California Coastal Access Guide, Seventh Edition. California Coastal Commission

From its earliest days as a state, California has depended on Marin County for agricultural products. By 1862, Marin County dairies provided one-quarter of the state’s butter. Redwood trees on the hills surrounding Bolinas were cut to build the wooden row houses of San Francisco after the gold rush. From sawmills near the shore, lumber was loaded on flat-bottomed lighters in Bolinas Lagoon and transferred to ships anchored offshore. Cutting timber for forest products came to a halt long ago in Marin County, but dairy operations remain prominent. Compared to those in the 19th century, dairy farms today are fewer in number but more productive. As in the past, family farms dominate agriculture in Marin County.

Historic B Ranch, Point Reyes Peninsula

Experience coastal Marin history

Unlikely as it may seem to visitors now, the village of Tomales was once an ocean port. The first European settler was an Irishman named John Keys who, beginning in 1850, built a house and store there. A line of warehouses later served the ships that carried butter, hogs, beef, and potatoes down Keys Creek to Tomales Bay and thence to San Francisco. Within 20 years the creek bed had silted in, and ships could sail no closer to Tomales than Ocean Roar at the mouth of Keys Creek. When the North Pacific Coast Railroad reached Tomales in 1875, linking the area to the rail-ferry wharf in Sausalito (and thus to San Francisco), transportation of farm produce was greatly improved.

A number of 19th-century structures remain near the intersection of Main St. and Dillon Beach Rd. in Tomales. The Church of the Assumption, located just south of the present business section, was built in 1860 and restored after the 1906 earthquake. The Tomales Regional History Center at 26701 Hwy. One has exhibits about the area’s early residents, agricultural economy, and the North Pacific Coast Railroad. The museum is open on Saturday and Sunday, 1–4 PM. For information, call: 707-878-9443.

The Jack Mason Museum of West Marin History in Inverness is housed in an 1893-vintage house known as The Gables, located at 15 Park Avenue. A small gallery features changing exhibits, such as historic photos of West Marin scenes and farming families. The gallery shares space with the Inverness Public Library; for open hours, call: 415-669-1288. For more information on the museum’s collections, which focus on the history of the Tomales Bay region between the hamlets of Ocean Roar and Dogtown, call: 415-669-1099.

Point Reyes Station was originally a stop on the North Pacific Coast Railroad. The old depot now serves as the post office. Other buildings in town are named for their original functions: the Old Creamery Building, the Livery Stable, the Hay Barn. A children’s playground and public restrooms are on Mesa Rd. at Toby St. in Point Reyes Station. Well-known photographer Art Rogers, who has made celebrated portraits of local residents over nearly four decades, has a gallery in Point Reyes Station (call: 415-663-8345) and sometimes displays his work at the Jack Mason Museum in Inverness.

Dine on local oysters

Locally raised oysters are a Tomales Bay–area specialty and can be enjoyed at many local restaurants. In the hamlet of Marshall, Hog Island Oyster Company offers bayside picnic and barbecue facilities for shuckyour-own fare, as well as take-away oysters, Manila clams, and mussels. Picnic reservations are advised. Open daily, 9 AM–5 PM; call: 415-663-9218. Tomales Bay Oyster Company is on Hwy. One just north of Millerton Point. There are picnic and barbecue facilities overlooking Tomales Bay, and fresh oysters and shellfish are available to go. Open daily, 9 AM–5 PM; call: 415-663-1243.

Tomales Bay Oyster Company picnic area

Explore Point Reyes National Seashore

Point Reyes National Seashore was created to protect wild lands, natural ecosystems, and open space close to the urban centers of the San Francisco Bay Area. Some 80 miles of unspoiled coastline are preserved in the park, and there are beaches, grasslands, forests, and estuaries to explore. Historic ranches continue in operation within the National Seashore boundaries. Recreational activities include beachcombing, hiking, kayaking, bicycling, and wildlife viewing. Part of the National Seashore has been designated as the Phillip Burton Wilderness Area; hikers and equestrians, but no bicycles or motorized vehicles, are allowed on wilderness trails.

Part of the Point Reyes National Seashore is designated as the Tule Elk Reserve, created to restore to the elk some of the habitat originally theirs before the introduction of dairy farming on the peninsula. The elk may be seen year round, roaming throughout the reserve. Within the reserve, a popular place to view the elk is the three-mile-long trail starting at Pierce Point Ranch and leading through grasslands to Tomales Point. From July to September, when bull elk are competing for females’ attention, docents are at the Tomales Point Trailhead on weekends, 10:30 AM–4:30 PM. Use binoculars and maintain a safe distance; do not approach the animals.

See salmon on their way to spawn

Lagunitas Creek is the largest of the streams feeding Tomales Bay. Coho salmon, along with steelhead, return to Lagunitas Creek and its tributaries to deposit eggs on the gravelly stream bottom. The watershed has among the largest populations of endangered wild coho salmon in California, even though the number of returning fish has dropped dramatically from historic levels. Up to 6,000 adults once came to spawn, and perhaps only onetenth that many have returned to the stream in recent years. Numerous dams built within the watershed block migration of the salmon.

During the winter months, returning salmon can be viewed at locations along Lagunitas Creek and its tributaries, including Samuel P. Taylor State Park and the Leo Cronin salmon viewing area off Sir Francis Drake Blvd., eight miles west of Fairfax. December is often a peak month for viewing. When returning to

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