Mickey's Beach
Stinson Beach area (Marin County coast) · near Stinson Beach / Bolinas · SF Bay Area
Rock Climbing
At a glance
- Skill level
- advanced
- Grade range
- 5.9 to 5.13+ · Bouldering plus steep sport routes
- Best season
- Year-round when dry · Best at low tide · Avoid after rain (sandstone is fragile) · Spring/fall ideal
Permits and booking
- Permit
- No permit — public beach access. CRITICAL: the base of the cliffs and boulders is tide-dependent; a rising tide can strand climbers. Always check tide charts. Don't climb the fragile sandstone when wet.
Worth knowing
- Good for a first timer
- No
Rock Climbing detail
- Nickname
- The Bay Area's Seaside Crag
- Climb types
- sport · bouldering · top-rope
- Rock type
- Sandstone / greywacke sea cliffs & boulders
- Route count
- Dozens of routes and boulder problems on the beachfront cliffs and stacks
- Signature routes
- Endless Bummer & the beachfront sport routes · The sea stacks & boulders
- First timer note
- Mickey's is primarily an advanced sport-and-bouldering venue, not a learning crag (only a couple of accessible top-ropes). But even non-climbers love the spectacle — steep routes rising from a gorgeous Marin beach with the Pacific behind. Mind the tides and the fragile wet rock.
- Intl tip
- Mickey's is on Highway 1 near Stinson Beach (surfing guide) and below Mount Tam (MTB guide) — a full Marin coast day. Check tide charts before going; low tide opens the most climbing. The nearby Stinson and Bolinas beaches round out the day.
The guide
Mickey's Beach, on the Marin coast just south of Stinson, is Northern California's premier seaside crag — steep sport routes an…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Mickey's Beach — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 37.892, -122.635