco. His separation from them became intolerable when his two youngest children died while he was away. Still not willing to give up the promise of wealth, he convinced his wife to come, bringing their surviving daughter. They thrived, and Oscar fathered four more California-born daughters. Oscar soon convinced his younger brother, James, also a lawyer, to join him. They became known as San Francisco's foremost authorities on title litigation. Using their title expertise, they began acquiring Point Reyes land. When Oscar's oldest daughter married Charles Webb Howard, also a lawyer, the trio partnered to transform windswept Point Reyes into prosperous dairies.

Determined to supply booming San Francisco with its butter, by 1857, the partners began fencing significant expanses of land (eventually resulting in 40 miles of fencing), building homes and barns, and stocking the dairies with the pure-bred bulls and rams, some costing over $1,400. By 1868, they had 3,500 cows on 17 dairies and were producing over 700,000 pounds of butter a year. All their dairies were operated by renters. When the most industrious of these renters tried to buy the dairy they worked, they failed. Many eventually left, establishing some of California's other major dairies.

Despite their boundless optimism about the promise of Point Reyes, they were plagued by financial worries. After they passed, their children tried to hold on to the dairies, trying unsuccessfully to stop their decline despite aging ranches, sickening herds, and often unhappy tenants. Finally, in 1937, an era ended when the last of the Shafter Empire was sold, ushering in a new parade of owners.{{page needed|date=November 2024}}

Four towns can be found on Point Reyes: Bolinas, Olema, Inverness, and Point Reyes Station. During Spanish and Mexican War, Bolinas' remote lagoon was used by American, British, and Russian smugglers intent on avoiding tariffs and regulations.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}} Later, when the Gold Rush of 1849 generated a huge market for lumber, Bolinas became the port for nearby timber operations and, briefly, quarrying limestone. By the late 1960s, Bolinas had become home to a large community of hippies, many of whom had left San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury for a less populated paradise. In 1971, they succeeded in scrapping a master plan calling for a population of 28,000 by imposing a moratorium on new homes and defeating efforts to widen its access highway. Instead, a plan was approved that made agriculture, fishing, and small business the town's economic base. Bolinas soon gained renown for its unusual structures and recreational drug use.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}

File:Point Reyes Lighthouse 7.jpg built in 1870]]

As soon as the Shafter dairies began to thrive, it became evident that Point Reyes needed a centrally located town for supplies, services, and entertainment. In 1857, a hotel and saloon were built and the young town was named "Olema", meaning "coyote" in the Coast Miwok dialect.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}} Within three years, it had emerged as the region's commercial center with a post office, grocery store, saloon, butcher, livery stable, and two hotels. By 1867, a wagon road from San Rafael was built and a stage coach arrived twice a week. Druids Hall was completed in 1885.{{Cite web|title=Druids in Marin County {{!}} Marin County Free Library|url=https://marinlibrary.org/druids-in-marin-county/|access-date=2020-07-07|language=en-US}} While this Olema chapter of the United Ancient Order of Druids adhered to principles of mutual support, intellectual growth, and social consciousness, it also served as a temperance society.

The Shafters lobbied hard for a railroad to serve Point Reyes. When it was finally built, it bypassed Olema, terminating, instead, two miles away. When the first train arrived early in 1875, Point Reyes Station was a cow pasture. By 1880, it had a hotel, saloon, blacksmith shop, livery stable, butcher shop, and school. Its post office was completed in 1882, and its first store opened in 1883. When the railroad era ended, growth was slow. It was not until after World War II that a medical center and a shopping center, including a drugstore, dentist, coffee shop, and library, had been completed. The train station became the local post office, while the former engine house was converted into a community center. In the 1970s, hippies established cottage industries in abandoned houses and shops. At the same time, the Coast Guard bought 30 acres of land formerly used as cattle pens, and built military housing. Continuing as the region's supply and service center, it is a popular destination with shops, restaurants, and an annual music festival.{{cite news | author=Paul Liberatore | title = Far-out music at this year's Far West Fest | date = 2010-07-15 | url = http://www.marinij.com/lifestyles/ci_15528680| work = eToday | access-date = 2012-04-13 }}

As developers and loggers submitted plans, a 1956 National Park Service (NPS) study of possible seashore parks recommended acquisition of the peninsula. By 1958, a report was published recommending immediate NPS acquisition of 35,000 acres. Controversy raged, with environmentalists applauding the proposal and the ranchers opposing it. A compromise was crafted which allowed the ranchers to lease their land and continue dairying while coexisting with tourists and park activities. On September 13, 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed the bill authorizing the acquisition of 53,000 acres and allocating $13 million. Eventually 18,000 acres purchased by the NPS were leased back to ranchers.Baker, Gayle, p. 97–102.

In cooperation with the NPS, volunteers have restored and maintain a historic coastal radiotelegraph marine station, KSM (ex-KPH), at Point Reyes. It remains one of the few commercial Morse code stations operating in the world, and is the only one in the U.S.[http://www.radiomarine.org/ Maritime Radio Historical Society of America]

During the Cold War, submarines repaired at Mare Island Naval Shipyard were tested in the shallow waters off Point Reyes following shipyard repairs. Navy safety personnel used a small monitoring and communications hut on the peninsula for monitoring submarines during these sea trials.

In April and May 1979, part of John Carpenter's The Fog was shot at the Point Reyes Lighthouse and the small town of Inverness.

As of 2015, Drakes Bay Oyster Company (DBOC) has ceased operations, and most infrastructure has been removed from the site. The closure comes as a result of their lease ending.

File:Black-tailed deer at Point Reyes.jpg at Point Reyes]]

File:Tupeelkpointreyes.jpg grazing at Point Reyes]]

Beginning in the 18th century, northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris) were hunted extensively almost to extinction by the end of the 19th century.{{cite iucn |author=Hückstädt, L. |date=2015 |title=Mirounga angustirostris |volume=2015 |page=e.T13581A45227116 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-2.RLTS.T13581A45227116.en |access-date=11 November 2021}} They were prized for oil that could be made from their blubber, and the population may have fallen as low as 20. In 1874 American whaleman Charles Melville Scammon recorded in Marine Mammals of the Northwestern Coast of America, that "the elephant seal...known to the Old Californians as Elefante marino had a geographical distribution from Cape Lazaro (about 1/4 of the way up the Baja peninsula) in the south to Point Reyes in the north".{{cite book |title=The marine mammals of the northwestern coast of North America: together with an account of the American whale-fishery |page=115 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GJ1tlnhkTWcC&q=point+reyes |access-date=2011-09-05 |author=Charles Melville Scammon |publisher=Heyday Books |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-59714-061-4 }} They were thought to be extinct in 1884 until a remnant population of eight individuals was discovered on Guadalupe Island in 1892 by a Smithsonian expedition, who promptly killed seven of the eight for their collections.{{cite book |title=The War Against the Seals: A History of the North American Seal Fishery |author=Briton Cooper Busch |page=187 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q4WF3PTh4kQC&q=smithsonian+expedition+townsend+elephant+seal&pg=PA187 |access-date=2011-09-05 |publisher=McGill-Queen's Press |year=1987 |isbn=978-0-7735-0610-7 }} The elephant seals managed to survive, and were finally protected by the Mexican government in 1922. Subsequently, the U.S. protection was strengthened after passage of the Marine Mammal Protection Act in 1972, and numbers have now recovered to over 100,000. The first breeding pair was discovered on a sheltered beach below Point Reyes' Chimney Rock in 1981 and has multiplied at a remarkable 16% per year to the present population of 1,500 to 2,000 individuals each winter.{{cite web |title=Elephant Seals |publisher=National Park Service |url=https://www.nps.gov/pore/learn/nature/elephant_seals.htm |access-date=2011-09-05 }}

California's native tule elk (Cervus canadensis nannodes) were hunted until only a handful of animals remained in California's southern Central Valley. Joseph Warren Revere, the grandson of Revolutionary War patriot Paul Revere, wrote in his book Naval Duty in California that he counted 400 elk in a single herd on Pt. Reyes in the 1840's.{{cite book |title=Naval Duty in California |author=Joseph Warren Revere |publisher=Biobooks |location=Oakland, California |year=1947 |page=245 }} Stephen J. Richardson, son of Marin County pioneer Captain William A. Richardson, wrote "I think the largest herd in the world roamed over the deep grasslands of Point Reyes...I fully believe there were a thousand elk in one herd."{{cite book |title=Days of the Dons: Reminiscences of California's Oldest Native Son |author=Stephen J. Richardson |editor=James Hepburn Wilkins |publisher=San Francisco Bulletin |year=1918 }} Although they had been completely extirpated from Point Reyes, in 1978, ten elk were reintroduced to Point Reyes from the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge near Los Banos. By 2009, the population climbed to over 440 elk at Tomales Point's 2,600 acres of coastal scrub and grasslands. In 1999, 100 elk from Tomales Point were moved to the Limantour wilderness area of the Seashore and above Drakes Beach to Ranch A, as that ranch's long-term lease expired and was not renewed.{{cite web |title=Tule Elk |publisher=National Park Service |url=https://home.nps.gov/pore/learn/nature/tule_elk.htm |access-date=2011-09-05 }} The drought in 2012–2015 was also a threat to the elk confined north of the fence on Tomales Point, with nearly half the elk there dying from lack of water. In 2012 there were 540 elk, then only 357 in 2013, and by 2014 only 286.{{cite news |title=Drought Likely Cause of Death for 250 Native Elk At Point Reyes National Seashore |publisher=AP Press |date=April 16, 2015 |url=https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/250-native-elk-die-inside-fenced-area-at-point-reyes-national-seashore/70252/ |access-date=September 2, 2020}} In August and September 2020, drought and wildfires again threaten the Tomales Point elk, leading some conservationists to illegally bring water to the elk north of the fence.{{cite news |title=Drought and Wildfire Threaten Tule Elk at Point Reyes National Seashore |author=Deborah Moskowitz |publisher=Western Watersheds Project |url=https://www.westernwatersheds.org/2020/08/drought-and-wildfire-threaten-tule-elk-at-point-reyes-national-seashore/ |access-date=September 2, 2020}} Half of the ten Point Reyes dairy cattle herds were infected with paratuberculosis (aka Johne's Disease) along with exotic deer in a 1977 study.{{cite journal |title=Paratuberculosis in cattle and free-living exotic deer |author=Riemann, H. |author2=M.R. Zaman |author3=R. Ruppanner |author4=O. Aalund |author5=J.B. Jorgensen |author6=H. Worsaae |author7=D. Behyer |year=1979 |journal=Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association |volume=174 |issue=8 |pages=841–843 |pmid=500426 }} Tule elk became infected within two years of their reintroduction to the peninsula with this disease, which was brought to North America with Eurasian cattle.{{cite journal |title=Paratuberculosis in tule elk in California |author=Jessup, D.A. |author2=B. Abbas |author3=D. Behymer |author4=P.J. Gogan |year=1981|journal=Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association |volume=179 |issue=11 |pages=1252–1254|pmid=7328012 }}{{cite journal |title=Testing for Mycobacterium avium ss. paratuberculosis infection in asymptomatic free-ranging adult tule elk from an infected herd |author=Manning, E.J.B. |author2=Kucera, T.E. |author3=Gates, N.B. |author4=Woods, L.M. |author5=Fallon-McKnight, M. |year=2003 |journal=Journal of Wildlife Diseases |volume=39 |issue=2 |pages=323–328 |doi=10.7589/0090-3558-39.2.323 |pmid=12910759 |s2cid=36109118 |url=http://www.jwildlifedis.org/doi/pdf/10.7589/0090-3558-39.2.323 |access-date=October 30, 2021}} Another nonnative, bacterial disease, brucellosis, can induce abortions in pregnant cattle, elk, and bison, and was also brought to North America by importation of Eurasian cattle. Pt. Reyes cattle have also infected the tule elk population.{{cite news |title=Point Reyes Elk Test Positive for Disease. Are cattle to blame? |author=Alison Hawkes |magazine=Bay Nature |date=February 28, 2016 |url=https://baynature.org/article/point-reyes-elk-test-positive-for-disease/ |access-date=October 30, 2021}}

Non-native axis deer and fallow deer (originally from India and Asia Minor, respectively) used to inhabit Point Reyes, where they competed with native black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus).{{cite web|title=Non-Native Deer|url=https://www.nps.gov/pore/learn/nature/nonnativespecies_deer.htm|work=Point Reyes National Seashore|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=23 December 2013}} A doctor bought the axis and fallow deer from the San Francisco Zoo in 1948 for his 5,000-acre hunting club, which later became part of the national seashore. In 2006, the park embarked on a plan to eradicate the non-native deer via contraception and culling, which succeeded despite controversy, over a twenty year program.{{cite journal |title=Recovery: Mending Point Reyes, a Park Impaired by Invasive Mammals |author=Ted Williams |journal=Cool Green Science |date=March 23, 2016 |url=https://blog.nature.org/science/2016/03/23/recovery-point-reyes-park-impaired-invasive-species-mammals/ |access-date=September 2, 2020}}

Vegetation native to Point Reyes includes bishop pine, Douglas-fir, coyote brush, monkeyflower, poison oak, California blackberry, salal and coast redwood, among others. Nearly 490 different species of birds have been observed in the park and on adjacent waters.

Tule elk within this region primarily consume native grasses and forbs such as Nassella pulchra. This is an essential aspect that helps maintain the biodiversity of the grassland ecosystem. The interaction between these plants and the elk helps prevent the encroachment of invasive shrubs and non-native species. An example of a species that can be prevented through the grazing of the elk is Holcus lanatus.

By grazing the land, the elk promote native species to flourish. This action allows for the open grassland to be sustained and supports the overall ecosystem. The interaction is a cruel aspect that highlights the important of preserving the ecological balance at Point Reyes.

File:Where Tectonic Plates Go for a Swim.jpg

The entire Point Reyes Peninsula is a piece of the Salinian Block transported northward by the San Andreas Fault. Its core is granite, unlike the terrain east of Tomales Bay. The granite rocks that form the peninsula were once contiguous with the Tehachapi Mountains, which is located {{cvt|350.|mi}} south of here. In the 1906 earthquake, Point Reyes moved north {{cvt|21|ft}}.{{Cite book|title = National Audubon Society: Field Guide to California|url = https://archive.org/details/nationalaudubons00alde|url-access = limited|last1 = Alden|first1 = Peter|publisher = Alfred A. Knopf|year = 2008|isbn = 978-0-679-44678-1|location = New York|pages = [https://archive.org/details/nationalaudubons00alde/page/15 15]|last2 = Heath|first2 = Fred}}

Point Reyes is bounded to the east by the San Andreas Fault, which runs directly under Tomales Bay, and is structurally dominated by the Point Reyes Syncline. The Point Reyes Peninsula is on the Pacific Plate, while the rest of Marin County land is on the North American Plate.Galloway, A. J, 1977, Geology of the Point Reyes Peninsula, Marin County, California: California division of mines and geology bulletin, v. 202. The peninsula is a member of the Salinian Block, a segment of the southernmost Sierra Nevada range transported north from Southern California by movement along the San Andreas fault.{{cite journal |last1=Grove |first1=Karen |title=Latest Cretaceous basin formation within the Salinian terrane of west-central California |journal=Geological Society of America Bulletin |date=1993 |volume=105 |issue=4 |pages=447–463 |doi=10.1130/0016-7606(1993)105<0447:LCBFWT>2.3.CO;2|bibcode=1993GSAB..105..447G }} Simply speaking, the peninsula consists of three major members: the Salinian Cretaceous crystalline basement, the overlying Pliocene sedimentary rocks, and the late Pleistocene marine terrace deposits of the southern peninsula.Woodley, S. R. and K. Grove, 2010, INTERPRETING PLEISTOCENE MARINE TERRACE DEPOSITS OVERLYING THE 82 Ka WAVE-CUT PLATFORM, POINT REYES PENINSULA, MARIN COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, San Francisco State Univ, Paper No. 18-26, Cordilleran Section – 106th Annual Meeting, and Pacific Section, American Association of Petroleum Geologists, 27–29 May 2010.

The U.S. Weather Bureau (now the National Weather Service) maintained a cooperative weather station in the Point Reyes lighthouse from 1914 to 1943, though temperatures were only tracked through 1926. Based on those records, average January temperatures ranged from {{convert|45.1|to|54.1|°F|°C|abbr=on}} and average September temperatures ranged from {{convert|51.7|to|61.0|°F|°C|abbr=on}}. The highest temperature recorded was {{cvt|90|°F}} on October 3, 1917, and the lowest temperature recorded was {{cvt|31|°F}} on January 19, 1922. Annual precipitation averaged {{convert|17.05|in|mm|0}}. The wettest year on record was 1941 with {{convert|31.37|in|mm|0}} and the driest year was 1923 was {{convert|7.32|in|mm|0}}. The most precipitation in one month was {{convert|9.51|in|mm}} in December 1916. The maximum 24-hour precipitation was {{convert|2.65|in|mm|0}} on December 15, 1929.[http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/summary/Climsmcca.html Central California] Automated weather observations are now taken at the lighthouse. Weather observations are also taken in nearby Point Reyes Station and published in local newspapers, including the San Francisco Chronicle.

{{Weather box

|single line=yes

|location=Point Reyes (1914–1943; temperatures 1917–1926)

|Jan record high F = 78

|Feb record high F = 75

|Mar record high F = 76

|Apr record high F = 81

|May record high F = 80

|Jun record high F = 84

|Jul record high F = 75

|Aug record high F = 72

|Sep record high F = 88

|Oct record high F = 90

|Nov record high F = 79

|Dec record high F = 70

|year record high F= 90

|Jan high F=54.2

|Feb high F=54.1

|Mar high F=53.8

|Apr high F=54.5

|May high F=54.4

|Jun high F=56.7

|Jul high F=57.6

|Aug high F=57.9

|Sep high F=61.0

|Oct high F=61.0

|Nov high F=59.4

|Dec high F=55.4

|year high F=

|Jan low F=45.1

|Feb low F=45.9

|Mar low F=45.4

|Apr low F=46.3

|May low F=46.7

|Jun low F=48.3

|Jul low F=49.4

|Aug low F=50.4

|Sep low F=51.2

|Oct low F=50.7

|Nov low F=49.9

|Dec low F=46.8

|year low F=

|Jan record low F = 31

|Feb record low F = 38

|Mar record low F = 35

|Apr record low F = 39

|May record low F = 40

|Jun record low F = 40

|Jul record low F = 47

|Aug record low F = 45

|Sep record low F = 47

|Oct record low F = 47

|Nov record low F = 43

|Dec record low F = 34

|year record low F= 31

|rain colour =

|Jan precipitation inch=3.41

|Feb precipitation inch=3.05

|Mar precipitation inch=1.94

|Apr precipitation inch=1.23

|May precipitation inch=0.66

|Jun precipitation inch=0.25

|Jul precipitation inch=0.04

|Aug precipitation inch=0.03

|Sep precipitation inch=0.36

|Oct precipitation inch=1.03

|Nov precipitation inch=1.73

|Dec precipitation inch=3.32

|year precipitation inch=

|source 1= Western Regional Climate Center {{Cite web |url=http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl?ca7027 |title=WRCC |access-date=June 19, 2015 }}

}}

File:Point Reyes South Beach on foggy day.JPG

It can get very foggy and windy during certain parts of the year at the lighthouse, and to be effective, the lighthouse had to be situated below the characteristic high fog. When foggy, visibility is so slim that one cannot even view the lighthouse from the top of the approximately 300 steps necessary to walk down to reach it.{{cite news | title = Lighthouse History at Point Reyes | url = http://www.marinij.com/lifestyles/ci_15528680| work = National Park Service| access-date = 2012-04-13 }}

The lighthouse serves a great purpose in such a foggy area, as there is no beach to wash up on; it is on a rocky cliff. Day or night, the light may be the only thing visible to ships.

The peninsula is a popular recreational destination for the nearby San Francisco Bay Area, especially for hiking on its many trails and sea kayaking the shores of Tomales Bay and the coast. There are close to {{convert|150.|mi}} of trails, including the popular Bear Valley Trail, which starts from the Visitor Center.{{cite web| url = https://www.nps.gov/pore/planyourvisit/hiking_guide.htm| title = Trail Guide & Suggested Hikes - Point Reyes National Seashore (U.S. National Park Service)}} Point Reyes National Seashore offers some of the finest birdwatching in the United States. It is also one of the best places to watch northern elephant seals in the winter months. More than {{convert|70000|acre|km2|sigfig=1}} of habitat harbor an incredible variety of bird life. There are also popular oyster farms on and near the peninsula.

File:PointReyesStairwayToHeaven.jpg|Stairway to Point Reyes Lighthouse

File:Point Reyes in Fog.jpg|Point Reyes Lighthouse in fog

File:Tule Elk Point Reyes.jpg|Tule elk grazing by the seaside

File:Elephant Seal.JPG|An elephant seal on the beach

File:Point Reyes.JPG|Point Reyes on a foggy day

File:Point Reyes sea shore.JPG|Point Reyes seashore

File:Coastline as seen from Chimney Rock, Point Reyes National Seashore.jpg|Coastline as seen from Chimney Rock

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{{Portal|San Francisco Bay Area|Geography}}

{{Commons|Point Reyes National Seashore|Point Reyes National Seashore}}

• [https://www.nps.gov/pore/index.htm Point Reyes National Seashore], National Park Service

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{{Coord|37.997|N|123.020|W|type:landmark_region:US-CA_dim:10000|display=title}}

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Category:Landforms of Marin County, California

Category:Headlands of California

Category:Landforms of the San Francisco Bay Area

Category:Peninsulas of California

Category:West Marin

Category:Point Reyes National Seashore