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Nude Beaches

Marin County

Cross Rock Beach

Rating: D

Added to our Guide last year, pebble-strewn Cross Rock Beach is so small that it remains underwater until late summer. The beach path is so steep and dangerous that "you shouldn't even think about using it," says Red Rock regular Hugh Fullerton, who estimates the trail's angle at 45 degrees. At least one person has fallen from the cliffs.

 

Legal status: 

Unknown, believed to be part of Mount Tamalpais State Park.

 

How to find it: Read more »

Elsewhere in Marin

Improved directions!

Rating: CRead more »

McClures Beach

Rating: C

At northern McClures Beach in the Point Reyes National Seashore, small numbers of naked sunbathers have been appearing from time to time over the last decade. For example in 2000 and 2001, district ranger Marc Yeston counted four groups of nudists on the sand. Frequent fog, wind, and hazardous waves, plus a moderately long hike from the end of Pierce Point Road, keep the turnout low, but they also help ward off tourists and law enforcers.

 

Legal status:

Part of Point Reyes National Seashore.

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Midway Beach

Rating: C

Tourists seldom visit Midway, which is between North Beach and South Beach in Point Reyes National Seashore. And that's good news for the few sunbathers who sometimes go topless or nude on the warmest days when nobody's around. 

Tip: bring a windbreaker in case the weather changes.

 

Legal status:

Midway Beach is within Point Reyes National Seashore.

 

How to find it:Read more »

Mount Vision Pond

Rating: C

Going, going, almost gone. Will this be Mount Vision's last year as a skinny-dipping hole? Authorities say Mount Vision Pond in Point Reyes National Seashore may become unusable for swimming as soon as next year. The reason: it's been rapidly filling with vegetation and the federal government won't pay to clean out and fix the dam of this half-acre manmade site. Instead, says ranger Marc Yeston, "it's going back to nature." 

 

Legal status:

Property of Point Reyes National Seashore.

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Bass Lake

Highly recommended!

Rating: ARead more »

Drake's Beach

Rating: C

Drake's Beach is believed by some people to be the spot where Drake landed his Golden Hinde in 1579, although others think he came ashore in Bodega Bay, Tomales Bay, Coos Bay, or even Santa Barbara. Whatever the case, suitless sunbathing takes place on a spotty basis on the Point Reyes shore that "bares" his name, which is close to a memorial named after him. The area is just north of Drake's Beach.

 

Legal status:

Part of Point Reyes National Seashore.

 

How to find it:Read more »

Limantour Beach

Recommended!

Rating: BRead more »

Sculptured Beach

Recommended!

Improved directions!

Rating: BRead more »

Starlight Meadow

Starlight Meadow

Rating: B

Rimmed by a large tract of woods, a Dogwood area field emerged as the USA's first clothing-optional meadow decades ago. Since then, though, there have been few recent reports about its status. From Hagmier Pond (see next entry), expect about a 20-minute walk to the 60-acre site, which is good for picnicking, sunbathing, reading, and relaxing.

 

Legal status:

GGNRA land managed by Point Reyes National Seashore.

 

How to find it:Read more »

RCA Beach

Highly recommended!

Rating: ARead more »

Bolinas Beach

Rating: B

Bolinas Beach attracts a few naturists to the more isolated nooks and crannies of sand on the north end of the rocky shoreline. But use this area with caution: though there haven't been any reports of problems recently, Bolinas has an anti-nudity law and it's mostly a non-nude setting of families, dogwalkers and just offshore, plenty of kayakers. And the area can be windy.

 

Legal status:Read more »

Little Stinson Beach

Rating: D

Over the years, a cave-like nook has become a hangout for a few nude gay men at a cove called Little Stinson, located near Stinson Beach. But the tiny beach, jammed between Red Rock and Stinson Beach, is often covered by water. 

"It has more rocks than sand," says Red Rock Beach regular Fred Jaggi, of Stinson Beach. "There's not much of a place to lie down."Read more »

Red Rock Beach

Recommended!

Improved directions!

Rating: A

With good trail conditions and sand that's been returning after winter storms, the biggest change at Red Rock this year involves what its visitors are doing for fun. Long regarded as having the friendliest Bay Area nude beach crowd, ultimate frisbee games that last as long as three hours have become almost legendary on the sand.Read more »

Steep Ravine Beach

Improved directions!

Rating: C

How many people can you fit in a Bay Area hot springs? Apparently 26, according to this photo of Rocky Point Hot Springs, located at Steep Ravine, between Muir Beach and Red Rock Beach. But it can probably hold 15 persons easily, 30 people who are crowded, or 40 who are jammed inside. Read more »

Muir Beach

Recommended! 

Rating: A

Happier times have returned to the clothing-optional portion of Muir Beach, long cherished by nudists and known to locals as Little Beach. "Dogs without leashes has replaced people without swimsuits as the top beach concern of the season," says Marin County Supervisor Steve Kinsey, an unabashed naturist who found himself smack dab in the middle of a brouhaha between some homeowners and nudists over use of the sand in 2009 into last year.Read more »

South Rodeo Beach

Rating: C

Situated just south of the public Rodeo Beach, this cove is often cold and windy. But a smattering of clothing-optional users over the years have reported they enjoy the fact that it faces the Pacific, even though a few bewildered clothed tourists sometimes wander onto the sand. 

 

Legal status:

Part of the GGNRA.

 

How to find it:Read more »

West Bonita Beach

Rating: D

While suitless sunbathing is the main activity at little West Bonita Beach, it's also sometimes a good place to swim when there's no wind or undertow. However, the beach trail remains "officially" closed because it's slippery and dangerous.

 

Legal status:

Part of the GGNRA.

 

How to find it:Read more »

Central Bonita

Rating: D

Can you stand a little wind in exchange for a great view of the Golden Gate Bridge and a setting that you may be able to enjoy without the large crowds of other beaches? Then you may want to join the few visitors who still make the trek to Central Bonita Beach, which requires a hike down a crumbling, closed trail. Bring good hiking shoes. At least half of the users are usually naked or topless at this little cove.

 

Legal status:

Part of the GGNRA.

 

How to find it:Read more »

Black Sand Beach

Rating: C

Men, women, singles, and couples all occasionally visit this clothing-optional site, even though its trail is officially shut. In fact, readers say the days of having to scramble down the last 50 feet of the path are over. "There's a 60-foot-long staircase," says East Bay resident Trevor Murphy. "It's so easy that you could take your grandmother." At least one reader, though, thought it was harder going down the hill than the trail at Red Rock.


Legal status:Read more »

Kirby Cove

Rating: C

Even though a string of nude beaches in the Sausalito area have been officially shut down for years, nude and suited sunbathers have been returning to the sand. The beaches will stay closed due to poor trails and lack of money to fix them. GGNRA rangers, like Terry Swift, say they're "not recommended" because of the trail "scrambling" that's sometimes is required to reach the sand. But readers have reported that several of the sites, all of which are off Conzelman, are in relatively good shape.

 

Legal status:Read more »