Año Nuevo Point Trail connecting the Marine Education Center with elephant seal viewing decks

Elephant seal colony at Año Nuevo (November 2, 2025)

The three-quarter-mile-long Año Nuevo Point Trail connects the Marine Education Center in Año Nuevo State Park with the Staging Area, where, depending on season and permit, you may enter the Año Nuevo Coast Natural Preserve.   

Año Nuevo Point (Punta del Año Nuevo in Spanish) is a rocky headland jutting into the Pacific Ocean. It is at the key location of a coastal area that includes North Point, South Point and Año Nuevo Island. The island and the coves and beaches between South Point and North Point are elephant seal territory.

Año Nuevo Island, home to birds, pinnipeds, and an abandoned lighthouse station

Like most promontories along the California, this is an amazing area for bird and whale watching. But most visitors come here for the single most compelling attraction: the large colony of northern elephant seals or northen sea elephant (Mirounga angustirostris). They are named for the male's signature feature, the elongated, pendulous nose (proboscis).

Along the way

The first half mile of the trail takes you from the education center (visitor center) to coastal freshwater wetland including a pond. Here, a short side trail invites you for a sidetrip to Cove Beach. Brown pelicans can be seen on the beach, flying across Año Nuevo Bay, resting along the cliffs and splashing around in the pond and cleaning their feathers. The pond also attracts egrets, mallards, coots, as well as rare visitors like the Yellow-crowned Night Heron.  

Cove Beach: a sand beach alongside the rugged coastline at Año Nuevo Bay

Continuing uphill on Año Nuevo Point Trail you will get to a point with an interpretive board, featuring the waterbirds mentioned above. Under the title A Symphony of Motion and Song, you will read: 

This pond attracts birds of all kinds with food, water, and shelter. Each bird has its own song. If you linger and watch quietly, the pond will come alive with bird activity and sounds.

Actually, when I walked by in November of this year, I heard the songs as well as the diving and splashing sounds early on, even before reaching the Cove Beach trail junction. 

When arriving at the Staging Area, a displayed blue whale bone caught my interest. A panel provides details:

This is the occipital bone of a blue whale. It forms the back of the skull, protecting the brain and connecting the skull to the spine. All mammals have one.

We—like all mammals—have one at the back of our head protecting our brains. Of course, it does not have the impressive size of a blue-whale occipital bone. But so doesn't our brain!

Occipital bone of a blue whale

Beyond the Staging Area, you are in restricted-access land. Sand dune trails and board walks will guide you around and towards clifftop or dunetop observation decks. Helpful and knowledgeable nature preserve staff is usually not far away to answer questions you come up with. 

Sand dune trail towards Bight Beach, North Point and South Point

From a likely crowded deck of pinniped enthusiasts you may watch a crowded beach of elephant seal—some resting, others moving, playing, or fighting. These are two crowds that want to be respected and are not made for intermingling. Remember that marine mammals are protected by federal law. But you are not (when in seal world): in the case you are coming across an elephant seal at a public beach outside the preserve, you want to keep your distance. Elephant seals have large teeth and can move around faster than you may think. Like with other mammals, males—in particular—can turn aggressive any time, and do so especially during breeding season.  

Young sea elephants seen from a deck near North Point

Map

Map with Año Nuevo Point Trail and Año Nuevo Island

References and suggested reading

[1] Año Nuevo Point Trail. Peninsula Open Space Trust 2025. URL: https://openspacetrust.org/hike/ano-nuevo-point-trail/.

[2] Año Nuevo State Park. California State Parks. URL: https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=523.

[3] Año Nuevo State Park. Visit Half Moon Bay. URL: https://www.visithalfmoonbay.org/places/ano-nuevo-state-park/.

Año Nuevo Marine Education Center

The former dairy barn of Cypress Dairy Ranch, now housing the Marine Education Center 

The marine education center in the Año Nuevo State Park is an exhibition barn with focus on the unique elephant seal breeding grounds within the park. The education center is your gateway to nearby beaches, where elephant seals are present pretty much year round.  Access to viewing platforms involves a scenic hike over sand and varied terrain—three to four miles northwest from the education center. Elephant seal viewing is available by guided walks or with a viewing permit. On my last visit I was approached by friendly and knowledgeable park staff offering their binoculars to spot seals and giving updates of elephant seal life: northern elephant seal numbers have rebound from near extinction. Numbers have grown dramatically along the U.S. Pacific Coast thanks to strong conservation efforts. 

The barn with the marine education center also serves as the main visitor center. It includes natural history exhibits, a bookstore and a theater. You can find picnic tables nearby.    

Adult elephant seal skulls: male (left) and female (right)

A male and a female elephant seal skull are displayed in the barn; supplemented by an explaining placard: 

Note the size difference between the adult male and female skulls. Adult males weigh up to 2 ½ tons  and average fifteen feet long. Females weigh half that amount and average eleven feet in length. At birth, pups weigh about 75 pounds and are already more than four feet long. 

In the old days, the exhibition barn was a dairy barn. The historic buildings, including the barn and the creamery, are—according to an interpretive panel—“Echoes of a Dairy Ranch”:

The historic buildings you see today were once part of the Cypress Dairy built by Edwin and Effie Dickerman in 1881 for making butter and cream. Materials for construction were salvaged from a nearby abandoned wharf.

Effie was a member of the prominent Steele family that had settled along the Año Nuevo coast in 1862 from Ohio. During the late 1800's her family helped pioneer the dairy industry in California.

In the 1930s the family switched to crop farming and, like many coastal farms, grew artichokes and Brussel sprouts, crops that are still popular today. The ranch was eventually purchased by the State of California in 1968 and added to Año Nuevo State Park.

The creamery of the historic Dickerman Ranch at the former Cypress Dairy

In addition to the dairy barn and the creamy, Cypress Dairy Ranch features Dickerman's home, a storage barn, a horse barn, a blacksmith shop, a water tower, an orchard and New Years Creek Bridge.

Getting there

The former Cypress Dairy Ranch with the dairy barn—now called Marine Education Center—is located just south of the visitor parking lot in Año Nuevo State Park. The park entrance is located on the west side of Highway 1, approximately 55 miles south of San Francisco and a short drive south from the Pigeon Point Light Station State Historic Park. 

Further reading

[1]  Marine Education Center. California State Parks. URL: https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=27612 .

[2] Año Nuevo State Park. Coastside State Parks Association. URL: https://www.coastsidestateparks.org/ano_nuevo.

Mel's Lane Trail: enjoy sweeping vistas of a rocky cove

The rockscape of Whaler's Cove 

Mel's Lane Trail is a scenic, half-mile out-and-back path along the California coastline near the Pigeon Point lighthouse. Stroll along and stop anywhere to take in views of  Whaler's Cove with Prisoner Rock.

Mel's Lane Trail, named in honor of Melvin B. Lane

The trail is named in honor of lifelong conservationist Melvin B. Lane (1922-2007).  He was a publisher and defender of California Coast [1,2]. As a visionary, Lane saw—more than 60 years ago—the importance of conserving natural resources along the California coast for future generations.

Prisoner Rock

The cliffside trail offers spectacular spots to overview Whaler's Cove wave choreography and to watch for harbor seals, otters, and seabirds. 

Pigeon Point Light Station

References and further reading

[1] Mel's Lane Trail at Pigeon Point. URL: https://openspacetrust.org/hike/mels-lane/.

[2] Naomi Schwartz, with Linda Krop. Melvin B. Lane 1922-2007. Santa Barbara Independent, Aug. 30, 2007. URL: https://www.independent.com/2007/08/30/melvin-b-lane-1922-2007/.

TRT: Hiking or biking from Brockway Summit to Watson Lake

Tahoe Rim Trail at Watson Lake's south shore

Watson Lake is a marshy lake in the Sierra Nevada north of Lake Tahoe. It is surrounded by trees and fringed with wildflowers in spring and early summer. The Tahoe Rim Trail (TRT) follows around the lake for about a quarter of its perimeter. The distance to Watson Lake from the Brockway Summit trailhead is given between six and seven miles, depending on which lakeside point you define as your destination. The campground (Elevation: 7,759 feet or 2,365 meter) is located at the west side of the lake [1].

Watson Lake is the only lake between Brockway Summit and Tahoe City. Be sure to filter its water, in case you want to use it for drinking or food preparation.

A collapsed tree sculptured itself into a multi-split arch over the Tahoe Rim Trail

On your way to Watson Lake you will pass here and there thick forest of white fir and Jeffrey pine. Other trail sections go through more open forest taking you through manzanita, chinquapin and wildflower meadows. Occasionally, you may glimpse some blue spots of Lake Tahoe. But to get an unobstructed view of Carnelian Bay and beyond, you want to turn left—after 4.5 miles from the Brockway Summit trailhead—onto a spur trail leading to large rock assembly.  

View of the northeast corner of Lake Tahoe, including Carnelian Bay, from rocks off the TRT

Whiles continuing towards Watson Lake on my early-fall hike this year, I enjoyed beautiful wildflowers and was—like every year around this time—spooked by the rustling sound created by the dry, crinkly leaves mule ear flowers. 

Dry mule ear leaves rustling in the wind

The Tahoe forest ecosystem includes rotting wood and you will find deadwood alongside the trail: usually an indicator of a healthy forest in which decay brings back new life.  

Deadwood teeming with life

Brockway to Tahoe City and Brockway to Tahoe Meadows Trailhead

TRT post at Highway 267 site

The TRT intersects Highway 267 (connecting Northeast Lake Tahoe and Truckee) 2.75 miles north of Kings Beach, just 0.5 mile before the Brockway Summit.. Trailhead parking spots are located at the road pullout on the southside of the road. The TRT starts at the downhill edge of the parking section. After a few steps along the trail, you will find a TRT kiosk with a map on the right side of the trail.    

Nearby trails and points of interest

• Martis Peak Fire Lookout
• Martis Creek Trail
• Martis Creek Loop: in-between and beyond
• A loop round Porcupine Hill
• Tompkins Memorial Trail round Northstar

Further reading 

[1] Watson Lake Campground URL: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r05/laketahoebasin/recreation/watson-lake-campground.

[2] Brockway Summit to Watson Lake.URL: https://www.tahoeactivities.com/watson-lake-trail/.

Lamoille Canyon beaver dam at Changing Canyon Trail

Beaver dam in Lamoille Canyon 

Beavers (genus: Castor) are large, semiaquatic rodents. They build dams by using tree branches, vegetation, rocks and mud. To source suitable building material, they even chew down trees. A beaver dam restricts water flow, resulting in the formation of a pond. Recognizing their activities in constructing wetland habitats effecting many other organisms in a local ecosystem, beavers are considered a key species.  

An impressive beaver building site is located in Lamoille Canyon in Nevada's Ruby Mountains. You can easily walk to this site on the Changing Canyon Trail—a nature loop trail next to Lamoille Canyon Road (NF-660).  A Nature Trail Guide available at the trailhead highlights the significance of beaver dams & ponds in non-anthropogenic water management:

Beavers dams keep more water on the land and mitigate the effects of droughts in dry environments. Beaver ponds often provide some of the las standing water in periods of summer drought and some of the only unfrozen water in midwinter.

During the warm months yellow monkeyflower grows on the bank of this pond. Take a walk in the adjacent meadow and you will find many kinds of tiny flowering plants growing amongst the grasses.

Downcanyon view from the beaver pond at Changing Canyon Trail

The trail map indicates the site of the spring. The beavers built dams to reduce the flow of water from this spring rather than trying to build a dam across Lamoille Creek. Past the dam, the water flows into Lamoille Creek—the main creek of the canyon with typically higher flow of water during spring and a much higher chance to blow out built dams..     

Changing Canyon Trail Map

Map with Changing Canyon Trail and beaver dam site

This map describes the beaver beaver dam site as “abandoned beaver dam and lodge”. I am not sure about the current site status. Has the beaver community left for good or is their a cycle of  abandoning and reactivating? 

Lamoille Lake

Lamoille Lake

Like Island Lake, Lamoille Lake is a glacial tarn at the head of Lamoille Canyon in the Ruby Mountains of Nevada. The Ruby Crest National Recreation Trail passes its southeast shore before beginning a steep climb with varying scenic views to Liberty Pass.  

Stock Trail/Hikers' Trail junction

Lamoille Lake is flanked by trees around its valley-side shore, while the steep, north-facing slope of gray rocks is often still holding snow late in the season or even year round. The small lake is home to trout populations including Brook Trout and Lahontan Cutthroat Trout.

At 1.6 miles (2.57 km), Lamoille Lake is the nearest lake to the Lamoille Canyon Trailhead parking area along the Ruby Crest Trail [1]. 

If your climbing goal is not going beyond Lamoille Lake, a great day or half-day experience is to do the round trip. Take Stock Trail up to the lake (less than 800 feet or 244 m elevation gain). You definitely want to spend some time at the lakeshore. Instead of climbing further to Liberty Pass, continue hiking east to the Dollar Lakes and north on Hikers' Trail (are there any less distinctive trail names?) to get back to the trailhead parking area. 

Lamoille Lake seen from the Ruby Crest Trail between the lake and Liberty Pass

Dollar Lake area

Trail Map

Reference

[1] Lamoille Lake. URL: https://www.onxmaps.com/hiking/5x36w5jrm6yk/lamoille-lake .

Island Lake Trail

Island Lake with a view of Ruby Mountain peaks across Lamoille Canyon 

The Island Lake is a small alpine lake in the Ruby Mountains with a tiny green island at its center. This lake is easily accessible by hiking the Island Lake Trail that leads you out of the Lamoille Canyon to the scenic lake—1.6 to 2.0 miles one way (depending on who you ask or which reference you consult) [1-3].

Island Lake with a tiny, grassy island in its middle

The lake is a glacial tarn set in a steep-walled basin of rock ridges and peaks.

Rock ridges west of Island Lake

The trail is well-graded, making a gradual ascent. Various switchbacks lessen the gradient of  your upslope adventure.

Southward view from Island Lake Trail: the end of Lamoille Canyon with parts of the Ruby Crest

The first half of the trail offers scenic views of Lamoille Canyon. About half-way, a wooden bridge is crossing water streaming down into the canyon. In July this year, I found the bridge slightly damaged. But by holding on to the right-side railing, I felt safe to walk over the bridge.

Island Lake Trail: a timber bridge is crossing a picturesque flow of water

The water pours down slabs of rock: a cascade of small aterfalls.

Waterfall

Getting to the Island Lake Trailhead

The trailhead is located at the north end of the Lamoille Canyon parking lot, which is currently under reconstruction (July 2025). From Elko, take SR227 south 18 miles to the Lamoille Canyon Scenic Byway. The 12-mile-long paved byway leads through the northern Ruby range and terminates at the parking lot  at 8,800 ft (2682.2 meter) elevation [3].

References 

[1] Michael C. White. Nevada Wilderness Areas and Great Basin National Park. Wilderness Press, Berkeley, First Printing July 1997. Chapter 8. Trip 4, pp. 126-127.

[2] Island Lake (Nevada). Wikipedia. URL: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island_Lake_(Nevada) (accessed July 30, 2025).

 [3] Island Lake trailhead. Summit Post URL: www.summitpost.org/island-lake-trailhead/319859.

Independence Lake Preserve: North Shore Trail

North Shore Trail at Independence Lake with the Sierra Crest far back, still showing patches of snow at the end of June

Independence Lake is a pristine glacial lake in the Sierra Nevada north of Truckee, California. The lake is known as the jewel of the Sierra. The preserve invites you for lake-side picnicking, hiking, mountain biking, kayaking, bird watching and fishing. The lake is home to one of only two wild, self-sustaining lake populations of Lahontan cutthroat trout (LCT) in the world. In addition to LCT, Independence Lake hosts populations of six other native Lahontan fishes that have lived here since glaciers disappeared some 10,000 years ago [1].

Kayakers in the middle of Independence Lake

Independence Lake is 2.4 miles long and half a mile wide with a maximum depth of 145 feet (44.2 m). Its surface elevation is 6,949 feet (2,118 m) [2]. The North Shore Trail is a 2.7 mile-long trail alongside the lake's north shore. You will find some picnic areas along the beginning section of the trail. This is a forest trail, but you will chance upon multiple spots to access refreshing lake water—with magnificent views everywhere. Even by early summer, it is not uncommon here to find snow plants (Sarcodes sanguinea) in the shade of conifers.

Snow plants next to North Shore Trail (June 29, 2025)

Although there is a North Shore Trail and a South Shore Trail, a round trip around the lake is currently not advised (as long as no bridge has been built). Both shore trails end at the southwest tip of the lake, where the Upper Independence Creek meets the lake water. This creek may be difficult to cross and the Nature Conservancy asks hikers and mount bikers to stay away from this part of the lake between May 1 and August 31 to avoid disturbing spawning of LCT in Upper Independence Creek .

North Shore Trail turnaround point during LCT spawning season

Independence Lake Trail Map

Map with North Shore Trail, South Shore Trail and South Ridge Trail

All lake area trails—North Shore Trail, South Shore Trail, and South Ridge Trail—are dead-ends, of about the same length (2.5 to 3.0 miles).

References & Suggested Browsing

[1] Independence Lake Preserve. URL: https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/places-we-protect/independence-lake/.

[2] Judy DePuy / Truckee-Donner Historical Society. History: The Survival of Independence Lake: Part 1. URL: https://www.sierrasun.com/news/history-the-survival-of-independence-lake-part-1/.

Van Sickle Bi-State Park

Cascading towards Lake Tahoe: Van Sickle Waterfall

The Van Sickle Bi-State Park is a California-Nevada Park between South Lake Tahoe, California, and the Tahoe Rim Trail (TRT) section around Kingsbury—a mountain resort in Nevada. The scenic Van Sickle Trail traverses the bi-state park, connecting Stateline with the TRT at Elevation-7777-feet post at the van-Sickle Trail/TRT junction. 

An artist painting water flow over ledges of the Van Sickle Waterfall

Resting for a view at the Van Sickle Trail's granodiorite gate

Sugar pine cones

Van Sickle Bi-State Park is a popular area for loop-trail and uphill hikers. The park is easily accessible and requires no reservation and no entrance fee (not yet). During my visit this May, I started my up-and-down hike at the California Day Use Area. This spot has picnic tables from where you can watch gondolas from the Heavenly Village to the Heavenly Mountain Resort drifting by. Also, there is a kiosk providing information on the park's eponym, Henry Van Sickle, 1822-1894: 

Henry Van Sickle arrived in Carson Valley in 1852, settling near Genoa. Before Nevada became a state in 1864, and when the area was still part of the Utah Territory, Van Sickle began welcoming weary travelers - and Pony Express riders - to his Van Sickle Station, located along the Carson Route of the Overland Emigrant Trail.

Always the entrepreneur, Van Sickle served as the first toll master of the Kingsbury Grade wagon road, built in 1860. This road shortened the travel distance by 15 miles between Sacramento, California and the Comstock Lode's silver mines in Virginia City, Nevada.Saving a day's travel was well worth the $17.50 round trip toll. In 1863, toll receipts netted $190,000. Van Sickle sold the road to Douglas County for $1,000 in 1889.

Julia van Vleck

After surviving "long-haired" Sam Brown's murder attempt in 1861, Van Sickle killed the famous outlaw and became a Carson Valley leader for the next 20 years. In 1894, Van Sickle died at age 72 when his runaway horses hit a heavy gate post at his ranch, crushing him. He is buried in the Genoa Cemetery.

Henry was married twice. He married his second wife, Julia van Vleck, in 1870.  

In 1988, Henry's grandson Jack van Sickle (1916-2003)—said to be a cowboy who knew how to handle a rope—donated 542 acres of land to the Nevada Division of State Parks to honor his grandfather. 20 years later, Van Sickle Bi-State Park was born. 

Park Map

PDF: https://parks.nv.gov/forms/VanSickle_Bi_State_Park_Map.pdf.

Barn at the California-side Day Use Area

Further reading

Van Sickle Bi-State Park. Nevada State Parks. URL: https://parks.nv.gov/parks/lake-tahoe-nevada-state-park-3.

V & T Trail

V & T Trail south of its junction with the Foothill Trail

The V & T trail follows the historic Virginia and Truckee Railroad track between Lakeview and Combs Canyon Road in Carson City, Nevada. Along the trail, you will find four historical markers—interpretive signs placed in loving memory of Dr. Mary Ansari, a historian, author, philanthropist, and walks-far woman. The signs refresh our memory of the Comstock time: reminding us of the complex infrastructure needed in support of successful mining operations and how life in the Reno-Tahoe area was during the days of Western pioneers. Traveling south from Lakeview to Combs Canyon Rd, you will find signs with the following headlines:

• Lakeview
• Lakeview Tunnel
• Moving Through Time
• Historic Virginia and Truckee Trail

The V & T Trail is open year-round for hiking, running, mountain biking and horseback riding. Dogs are welcome. It's a popular trail. If you go at the right time, you can still enjoy enjoy solitude and also amazing views of the Carson City area and the Pine Nut Mountain Range. 

A split rock next to the V & T Trail

The V & T Railroad had six tunnels when it was fully completed. The distance from the trailhead to the former site of the Lakeview Tunnel is about 2000 ft. Nearby is the Foothill Trail junction, connecting the V & T Trail with the Foothill Garden & Pollinator Kiosk and the Medical Parkway.

Continuing south, you will pass the split rock site and a few trail sections with fallen rocks. There is no need to travel through those narrow canyons, as they are flanked by side-paths.

Looking below and eastward, you now sea a golf course and Carson City neighborhoods. Once, a large village of the Washoe People was located there.

Fallen rocks next to and on the V & T Trail 

Getting to the Lakeview V & T trailhead

Lakeview V & T trailhead

Driving south on Fwy-395 from Reno toward Carson City, leave the freeway at the East Lake Blvd exit and continue south for half a mile on Route 428 (Bowers Mansion Rd)—running parallel to the freeway and leading up the Lakeview Summit. Turn right onto Hobart Road. Find the trailhead on your left. 

The historic marker at the trailhead introduces you to the Comstock story of railroads, mills, mining, water—as well as the hunt for and disappearance of timber.

Map of the V & T Trail

The two-mile long V & T Trail between Lakeview and Combs Canyon Rd.

References and further reading

V & T Trail: https://www.carson.org/government/departments-g-z/parks-recreation-open-space/parks-and-places/trails/capital-corridor-area.

Tunnel #2: https://aroundcarson.com/2005/10/09/tunnel_2/.