After going south to Channel Islands National Park, this short trip will take out not far from San Francisco to Stinson Beach and Bolinas. If you leave in the Bay Area, you have probably been driving to Stinson Beach but the town is very different if you can actually stay there!
I knew of Stinson Beach before this trip but I was interested in experiencing the early morning when the day trip folks are not yet there. I found a great rental property about 50ft from the beach. There are literally tons of short term rentals in Stinson or Bolinas, a quick search on AirBnb will let you find the one you like. If you have never been in this area, I would recommend going first to Point Reyes but this blog is purely focused on the Stinson Beach area (and Bolinas).
Ours was really cute and cozy but more importantly very very close to the beach, we could hear the waves from our bed, how cool is that?
Our nice rental, 50ft from the beach
It was really confortable and welcoming
Outdoor fireplace.
Our host had recommended that we try the bread from Parkside bakery and cafe, so we walked on the beach to the cafe. Since we did not have breakfast, we sticked around for an improvised brunch. I had the raisin-walnut bread french toast and that was excellent. In order to burn a little what we ate, after our brunch, we went and explored the town.
First, we found the post office, it’s an important building because this is generally the center the town, even if Stinson beach is fairly small. One interesting story about Stinson Beach, it was a place for holidays way before the coastal road was built. The people used the Mt. Tamalpais & Muir Woods Railway to get to West Point Inn and then hiked or arranged a stagecoach to take them to the beach. It started as a tent resort. The town and the post office was created in 1916.
It became popular because it’s a sandy beach and only 35 miles from San Francisco.
Stinson post office
Rock and hiker on the cliffs
In the late afternoon, when the beach is empty, music and surf are still going strong.
Stinson beach on a crowded day
Even on a crowded day, the beach is so long, it still feels very empty. You can spend your day surfing, playing on the beach, building sand castles.
Bolinas
The next day after another quick breakfast and fully caffeinated, we went to explore the Bolinas area. Bolinas is the town right across the lagoon from Stinson Beach and is very well known in the surfing community but it’s not as popular among non-surfers. First it’s bit out of the way compared to Stinson Beach and the beach is not as nice and sandy.
The town on the other hand seems to have kept a very layback atmosphere and an extremely active art culture. It felt that every other house was the studio of an artist of some sort. Murals and decorative arts are everywhere, here are a couple of examples:
Murals on the local supermarket
The grand hotel is now an art gallery.
This is the Bolinas beach, which is also very long but not as sandy as Stinson Beach. There are more rocks in the water, which also explains why surfers like it better. There is a sign warning of great white sharks being in the water, so surf carefully.
In Bolinas there is the Marconi station, it’s one of the few coastal telegraph stations which provided relayed telegraphs to other coastal stations across the world. The Bolinas station is extremelly well preserved and is still run by a group of ham operators.
Drive
The drive going in and back from Stinson beach from San Francisco is half the fun of this short trip. There is no many roads but if you don’t mind the extra drive you can come down from Point Reyes and leave following the costal road.
One last point, the Marin coastline is famously known for its fog that can last the entire day, so check the weather before heading up there.
Fog over the Golden Gate bridge