Point Reyes National Seashore in the context of "National Seashore"

Marin County (/məˈrɪn/ mə-RIN) is a county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and largest city is San Rafael. Marin County is across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, and is included in the San Francisco–Oakland–Berkeley, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Marin County's natural sites include the Muir Woods redwood forest, the Marin Headlands, Stinson Beach, the Point Reyes National Seashore, and Mount Tamalpais. Marin is one of the highest-income counties by per capita income and median household income. The county is governed by the Marin County Board of Supervisors.

Point Reyes (/ˈreɪz/ RAYZ, Spanish: [ˈreʝes]; Spanish: Punta de los Reyes, lit. 'Cape of the Kings') is a prominent landform and popular tourist attraction on the Pacific coast of Marin County in Northern California. It is about 30 miles (50 km) west-northwest of San Francisco. The term is often applied to the Point Reyes Peninsula, the region bounded by Tomales Bay on the northeast and Bolinas Lagoon on the southeast. The majority of the peninsula as well as the headlands are protected as part of Point Reyes National Seashore.

The United States has ten protected areas known as national seashores and three known as national lakeshores, which are public lands operated by the National Park Service (NPS), an agency of the Department of the Interior. National seashores and lakeshores are coastal areas federally designated by Congress as being of natural and recreational significance as a preserved area. All of the national lakeshores are on Lakes Michigan and Superior, and nine of the ten national seashores are on the Atlantic Ocean, including two on the Gulf of Mexico. Point Reyes is the only national seashore on the Pacific coast. While all of these protected sites have extensive beaches for recreation, they extend inland to include other natural resources like wetlands and marshes, forests, lakes and lagoons, and dunes. Many also feature historic lighthouses and estates.

National seashores are located in ten states and national lakeshores are in two other states. Florida, North Carolina, and Michigan each have two. The largest national seashore or lakeshore is Gulf Islands, at over 137,000 acres (550 km); the smallest is Fire Island, at 19,579 acres (79.23 km). The total areas protected by national seashores and lakeshores are approximately 595,000 acres (2,410 km) and 214,000 acres (870 km), respectively. These thirteen sites had a total visitation of 21.1 million people in 2017, led by Cape Cod at over 4 million visitors. The lakeshores and seashores have an emphasis on recreation, and most allow hunting and off-road vehicles, which is not permitted in national parks. Five seashores and lakeshores also include land more strictly protected as wilderness areas.

Alamere Falls is a coastal waterfall in Point Reyes National Seashore, Marin County, California; it flows directly into the ocean. It is one of only two coastal waterfalls in California, the other being McWay Falls.

Alamere Falls tumbles over fragile shale cliffs at Alamere Creek Beach. Upstream of the main Alamere Falls is the upper Alamere Falls, consisting of three separate cascades. Together, these cascades are approximately 20–30 feet (6–9 m) in height. All of these waterfalls are fed by Alamere Creek.

New Albion, also known as Nova Albion (in reference to an archaic name for Great Britain), was the name of the continental area north of Mexico claimed by Sir Francis Drake for England when he landed on the North American west coast in 1579. This claim became the justification for English charters across America to the Atlantic coast and soon influenced further national expansion projects on the continent. Drake's landing site has been identified as Drake's Cove, which is part of Point Reyes National Seashore.

Drake, after successfully sacking Spanish towns and plundering Spanish ships along their eastern Pacific coast colonies, sought safe harbour to prepare his ship, Golden Hind, for circumnavigation back to England. He found it on 17 June 1579, when he and his crew landed on the Pacific coast at Drakes Bay in Northern California. While encamped there, he had friendly relations with the Coast Miwok people who inhabited the area near his landing. Naming the area Nova Albion, or New Albion, he claimed sovereignty of the area for Queen Elizabeth I, an act which would have significant long-term historical consequences. Sailing away on 23 July and leaving behind no colony, Drake eventually circumnavigated the globe and returned to England in September 1580.