Your Point Reyes National Seashore Watershed
Point Reyes National Seashore (PRNS) was established by President John F. Kennedy in 1962 and attracts 2.5 million visitors each year. The 70 square mile watershed has 147 miles of hiking trails, campgrounds, beaches, and a variety of recreational opportunities. The PRNS extends from Tomales Point at the mouth of Tomales Bay toward the town of Bolinas at Pablo Point. It includes the watersheds that drain into Abbotts Lagoon, Drake’s Estero (State Marine Conservation Area), Estero de Limantour (State Marine Reserve), four small coastal lakes (Wildcat, Crystal, Pelican, and Bass), and the Pacific Ocean. Point Reyes State Marine Reserve is in Drake’s Bay and there are three Areas of Special Biological Significance (ASBS) along the coast intertidal shores of PRNS. Point Reyes Headlands ASBS below the lighthouse, Double Point ASBS below Pelican Lake, and Duxbury Reef ASBS below the Bolinas Mesa.
Abbotts Lagoon collects water from an expansive low lying wetland depression area. Abbotts Lagoon Trail follows along the depression and crosses over the lagoon before ending at the beach. In Drake’s Estero, Schooner and East Schooner Creeks flow into Schooner Bay and Home Ranch Creek flows into Home Bay. Glen Brook Creek and Muddy Hollow Creek flow into the eastern fork of Estero de Limantour which runs along behind Limantour Beach.
Heading south along the coast between Drake’s Estero and the coastal lakes are Laguna, Coast Camp, Santa Maria, Coast, Wildcat, and Alamere Creeks. Alamere Creek is best known for its falls that cascade down to the beach. At the southern end of the watershed nearing Bolinas and the southern extent of PRNS are Arroyo Hondo, Stewart Point Creek, and Mesa Creek.
Coastal habitats include estuaries, mud flats, sandy shores, and intertidal communities, while upland habitats include coastal scrub, riparian woodland, Douglas fir forest, Bishop pine forest, and grasslands. While most of the watershed is natural open space, about 30% is home to 24 legacy cattle and dairy operations that predated the park.
Species that live here include over 45% of North American bird species, 20% of the State’s flowering plants, 37 native land mammals, and a dozen marine mammals have been identified on the peninsula. It has been recognized as an “Important Bird Area” by the National Audubon Society. The extensive saltmarsh and mudflats of Drake’s Estero provide habitat for many migrating and wintering waterbirds.
The Point Reyes Peninsula is home to numerous rare, threatened and endangered animals including the Point Reyes mountain beaver (which are found nowhere else), Point Reyes jumping mouse, California freshwater shrimp, Myrtle’s silverspot, Point Reyes blue butterfly, San Francisco forktail damselfly, as well as various bat, whale, and invertebrate species. In addition, Steelhead trout have been documented in Alamere Creek near the southern portion of the peninsula.
Point Reyes has one of the largest populations of tule elk in the state. Large herds of elk thrived throughout the grasslands of central and coastal California 200 years ago, but they were over-hunted and disappeared from the Point Reyes peninsula by the 1860s. In 1978, a small herd of 10 animals was reintroduced to PRNS. Today, there are several hundred elk in two separate herds. Tomales Point has the largest herd, while the Limantour wilderness area has a much smaller herd.
Remember, storm drains connect streets to creeks. Simple changes can make a big impact. Point Reyes National Seashore Watershed is Ours to Protect.