Mori Point Trail in Pacifica: An Amazing Coastal Trail

Mori Point is a beautiful piece of land maintained by the national park service, preserving bluffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The area is popular for hiking and mountain biking, and it is a stunning place to spend some time enjoying the California Coast. There are many trails through the area, but my favorite is the loop trail that I did below, as it allows you to spend a good amount of time just enjoying this unique spot. The hike takes you to the bluffs overlooking Rockaway Beach, along the ridgeline, and down to Mori Point. Here is all the information if you want to hike this fantastic coastal trail.

Details

• 3 miles round trip
• 400 feet of elevation
• Free
• Small parking lot 
• All Trails link – I recommend you use this as there are no signs

Getting There

From Highway 1, heading north towards Pacifica Pier, you will turn left on Allen Road and immediately arrive at the small parking lot. This lot only has space for 8-10 cars, and it is often full. If it is full, you can sometimes find street parking on the other side of Highway 1 and walk across.

The Trail to Mori Point

From the parking area, you will head out on the bike path which goes by Mikes’s Garden.

Mikes Garden is a public garden planted as a memorial to September 11. It was maintained for a while by Mike, but as he got older (he is 94 now), he opened up the individual plots of the garden for other people to adopt and care for. 

It is a fun start to the hike, and the many gardens are beautiful.

Walking along the bike path for about a quarter-mile, you will eventually come to a break in the path that takes you into the nature area of the park.

There are no signs and many random paths here, so get an All Trails map if you want to follow the way I did.

The trail then heads up along the bluffs and looks down on Rockaway Beach, south of you.

The trail hugs the coastline as you continue to gain elevation and stunning views of the ocean below you.

This is where the trail gains most of its elevation as you continue climbing up the ridgeline. It is also steep and slippery here, so be careful.

Once you reach the high point, you will be looking down on Mori Point out in front of you. 

The views here are stunning, with the point and Pacifica Pier out in front of you.

The trail then heads downhill and passes some old mining infrastructure that has since crumbled into the mountain and become covered in graffiti.

You can see down to the cove here as you walk along it, and it is beautiful.

You will arrive at the short path out to Mori Point as you pass the cove.

Mori Point

From here, you can get amazing views back towards the cove to your left and Pacifica to your right.

I was impressed by how beautiful the views were here, and there are a few benches if you want to relax more.

The area looks down on Bootleggers Steps, a popular trail that takes you up to Mori Point from the pier. 

This area was used for bootlegging during prohibition, so it is a fitting name.

From here, the trail either heads down to the coast and back along the bike path or up and over the ridge. All Trails will take you down, but I decided to go up and over the ridge.

I headed up on the Coastal Trail and over to the Timigtac Trail (you can see these on All Trails).

There was a steep section to get to the top of the ridge, but the views over the park were stunning. It was green in the spring, which made it even nicer here.

As I crossed the ridge, I hiked back down to the bike path and followed it to my car.

I spent a lot of time on this trail as it was a stunning coastal trail with epic views. Check it out if you are in the area, and let me know what you think in the comments.