Point Molate Beach, a hidden Richmond gem
on September 13, 2014
Point Molate Beach Park is one of the Bay Area’s last undeveloped public shorelines, and it’s enjoying a renaissance after nearly being lost.
A casino proposal for the site, which sits just north of the Richmond-San Rafael bridge, was defeated in a 2010 ballot measure.
Galvanized by that battle and subsequent triumph, a committed group of volunteers and activists worked to reopen the beach and preserve the plants and animals that live there. The City Council, led by Mayor Gayle McLaughlin, allocated money to help fund infrastructure improvements, including new benches and picnic tables.
The public beach reopened in 2013 after being closed for almost a decade. It boasts sandy shoreline and picturesque views of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge and Marin County’s rolling hills across the bay.
Explore the visual guides below to learn more about the flora and fauna of Point Molate.
Herton Escobar contributed to this report.
2 Comments
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The plants look nice, The animals were always there. This will become a new place for garbage in the next few years. There isn’t any security to watch the area. You could of had more plants, more animals and more beaches cleaner beaches. But no, you put a bandaid on a cut that needs a thousand stitches. The Casino and Hotel people were going to clean the whole shore, provide security and provide thousands of jobs and tax revenue for the city of Richmond. When you put the cart before the horse it goes nowhere. Lets get it right next time. Make Richmond a place you want to go, not a place you want to get out of as fast as you can
John, if a tribe had taken that land into trust, they would have been able to deny access to the shoreline at any time for any reason. There would have been nothing we could have done about it. The way it stands now, the people have the park with no fear of a “sovereign nation” shutting us out on a whim, or charging for access. Believe me, this is a better alternative.