Every Trail Tells a Story
All About Earthquakes
Walk the San Andreas Fault without worrying about falling in.
See a fence pulled apart by 16 feet in less than a minute.
Combine science, history, and the best cow legend in California.
Earthquake Trail is All About Earthquakes, and uses old photographs, interpretive panels, and a few well-placed fences to explain the seismic forces unleashed by the great 1906 San Francisco earthquake. This well-done and entertaining geology lesson is particularly relevant because most of the land west of the San Andreas Fault Zone is within the boundaries of Point Reyes National Seashore.
Plates forming the earth’s crust don’t always creep politely past each other. Sometimes they throw tantrums. In 1906 they clashed violently, producing California’s worst natural disaster. During the great quake, Point Reyes was shoved 16.4 feet northwest, a geological sleight of hand performed in less than a minute. Ranchers woke up with barns torn in two, fences staggered like a drunk on Saturday night, and, according to legend, one unfortunate cow swallowed by the earth. Whether the cow tale is fact or folklore, it’s a lot more fun to tell your friends than “the ground shifted laterally due to right-lateral strike-slip motion.”
One famous fence line, faithfully replicated here, shows the displacement so visitors can see for themselves how the ground literally pulled apart. Stand there long enough and you may feel tempted to measure your own yard back home, just to check if anything has wandered a few feet overnight.
The San Andreas Fault, stretching 780 miles long, about a mile wide, and plunging 20 miles deep, remains one of the most studied cracks in the planet. The rift is a constant reminder that California is, in some sense, a moving target. Earthquake Trail makes the science understandable and-dare I say it-fun, with displays that keep both kids and adults engaged.
And this walk is not all fault lines and fractured fences. The paved, fully accessible trail doubles as a friendly introduction to Point Reyes meadow and woodland communities. Blackberries sprawl along the margins, oaks arch overhead, and Olema Creek meanders nearby as if nothing ever happened. Even the most time-pressed visitor can enjoy this short stroll and walk away with a better appreciation for the shaky ground we all stand on.
If you only have half an hour in Point Reyes, this is one trail that delivers a geology lesson, a history lesson, and a few good chuckles about cows and fences-all in less than a mile.
Bear Valley Visitor Center is located just outside the town of Olema, 35 slow and curving miles north of San Francisco on Highway 1. Earthquake Trail begins at the southeast corner of the Bear Valley Picnic Area, right across the road from the Bear Valley Visitor Center.
Study the interpretive panel of the San Andreas Fault in relief and walk into the meadow. Earthquake Trail soon forks; arrows on the pavement suggest you bear left (east).
Pause at the panels featuring photos of the San Francisco Earthquake before continuing into blackberry thickets and oak woodland. A bridge crosses a branch of Olema Creek, then the path curves south, where more interpretive panels explain the cow-in-the-earthquake story (legendary or not, it’s everyone’s favorite).
A replica fence line shows how the ground jumped 16 feet in 1906-Point Reyes racing off one way, the rest of California the other. The loop then bends back toward the picnic area. Short, sweet, and unforgettable.