88 South Bay Accent
FROM TOP: COURTESY OF A COLLECTION OF ROMANTIC PLACES; CHLOE LIST; OPPOSITE: COURTESY OF MARIN CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU
to its asphalt paving, it accommodates strollers, wheelchairs
and even the most casual hiker. Perched on the east peak of
Mount Tamalpais, a 15-minute drive from Stinson, the walk
winds clockwise around an easy three-quarter-mile loop just
below the craggy summit, above a dense forest of Douglas fir
with native manzanita, feathery yerba santa and sunny yellow
monkey flowers growing trailside. The first leg of the hike
offers spectacular views from the rolling hills of Sonoma and
the flats and marshes of San Pablo Bay. On a clear day, you’ll
spy the Farallon Islands, 30 miles off the coast. Another option
is to head to nearby Gravity Car Barn (friendsofmttam.
org), where sightseers can climb aboard a replica car from the
now defunct Mount Tamalpais Scenic Railway, nicknamed
the “Crookedest Railroad in the World.” From 1896 to
1929, steam engines carried hundreds of people a day up
an eight-mile track with 281 curves and switchbacks to the
long-gone Tavern of Tamalpais at the summit.
For even more heavenly views, Mt. Tam State Park hosts
astronomy nights from April through October. Astronomers
and space science professionals offer their expertise at the
Mountain Theater, followed by a brief Night
Sky Tour highlighting prominent constellations,
stars and planets.
Tomales Bay/Point Reyes
North of Stinson Beach and Mt. Tam,
reachable via Highway 1, lies Tomales Bay
in northwest Marin County, beloved for its
pastoral scenery, wildlife migrations and the
wildflowers that blanket its rolling hills each
spring. Although sunny skies and warm air
abound in September and October, during the
other 10 months you might be enveloped in
wind and fog. But that dance with full-frontal
nature, uncensored, accounts for much of the
area’s appeal.
Point Reyes/Tomales Bay has much to offer
year-round to travelers: rustic bed and breakfast
inns, hearty meals, romantic settings, walks
along the coast with windbreakers zipped tight,
seals and sea lions and egrets and migratory
birds on route to South America. And lest you
forget this is the epicenter of earthquake country,
the bucolic landscape is often scarred in
places by visibly jagged rifts and fissures. Point
Reyes National Seashore sits on the Pacific
plate; the eastern side of Tomales Bay sits on
the North American plate. The two meet at the
San Andreas Fault, right under Tomales Bay.
A major tectonic shift in these plates flattened
San Francisco in 1906 and caused the Point
Reyes peninsula to leap 20 feet northwest.
Today, visitors hike, mountain bike, wildlife
watch and just revel in the crisp, cool climes.
Kick off your visit to the Point Reyes National
Seashore at the Bear Valley Visitor Center,
where rangers will point you in the right
direction for trails and beaches. One highlight
is a trip to Tule Elk Preserve. Even the ridge-top
TOMALES BAY
FOOD COMPANY
THE PELICAN INN
