Old Out Road Trail

Trail length: 1.1 miles each way, out and back
Terrain: oak, fir, bay, maple forest
Restroom? No
Parking: Yes, large parking lot at Five Brooks
Dates visited: 9/29/18, 2/26/21
Favorite plants on this trail: Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)

The Old Out Road Trail is a short trail that runs parallel to the Stewart Trail between the Stewart Trail and Coast Trail. It’s a shady trail rich in ferns, lichens, and hanging moss. Combine it with the Alamea Trail and the Stewart Trail and Greenpicker Trail to make a loop. The Old Out Road trail slopes downhill toward the Coast Trail.

Make it a forest-ocean loop

For a deep forest adventure that takes you to the ocean and back, hike this 11.5-12 mile loop trail.

  1. Starting at Five Brooks, head toward the Stewart Trail.

  2. Hike on the Stewart Trail for 0.8 miles to the Greenpicker Trail.

  3. Switch onto the Greenpicker Trail for 1.8 miles unless it’s very wet, then stay on the longer Stewart Trail. The Greenpicker becomes a mud slide when it’s wet. The Stewart Trail is about 0.5 miles longer but it’s an easy to hike wide gravel road. The Greenpicker is a beautiful deep forest trail.

  4. At Firtop, switch back onto the Stewart Trail for a short distance 0.3 miles to the Ridge Trail that leads to the Alamea Trail.

  5. Take the Ridge Trail a very short distance 0.1 miles to the Alamea Trail.

  6. Hike on the Alamea Trail for 1.4 miles to the Old Out Road Trail.

  7. Go left (south) on the Old Out Road Trail for 1.1 miles to the Coast Trail

  8. Go right (north) on the Coast Trail for 1.3 miles past WildCat Camp to where it connects to the Stewart Trail

  9. Take the Stewart Trail for 2.0 miles back to Firtop. From Firtop, choose either the shorter Greenpicker (1.9 miles) or the longer Stewart (2.6 miles).

  10. Regardless of which path you take, the final segment is another 0.8 miles on the Stewart Trail back to Five Brooks.

Dusky-footed Woodrat treehouse

While Point Reyes is home to many Dusky-footed Woodrat (Neotoma fuscipes), this was the first trail I spotted nests in trees rather than on the ground. I wonder why they decided to build in the trees in this location?

Volunteer Opportunity: PRNSA Field Institute

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The Point Reyes National Seashore Association needs assistants for their Field Institute classes. You will spend a day training with PRNSA staff, then a couple of times a year you'll select the classes you'd like to help with. Shortly afterwards, you'll receive a confirmation of which ones you've been assigned. As a facilitator, you get to take the class for free. Normally, two facilitators help with every class. Duties include signing in class participants, making coffee (for indoor classes), talking briefly about PRNSA, and generally helping out as needed. I've been volunteering for about a year. It's a great experience to work with other facilitators and get to know the amazing field institute instructors.