A photo of a beach gravel bar.

This beach gravel bar is commonly covered with resting sea lions. The view is to the north from the end of the trail at Elephant Seal Overlook near the historic Point Reyes Lifeboat Station. The beach cobbles consist of granitic rock eroded from exposures along the shore near the lifeboat station and extending to the eastern point at Chimney Rock. In the distance, the steeply dipping sedimentary layers consist of Upper Miocene marine sedimentary rocks (Santa Margarita Sandstone and lower Purisima Formation). The dipping strata lie along the western flank of a syncline exposed in the sea cliffs at the west end of Drakes Beach.