1
Pillar Point Bluff
Managed by County of San Mateo Parks Department
221 acres4.7 mi of trail
Jean Lauer TrailRoss' Cove TrailPillar Point Bluff TrailFrenchman's Reef Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Outdoors · Moss Beach
Moss Beach, CA parks, trails & bike paths
About 30% of Moss Beach is conserved land, roughly 433 acres. There are about 12 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in Pillar Point Bluff (4.7 mi), Rancho Corral de Tierra (4.4 mi), and Fitzgerald Marine Reserve (1.1 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in Moss Beach, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
Moss Beach outdoors
Conserved land
30%
433 of 1,425 acres
Trails
12 mi
5.6 mi per sq mi · 10 on conserved land
Parks & preserves
7
161 conserved acres per 1,000 residents
Bike routes
1.8 mi
1.7 mi lanes · 0.0 mi off-road paths
Conserved land is a share of the whole town area. Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number or a place below to zoom in© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Parks & preserves with trails
Ranked by mapped trail miles. Directions go to the nearest marked trailhead or public parking.
2
Rancho Corral de Tierra
Managed by National Park Service
166 acres4.4 mi of trail
San Vicente Trail
Dogs usually limitedNational parks restrict dogs on most trails. Check posted rules
3
Fitzgerald Marine Reserve
Nature preserve
51 acres1.1 mi of trail
Bluff TrailDardanelle TrailCypress Trail
Dog rules not recorded
4
Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary
Managed by National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration
6 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Website
Things to do
Beaches, playgrounds, falls & more
Pick a kind of place for the list, directions, or pins on the map above.
Beaches in Moss Beach
Mavericks Beach
Ross Cove BeachIn Pillar Point Bluff
Trails
Named trails
Open to bikes 4.2 miHorses 3.5 miUnpaved 4.3 mi
- San Vicente Trail1.3 mi
- Jean Lauer Trail1.1 mi
- Ross' Cove Trail1.0 mi
- Pillar Point Bluff Trail0.8 mi
- Bluff Trail0.5 mi
- Frenchman's Reef Trail0.4 mi
- Dardanelle Trail0.3 mi
- Cypress Trail0.2 mi
- Ocean Boulevard0.1 mi
Who protects the land
433 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Biking & sports
Bike routes, courts & fields
- Painted or protected bike lanes1.7 mi
- Off-road bike paths0.0 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes0.0 mi
- California Coastal Trail (bike route)0.3 mi
Courts & fields
- Basketball1
Counts include school and college facilities, which aren't always open to the public.
Public lands
The biggest protected places in Moss Beach
From USGS PAD-US: who manages each one and whether visitors are welcome.
Local Other or Unknown 223 acNational Recreation Area 170 acLocal Conservation Area 39 ac
| Place | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pillar Point BluffLocal Other or Unknown | County | 223 | Open |
| Golden Gate National Recreation AreaNational Recreation Area | National Park Service | 170 | Open |
| Fitzgerald Marine ReserveLocal Conservation Area | County | 39 | Open |
History
Historic places to visit
Point Montara Light StationHistoric site
Nearby
Moss Beach and its neighbors
Towns whose outdoors data has been built so far.
| Town | Conserved | Trails | Parks & preserves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moss Beach | 30.4% | 12.3 mi | 7 |
| Montara | 52.4% | 14.7 mi | 3 |
| El Granada | 59.4% | 14.1 mi | 4 |
Trail talk
Conditions & tips from neighbors
No recent posts about Moss Beach's trails yet. Muddy, icy, a bridge out, where to park: a quick post helps the next person.
Sources: trails, parks, preserves, courts and bike lanes © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), map data as of 2026-09-28. Conserved land: USGS Gap Analysis Project, Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US). Measured against the Census town boundary.
How we measure
"Trails" are OpenStreetMap paths, bridleways, public tracks and unpaved footways, plus footways inside a park or preserve or on a named trail route. Sidewalks are left out. Areas are counted on a 20-meter grid, so overlapping parcels count once. "Conserved" includes conservation easements, which protect land from development but are usually private property. Trailheads are the nearest marked trailhead, public parking lot or information board within about 150 meters of a preserve. Dog rules come from OpenStreetMap when someone has tagged them; otherwise we show what's typical for the land manager, or say the rules aren't recorded.