Last updated: June 8, 2026
Place
Tennessee Cove
Quick Facts
Amenities
1 listed
Scenic View/Photo Spot
Tennessee Cove is a popular destination for a picnic or for a casual hang at the end of Tennessee Valley trail. The cove boasts a broad beach surrounded by high, rocky bluffs. A short side trail will take you up a bluff for excellent views from old coastal defense observation posts.
If you venture near the water, be careful and use caution. Never turn your back on the ocean.
The SS Tennessee's Last Voyage
On the morning of March 6, 1853, en route from Panama, the SS Tennessee went aground after missing the entrance to San Francisco Bay due to a thick fog that covered the ocean. Thanks to the calm action of Captain Mellus and the crew, approximately 600 passengers were safely landed ashore along with mail, baggage, and provisions. The passengers remained on the beach until their rescue by the Coast Survey schooner Active that rescued the passengers from the beach and brought them to steamers Goliah, Confidence, and Thomas Hunt which delivered them to San Francisco on March 8. By March 21, SS Tennessee had broken apart in the surf, marking her wreck at Tennessee Cove with only her name and the remnants of the shipwreck that are visible at low tide, depending on seasonal sand shifts.
Geology of Tennessee Cove
Tennessee Cove is made up of the sedimentary rock, chert. The rocks here at the cove are chock full of radiolaria fossils. 'Radiolaria' is a big word for ocean faring single-celled organisms. These little guys are smaller than a grain of sand and come in a variety of symmetrical shapes. For hundreds of millions of years, they have been embedded in the rocks as fossilized mineral skeletons. You can see them with a standard magnifier.