Old Stage Fire Road and Old Mine Trail

Leading out of the West Point Inn, Old Stage Fire Road passes through terrain clearly marked with prominent signage declaring it mountain lion or cougar country. It certainly seems ideally suited to that station what with wooded slopes and ravines interspersed with rock slides and clear water springs.

The road continues on past Bootjack Picnic Area, traversing the wood just above Matt Davis Trail. Continuing on through Pantoll Ranger Station, the road converges with the narrow Old Mine Trail just as it approaches its namesake: an abandoned mine claim whose remains consist of a slight hollow where a sign (noting that no gold was ever found there) marks the mine’s former location.

After this mildly anti-climatic, somewhat unpretentious posting, the path leads out to a vast clearing where several trails converge. These include Lone Tree Trail and Dipsea Trail. The former, now defunct, leads down to the coast while the latter comes up from Muir Woods and once it leaves the open space, descends through a light wood and eventually comes out to Stinson Beach.

From the clearing, the coastline is clearly visible, notwithstanding fogbound days (but enough has been said on that account). The vistas afforded are those of the coast and beaches to the south all the way down to Ocean Beach (at San Francisco) and beyond.

Lone Tree Trail

Adjoining the clearing is Lone Tree Trail, another fire road that the park service, in its infinite wisdom, deemed obsolete. It used to run rather steeply from Lone Tree Spring (an old stone grotto that still carries a tiny trickle, marks the location) down, somewhat precipitously, to Rocky Point on the coast. This was once one of my favorites, as it was little used (presumably the reason for discontinuance). On most days one could be assured an undisturbed ramble through the low shrubbery of the chaparral. All the while, the broad expanse of the blue Pacific unfolds until the trail ultimately gains Highway One and Rocky Point far below along the coast.

Steep Ravine Trail

From Pantoll Ranger Station, Steep Ravine Trail descends approximately two miles down, as one would expect, a fairly deep ravine, at one point, devolving into a strategically placed ten foot ladder in lieu of the trail. This path crosses and re-crosses Web Creek on its way down to the sun-splashed sea. Web Creek scores a somewhat small but sheer canyon lined with smallish redwoods and large ferns creating a contrastingly cool, hushed yet still very appealing alternative to the sun-soaked coast far below.

Rock Springs Trail

Returning to West Point Inn, there is another trail that runs along the ridge above the Old Stage Fire Road and Matt Davis Trail. This is Rock Springs Trail, a narrow track that traverses an arid, rocky terrain on its way to the Mountain Theater and points west. The path emerges at the top of the terraced stone seats of Mountain Theater affording a spectacular view of the theater area below and the southern vistas beyond.

Not far west from Mountain Theater, the trail emerges on Rock Springs itself. Rock Springs is a popular destination for those seeking an open space that affords dramatic vistas of sea and coastal bluffs as well as the rolling hills of the area. Atop one of these rises, sits an old stone bench erected and dedicated by the family of some prior habitué. This bench is inscribed with a dedication that expounds on the natural beauty of the spot, asserting that the dedicatee had found a small slice of paradise upon this very hill, which, given the locale and its attendant view, would render any argument moot.

© Stephen Alexander 2008

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