What is The Point Reyes Cypress Tree Tunnel And Where Is It?
Point Reyes National Seashore in Marin County, California is a stunning natural area with opportunities for wildlife viewing, incredible beaches and abundant wildlife. Its even got an historic lighthouse on the grounds. One area that is easy to overlook or drive right past is the cypress tree tunnel that lines the road to the historic Marconi Station building. If you’ve ever been the plantations in the Georgia and other areas of the southern US and seen the oak tree tunnels, this is the California version of that. The Monterey Cypress trees that make up the tunnel were planted around 1930.
What Is It Like To Travel To Point Reyes And See The Cypress Tree Tunnel?
When I went to Point Reyes National Seashore, I stayed at the Hostel International Hostel at Point Reyes. Marin County California where Point Reyes is located is an expensive area to travel and find lodging. The hostel provides an affordable lodging option that is especially good for budget minded solo travelers more interested in seeing the sights than spending time in a fancy lodge or AirBnB. The grounds around the Point Reyes Hostel are littered with beautiful gardens and you’ll often find hummingbirds and the occasional praying mantis lurking in the surrounding gardens. There are not drive up campgrounds. There are paved roads to all the popular destinations within the park. These include spectacular beaches, incredible natural scenery all over the place and plenty of wildlife both large and small.
What Is It Like To Photograph The Cypress Tree Tunnel And When Is A Good Time To Go?
The cypress tree tunnel is located along Sir Francis Drake Boulevard a bit before the turnoff to the spectacular Point Reyes North Beach area, a spectacular place to catch sunset. Most any time is a good time to see and photograph the Point Reyes Cypress Tree Tunnel. Sunset can be especially good. A bit of Pacific Ocean fog and puddles in the road after a rainstorm can make for dramatic looking wall art worthy photos too. This photo was taken in the evening as the sun was setting. There were no dramatic weather events and no fog this particular afternoon. The setting sun did cast a bit of a golden glow on the cypress tree tunnel.
There are endless different compositions you can some up with when photographing the cypress tree tunnel at Point Reyes. You may want to include skies or frame a shot so that the tree branches block out the skies. You may want to photograph the trees from a distance or you may want tree trunks to be right up in the foreground. There are a million different shots you can frame up. It is a great pace to spend an hour or more composing lots of different shots so you can come home and pick up the ones that really resonate and make for a great wall art piece.
What Did It Take To Get This Point Reyes Cypress tree Tunnel Photo?
This photo was taken a number of years ago before the explosion in visitation to virtually all national and state parks. There were minimal crowds in the park at the time. Since the cypress tree tunnel does line an active road that goes to the historic Marconi Station, it can see a fair amount of car traffic. Due to the scenic nature of the tunnel there is often a lot of pedestrian traffic on it as well. Like almost every photo highlighted on this site, it took a while get this photo. I spent a fair amount of time waiting for the sunlight to be just right, composing a variety of different shots a and probably the most time waiting for people and cars to get off the road so as to get a completely natural looking shot with no people or vehicles in it.
This wall art worthy piece featured here was selected by the National Park Foundation as a “monthly winner” in the “Share The Experience“photo contest many years ago. It has appeared in some on and off-line promotional materials used by the National Park Foundation over the years.
What Formats Is This Point Reyes National Seashore Wall Art Print Available?
This print comes in most any format you would like up to and including a size of 40×60 inches. If you like bright shiny and reflective wall art prints, you might like the metal look. For a more traditional look a matte canvas or framed paper print might be a better choice, particularly if it will be hung by bright lighting or natural light that may cause a metal prints to reflect the surrounding decor.
Is is also available on sturdy tote bags perfect for grocery shopping, puzzles for the friend or relative who love Point Reyes and loves to work on jigsaw puzzles, phone cases and numerous other home decor pieces.
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