Pt Reyes EQ Walk

This is an easy, .6 mile loop, It is paved and very accessible to wheelchairs and strollers. On this trail we focus on learning about the Great Earthquake of 1906 that had its epicenter right here on this trail. The Earthquake Trail is unique in the National Park Service and it may be the only one of its kind in the world. Here we are able to see the famous San Andreas Fault - the single most important geological structure in California.

" . . . you are standing at the epicenter of the Great Earthquake of 1906. In just a matter of a few seconds a 270 mile segment of the Pacific Tectonic Plate on the west side of the fault line lunged 21 feet to the northwest."

The story of Point Reyes is a study in motion - slow, continental transformations and sudden, violent jolts that shake the Earth; the rhythmic play of sea-spray along the coast; wings of birds flashing in flight; drifting shrouds of mist and fog; grazing deer who occasionally follow your movements with soft eyes; migrating whales offshore; and the ebb and flow of Pacific tides. Point Reyes is also the story of the Coast Miwok Indians, English and Spanish explorers, the Mexican "lords of Point Reyes," and 20th-century dairy farmers. The land and its inhabitants have created a legacy for all.

Land and Sea
The Point Reyes Peninsula has long baffled geologists. Why should the rocks of this craggy coast match those of the Tehachapi Mountains, more than 310 miles to the south?

The answer lies in plate tectonics: the constant motion of the Earth's crust. The peninsula rides high on the eastern edge of the Pacific Plate, which creeps northwestward about two inches a year. The slower-moving North American plate travels westward. In Olema Valley, near park headquarters, the North American and Pacific plates grind together along the San Andreas Fault Zone. This fault zone contains many large and small faults running parallel and at odd angles to one another. Because each plate cannot move freely, tremendous pressures build up. From time to time this pressure becomes too great, the underlying rock breaks loose, and the surface actually moves. This is what happened in the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 when the peninsula leaped 20 feet northwestward.

As if to accent the geological separation along the San Andreas Fault, the weather may vary quite markedly on both sides of Inverness Ridge. A succession of summer days on the east side may be warm and sunny, while on the ocean side, a chilling fog may hide the sun. Source = Geology Fieldnotes: Point Reyes National Seashore