Just north of San Francisco's Golden Gate is Mount Tamalpais, 6,300 acres of redwood groves and oak woodlands with a spectacular view from the 2,571-foot east peak.

Mt. Tamalpais (Tamal-pie-us) State Park, located in the heart of Marin County, with its dramatic combination of urban and natural scenery, is among the most spectacular of its kind in the world.  On a clear day one can often see the Farallon Islands some 25 miles out to sea, and occasionally it is possible to look inland, across the Central Valley to the snow-capped Sierra Nevada, almost 200 miles away!

Coastal Miwok Indians lived in the area for thousands of years before Europeans arrived. In 1770, two explorers named the mountain La Sierra de Nuestro Padre de San Francisco, which was later changed to the Miwok word Tamalpais.

With the Gold Rush of 1849, San Francisco grew and more people began to use Mount Tamalpais for recreation. Trails were developed and a wagon road was built. Later, a railway was completed and became known as "The Crookedest Railroad in the World." It was abandoned in 1930 due to the Great Depression, the advent of the automobile, and ultimately a lack of riders.