Marin County – Travel guide at Wikivoyage (2024)

Marin County in the Bay Area of California is a bedroom community across the Golden Gate Bridge to the north of San Francisco. Affluent Marin County is home to ex-hippies and dot-com millionaires. It has rugged wilderness areas on its western coast, while towns on the Bay have a nautical air dating to the 1800s.

• 1 Bolinas: A counterculture enclave whose residents notoriously remove any signs pointing the way into town.
• 2 Fairfax: Another counterculture enclave and the gateway to the rural western half of the county
• 3 Larkspur and Corte Madera: A pair of small towns best known for upscale shopping and the county's main ferry terminal.
• 4 Mill Valley: The starting point for hikes in Muir Woods and on Mount Tamalpais.
• 5 Novato: Large and quiet bedroom community
• 6 San Anselmo
• 7 San Rafael: The cultural and political center of Marin, home to the unique Civic Center, lively Fourth Street, the historic mission, and China Camp State Park.
• 8 Sausalito: A picturesque hillside town with sailing and views of San Francisco right across the bay.
• 9 Tiburon: A small, wealthy town on a peninsula, home to historic buildings, attractive hills, and the gateway to Angel Island State Park.

• 1 Point Reyes National Seashore
• 2 Marin Headlands
• 3 Muir Woods National Monument - This national monument, located in Mill Valley, has some of the oldest remaining giant coastal redwoods in the world.
• 4 Angel Island State Park. The largest natural island in the San Francisco Bay and a good place for hiking, accessible by ferry from Tiburon or by private boat.
• 5 Samuel P. Taylor State Park, 8889 Sir Francis Drake Ave, Lagunitas.
• 6 Stinson Beach - a clean beach, and not too crowded, though the water is a little chilly for swimming

Marin is known for affluence and left-wing politics, even compared to the rest of the famously liberal and economically booming Bay Area. To give you an idea of the politics, Marin County's Fairfax is the only town in the nation with a Green Party majority in its town council. Meanwhile, the money in the area means that there's no shortage of fine restaurants and shopping, as well as a fair share of performances, festivals, and so on.

But the big draw for most visitors is Marin's nature: steep hills, rugged beaches, ancient forests, and state parks for hiking, biking, and camping.

• Marin County Civic Center in San Rafael, the only Frank Lloyd Wright-designed government building in the world
• Point Reyes Lighthouse at the end of Sir Francis Drake Boulevard in Point Reyes National Seashore
• Old-growth redwoods, the tallest living things on the planet, in Muir Woods
• Views of San Francisco across the bay from Sausalito

Marin has lots of beaches and mountains and is a great destination for outdoor activities like hiking, biking, kayaking, horseback riding, and sailing.

• Hike from Mill Valley to the peak of Mount Tamalpais, which has beautiful views of Marin and (on a clear day) San Francisco and the East Bay.
• The annual Dipsea Race is one of the oldest footraces in the U.S., a 7.5-mile (12-km) cross-country race on a scenic route from Mill Valley to Stinson Beach. Held on the second Sunday in June.

As a rule, lodging is expensive in Marin.

Hotels range from familiar chains to more distinctive local inns. Airbnbs are available too. If you want to sleep out in nature instead, there are a couple of hostels (one in the Marin Headlands and one at Point Reyes) and plenty of campsites.

Lower-income areas (the Canal in San Rafael and Marin City) can carry a slight risk for violent crime. In central San Rafael, exercise caution at night. In other parts of Marin, crime is generally not a significant concern.

Be careful to check for ticks after hiking in fields in the bay area. There is a high rate of lyme disease transmission in the Bay Area. If a bulls' eye rash develops at the tick bite site, immediately seek medical help and treatment with antibiotics.

Rattlesnakes, bobcats, and coyotes can be found in Marin, but they usually avoid humans, and you're unlikely to see one. If you do, don't bother them and they won't bother you.

The Marin County Free Library has branches scattered throughout the county's cities, with public computers and free Wi-Fi.

• 1 Sonoma County - Although its wineries may not be as famous as those in the Napa Valley, Marin County's northwestern neighbor is actually the largest wine producer in California Wine Country and home to over 250 wineries. More than seven million visitors each year explore the county's open spaces and beautiful coastline, including the big trees at Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve and the seaside town of Bodega Bay where Alfred Hitchco*ck's thriller The Birds was filmed. For those interested in early California history, Fort Ross is a state historic site that preserves a fur trading outpost that was operated by Russia from 1812-1841.
• 2 Napa County - Neighboring Marin County across the Bay to the northeast, America's preeminent wine-producing region attracts more than five million annual visitors to over two hundred wineries, often overcrowding the roadways on summer weekends. Travelers will find world-famous restaurants to complement the wines, and lodging that includes luxury spas, B&Bs, and upscale hotels. Those uninterested in viticulture may choose to enjoy the hot springs of Calistoga or hike/bike the many parks and trails in the area's beautiful rolling hills.
• 3 Solano County - Located across the Bay to the east of Marin County, Solano County is far more rural than the other Bay Area counties, and includes significant portions of the California Delta, as well as parts of San Pablo Bay. Two of the county's cities served as early state capitals: Vallejo was the capital in 1852 and again in 1853, while Benicia served as the capital from February 1853 until February 1854; today Benicia Capitol State Historic Park provides the opportunity for visitors to explore the Capitol building from that era.
• 4 Contra Costa County - Across the bay to the east, Contra Costa County is a primarily residential county that offers a vast array of food, shopping, and lodging options for Bay Area visitors. The landscape is dominated by Mount Diablo, a peak that provides excellent hiking opportunities and, on clear days, summit views that stretch for well over 100 miles in all directions. Other attractions include the John Muir Historic Site in Martinez, the estate of Nobel winning playwright Eugene O'Neill in Danville, and a WWII shipyard, now a national historic site, in Richmond.
• 5 Alameda County - Alameda County is located across the Bay to the southeast of Marin County. The densely populated northern part of the county is home to the many parks and museums of Oakland, the counter-cultural hub that is Berkeley, and even a historic aircraft carrier in Alameda. The county's southern region provides a chance to experience dozens of immigrant communities, particularly in Fremont, while the eastern part of the county is rural, with the windmills and rolling hills surrounding Livermore offering opportunities for outdoor activities.
• 6 San Francisco - The heart of the Bay Area, famous for its scenic beauty and unique culture