On Monday, August 17, 2020, lightning started a wildfire, which was named the 4-5 Fire, north of the junction of Woodward Valley Trail and the Coast Trail. On Tuesday, August 18, a second fire, initially named the 4-6 Fire and later renamed the Woodward Fire, was found nearby and, aided by gusty winds, quickly grew in size. By Thursday, October 1, 2020, the Woodward Fire was 100% contained at 4,929 acres in size. The Woodward Fire was declared out on Tuesday, January 12, 2021.
Ecologists consider the Woodward Fire to be ecologically beneficial because it had a mix of burn severity. That means it burned with high intensity in some places, and other places it burned lightly. This type of burn is in contrast with some of our larger, hotter fires that consume everything in its path.
Even though the fire was 100% contained by October 1, 2020, fuels in the interior area of the fire continued to burn until January 12, 2021. The fuels that continued to burn were large tree trunks, stump holes, and other areas with smoldering fuels that are very difficult to access. These areas occasionally produced light smoke, but posed no threat to the containment lines.
Even after the fire was declared out, the park continued to keep some areas and trails that are within the fire footprint closed to visitation. There were several reasons why this area has remained closed. First, the area needed to be thoroughly assessed for hazard trees. These are trees that have been burned and pose a falling threat to hikers. Second, trails needed to be completely cleared of debris and rehabilitated. Park staff worked to repair trails and fix drainage structures on the trails within the burn area. These repairs leave fresh disturbed soils on the trails with minimal compaction. Any foot, bicycle, or equestrian traffic during the time shortly after repairs are made damages—or can even destroy—these newly rebuilt drainage structures. Natural wetting and drying out of the soil give us the compaction we need for long-term durability, but the soils needed to remain undisturbed after park staff finish their work so that natural compaction process could happen. We thank visitors for their patience as we worked to improve the trails within the Woodward Fire zone.
Safety reminder: Park visitors and area residents are asked to be mindful of closure signs anywhere in the park. While it might not look dangerous, if you were to go into a closed area, and something were to happen to you and you required assistance, everyone entering the area to assist you might be put in harm's way. Thank you for your continued patience during this extraordinary time!
Areas closed to all visitors due to the Woodward Fire and/or hazard trees.
As of September 16, 2022, all areas that were closed due to the Woodward Fire have been reopened. The one exception is that the Mount Wittenberg Trail will remain indefinitely closed to horses.
Reopened Areas
On Friday, August 21, 2020, Point Reyes National Seashore was closed to all public use due to the Woodward Fire. Since then, roads, trails, facilities, and areas have been reopened when it was safe to do so.
On Thursday, September 10, 2020, most of the park was reopened, except for Limantour Road and the areas and trails south of Limantour Road, west of Highway 1, and north of the Stewart Trail. Campers with reservations for Tomales Bay Boat-in Camping permits were allowed to resume camping.
On Wednesday, September 23, 2020, Wildcat Campground reopened for camping.
On Friday, October 23, 2020, the Bear Valley parking lot, Bear Valley Picnic Area, the Earthquake Trail, and the Rift Zone Trail were reopened, as were Limantour Road, Limantour Beach, and the trails to the north and west of Limantour Road.
On Saturday, February 6, 2021, the Laguna Road, Laguna Trail, the Coast Trail from the Laguna Road to Coast Campground, the southern mile of the Fire Lane Trail, and the trails south of Bear Valley Trail and north of the Stewart Trail (except for the northern 0.6 miles of the Glen Trail and the Coast Trail between Bear Valley Trail and the North Glen-Coast Spur Trail) were reopened. Coast Campground reopened for camping.
On Thursday, March 4, 2021, Glen Campground reopened for camping.
On Friday, April 30, 2021, the Bear Valley Trail, the Coast Trail from the Bear Valley Trail to the Kelham Beach Trail, and the Kelham Beach Trail were reopened.
On Friday, May 7, 2021, the Baldy Trail, Horse Trail east of its junction with Z Ranch Trail, Kule Loklo Trail and Kule Loklo*, Meadow Trail, Mount Wittenberg Trail from Z Ranch Trail to Sky Trail, Mount Wittenberg Summit Trail, Old Pine Trail, Sky Trail south of the Meadow/Mount Wittenberg Trail junction, and Z Ranch Trail were reopened. (* The Kule Loklo area was closed on Thursday, May 13, 2021, due to hazard trees.)
On Wednesday, May 19, 2021, the Morgan Horse Ranch was reopened.
On Friday, May 21, 2021, the Fire Lane Trail between its intersections with the Laguna Trail and Sky Trail, the Horse Trail between its intersections with the Sky Trail and Z Ranch Trail, and the Sky Trail between the Sky Trailhead and its intersection with the Mount Wittenberg Trail were reopened.
On Wednesday, September 1, 2021, the Morgan Trail, the Woodpecker Trail, and the Mount Wittenberg Trail were reopened, although the Mount Wittenberg Trail remains closed to horses.
On Thursday, October 7, 2021, the Sculptured Beach Trail, the Woodward Valley Trail, and the Coast Trail between Coast Campground and Kelham Beach Trail were reopened. Mount Wittenberg Trail remains closed to horses.
On Saturday, January 15, 2022, Sky Campground was reopened for camping.
On Friday, September 16, 2022, Kule Loklo and the trails leading to Kule Loklo were reopened.
Respect the Closures
Burned Area Emergency Recovery (BAER) activity continues. Hazardous conditions, such as hazard trees, still exist. Conditions can change rapidly.
Photographs from the Woodward Fire, which started within Point Reyes National Seashore, on Tuesday, August 18, 2020.
The Natural Laboratory Podcast
The Natural Laboratory is a series of podcasts produced by Pacific Coast Science and Learning Center Science Communication Interns, with support from Point Reyes National Seashore Association, exploring science from Bay Area National Parks. In "The Legacy of Fire at Point Reyes," Science Communication Intern Jerimiah Oetting dives into how the Woodward fire compares to its predecessor, the 1995 Vision fire. He also explores how climate change and fire suppression drive the increasing intensity of wildfire in the West. In "New Growth," Jerimiah speaks with fire ecologists and botanists about what that recovery will look like in the coming months and years, and what we can learn from Indigenous practices of managing the landscape with fire. In "How Wildlife Withstand Wildfires," Jerimiah speaks to park scientists to learn how certain vulnerable species might be impacted by wildfires.
Woodward Fire StoryMap
Learn more about the Woodward Fire by viewing the Woodward Fire StoryMap, created by Trisha Johnson, a GIS Analyst on the National Burned Area Emergency Response Team.
Media Coverage
NBC Bay Area: Point Reyes Climate Hotspot: Climate Change Lengthens Wildfire Season (2 minutes 46 seconds) - January 28, 2021
Wildfire season used to begin in August and wrap up in November. In 2021, we've already had a red flag alert in January. Cal Fire says climate change is fueling this troubling trend, giving us an average of 75 extra burn days a year. NBC Bay Area meteorologist Rob Mayeda walks in the Woodward fire zone in Point Reyes with scientist Margaret Torn who examines what climate change is doing to the Earth that's sparking these wildfires.
Have an adventure AND contribute to community science at the same time? Learn how you can earn a limited-edition patch while helping to monitor the regrowth of various ecosystems in the wake of the 2020 Woodward Fire in Point Reyes National Seashore.
Locations:Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Point Reyes National Seashore, Presidio of San Francisco
Offices:San Francisco Bay Area Inventory & Monitoring Network
You'll find coastal wetland wonders, Point Reyes post-fire monitoring, September invasive species surveys in the Presidio, and salt marsh plant community surveys featured in this issue. Noteworthy invasive species profiles include false ice plant and oxeye daisy, and don't miss a native species spotlight on the sticky, strangely shaped Point Reyes bird’s-beak, a threatened species in California!
Locations:Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Point Reyes National Seashore
The Woodward Fire, which ignited in August 2020 and burned nearly 5,000 acres of Point Reyes National Seashore wilderness, provides valuable counterpoint to the ecological devastation seen from many of other 2020 California fires. It presents a unique opportunity to observe the effects of a mixed-severity fire on an ecologically rich patchwork of coastal California habitats.
In this series, we'll dive into the past, present and future of fire in Point Reyes, by examining its impact on the seashore’s plants, animals and fungi. We’ll hear from scientists about how climate change, fire suppression, drought, and other human influences have changed the dynamics of wildfire in the West. And we’ll explore what the recovering seashore will look like in the coming months and years.
In October 1995, an illegal campfire in Point Reyes National Seashore ignited the largest wildfire to hit the area in sixty years. The Vision Fire, as it came to be known, scorched more than 12,000 acres, affecting not just the seashore’s flora and fauna, but also the private lands of nearby residents. Dozens of homes and other structures were destroyed. Memories of Vision have haunted Point Reyes ever since.
Join Science Communication Intern Jerimiah Oetting as he dives into how the Woodward Fire compares to its predecessor, what that recovery will look like in the coming months and years, and how certain vulnerable species might be impacted by wildfires in three new episodes of The Natural Laboratory podcast series.
This year’s fire season was historic in California. According to Cal Fire, over 4 million acres had burned as of mid-November. That's more than double the footprint that made 2018 the previous record holder. The Woodward fire in Point Reyes National Seashore, at 5,000 acres, was only a small component of that total. But it was driven by the same conditions that fuel the state’s largest fires: human-caused climate change and fire suppression.
The 2020 Woodward fire has created a unique opportunity for biologists to investigate an elusive and mysterious mammal population: Point Reyes mountain beavers (Aplodontia rufa phaea). In some areas, fire burned off the top layer of soil, exposing complex networks of tunnels two or three inches under the ground. Biologists are applying this 'x-ray' vision of mountain beaver habitat to locate active burrows in unburned areas.
O'Gallagher, Maritte J., Gregory A. Jones, Lorraine S. Parsons, Dave T. Press, Wende E. Rehlaender, Stephen Skartvedt, and Alison B. Forrestel. 2021. "2020 Woodward Fire case study: Examining the role of fire as an ecological process in a coastal California ecosystem." Parks Stewardship Forum 37(2): 331–340. Available at https://doi.org/10.5070/P537253239 (accessed 03 September 2021)
An interactive fire map for the Woodward Fire is available displaying evacuation warning areas, fire perimeter, satellite based thermal imagery, and other features. More features are in the works and will be added as they are finished.
The National Wildfire Coordinating Group produced boundary maps for the Woodward Fire from August 24, 2020, through September 6, 2020. The maps were removed from InciWeb in 2021. The Internet Archive captured the August 26 through August 29 maps, but the August 30 through September 6 maps were, unfortunately, not archived.
All Evacuation Warnings have been lifted as of 4 pm on Wednesday, September 9, 2020.
The Marin County Sheriff's Office, in collaboration with the Marin County Fire Department, lifted the remaining Evacuation Warnings in West Marin at 4 pm on Wednesday, September 9, 2020.
Earlier Evacuation Orders and Warnings That Have Been Lifted or Reduced
At 6 pm on Friday, September 4, the Marin County Sheriff's Office, in collaboration with Marin County Fire Department, reduced the Monday, August 24 Evacuation Order for Silverhills Road, Fox Drive, and Noren Way to an Evacuation Warning. The evacuation center at the Marin Center was also closed. Evacuation warnings for Silverhills Road, Fox Drive, and Noren Way and Inverness Park and the Bear Valley area remained in effect until 4 pm on Wednesday, September 9, 2020.
At 7 pm on Wednesday, September 2, 2020, the Evacuation Warning for Olema, Inverness, Drakes View, and Sea Haven was lifted. Other evacuation Warnings and Orders around the fire remained in affect (e.g., Silverhills – Evacuation Order, Inverness Park – Evacuation Warning, NPS Park Headquarters at Bear Valley - Evacuation Warning.
At noon on Saturday, August 29, 2020, the Evacuation Warning for the communities of Bolinas and Dogtown and for the Highway 1 corridor south of Five Brooks was lifted. The Palomarin, Ridge, McCurdy/Teixeira, Randall, and Five Brooks Trailheads and all trails within Point Reyes National Seashore remained closed until Thursday, September 10, 2020.
At 10:08 pm on Monday, August 24, 2020, the Marin County Sheriff's Office announced that the evacuation warning area was expanded to include the area east of Highway 1, north of Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, west of Olema Hill/Bolinas Ridge, and south of Lagunitas Creek.
At 6:23 pm on Monday, August 24, 2020, the Marin County Sheriff's Office announced an evacuation order for Silverhills Road, Fox Drive, and Noren Way south of Inverness Park.
At 11:41 am on Friday, August 21, 2020, the Marin County Sheriff's Office announced an evacuation warning for the area west of Highway 1 and Sir Francis Drake Boulevard (northern intersection) to the Point Reyes Lighthouse. The area included the communities of Olema, Inverness, Inverness Park and Sea Haven. The area south of Sir Francis Drake Boulevard and west of the Bay Area Ridge Trail (aka Bolinas Ridge Trail), and north of the McCurdy Trail was also closed.
Disclaimer: Daily between 8 am and 4:30 pm, park website authors will update the alerts above with any new information that becomes available. After 4:30 pm and before 8 am, visit the Marin County Sheriff's Office's Nixle page to check whether any alerts pertaining to the Woodward Fire have been posted while park website authors are off-duty, as well as for additional emergency alerts that are in effect in Marin County. Park website authors will add any alerts that are issued overnight when they return to work at 8 am each morning.
Visit FIRESafe MARIN's Wildfire Evacuation Preparedness page to learn how to register to receive evacuation notices & fire information, to learn the difference between Evacuation Warnings and Evacuation Orders, tips on how to harden your home and create defensible space, and how to prepare to evacuate.
Webinar: Evacuation & Warnings – How To Survive a Wildfire
On Tuesday, August 25, FIRESafe Marin hosed a webinar entitled "Webinar: Evacuation & Warnings – How To Survive a Wildfire" featuring Central Marin Fire Department Battalion Chief Todd Lando and 2018 Camp Fire evacuee and survivor Dr. Shannamar Dewey. A recording of the webinar is available of FIRESafe Marin's YouTube Channel.
Press Briefings
With the transition of incident management for the fire from the Northern Rockies National Incident Management Team 2 to the Great Basin Incident Management Team 4, information will still come from the National Seashore's Twitter and Facebook accounts.
Status update briefings in the morning also transitioned to Point Reyes National Seashore's Facebook page and will continue to be on Zoom.
Woodward Fire status briefing: every other day at ~9:30 am
Beginning on Thursday, September 10, 2020, Great Basin Incident Management Team 4 Press Briefings will be offered every other day (i.e., Saturday, September 12; Monday, September 14; Wednesday, September 16) through Wednesday, September 16.
ASL and captioning available on all platforms, Spanish interpretation available on Zoom. Each day, English recordings are posted to YouTube and Facebook, and Spanish recordings are posted to YouTube.
ASL y subtítulos disponibles en todas las plataformas, interpretación en español disponible en Zoom. Cada día se publican grabaciones en inglés y español en YouTube y Facebook, y en español en YouTube.
Watch on the Point Reyes National Seashore's Facebook page. (You do not need your own Facebook account to watch this briefing on the park's Facebook page.)
Tuesday, September 1, 2020 Facebook (skip ahead to the 4:10 minute mark)
YouTube: English or Español
Monday, August 31, 2020 Facebook (skip ahead to the 8:30 minute mark)
YouTube: English or Español
Sunday, August 30, 2020 Facebook (skip ahead to the 2:25 minute mark)
YouTube: English or Español (próximamente)
Saturday, August 29, 2020 Facebook (skip ahead to the 5:15 minute mark)
YouTube: English or Español
Friday, August 28, 2020 Facebook (skip ahead to the 0:15 minute mark)
YouTube: English or Español
Thursday, August 27, 2020 Facebook (skip ahead to the 6:30 minute mark)
YouTube: English or Español
Wednesday, August 26, 2020 Facebook (skip ahead to the 8:00 minute mark)
YouTube: English or Español
Tuesday, August 25, 2020 Facebook (skip ahead to the 9:15 minute mark)
YouTube: English or Español
Monday, August 24, 2020 Facebook (skip ahead to the 9:00 minute mark)
YouTube: English or Español
North Bay Incident Management Team Press Briefings
From Wednesday, August 19, 2020, through Sunday, August 23, 2020, the Marin County Fire Department, Point Reyes National Seashore, and the Marin County Sheriff's Department held press briefings about the Woodward Fire. Press briefings were live streamed on Marin County Fire Department's Facebook page. View the North Bay IMT's press briefings that were offered on:
Sunday, August 23, 2020 Facebook (skip ahead to the 9:20 minute mark)
YouTube: English or Español
Saturday, August 22, 2020 Facebook (skip ahead to the 9:45 minute mark)
YouTube: English or Español
Friday, August 21, 2020 Facebook (skip ahead to the 9:40 minute mark)
YouTube: English or Español
The National Wildfire Coordinating Group produced Smoke Outlooks for the Woodward Fire from August 24, 2020, through September 9, 2020. The Smoke Outlooks were removed from InciWeb in 2021. The Internet Archive captured the August 24 through September 1 PDFs, but the September 2 through September 9 PDFs were, unfortunately, not archived.
The Marin County Fire Department, Point Reyes National Seashore, and the Marin County Sheriff's Department held a digital town hall on Saturday, August 22, 2020. The public were invited to submit questions in advance for park and fire officials to answer. The recording of the town hall is available on Facebook in only English and on YouTube in both English and Español.
Donations
We continue to receive generous donation offers and truly appreciate all of them. However, in order to keep all of our firefighters safe from potential exposure to COVID-19, we are not able to accept items from the community. If you would like to show support, please post "thank you" signs along roadways and in the community where the firefighters will see them. You may also consider making a donation to the Wildland Firefighter Foundation or a local charity.
415-464-5100
This number will initially be answered by an automated attendant, from which one can opt to access a name directory, listen to recorded information about the park (e.g., directions to the park; visitor center hours of operation; fire danger information; wildlife updates; ranger-led programs; seasonal events; etc.), or speak with a ranger. Please note that if you are calling between 4:30 pm and 10 am, park staff may not be available to answer your call.
