Marin Outdoors

Mt. Tam, Muir Woods, Point Reyes, legendary rides and the Pacific, all close to home

Last updated September 2026 · By Melissa DiVita, REALTOR®, Compass · DRE #01387955 · Marin native, in real estate since 2003

The outdoors is why a lot of people move to Marin. You don’t plan a trip to go hiking here. You walk out your door, or drive ten minutes. This is my guide to the best of it.

Hiking

Where	Why go	Good to know
Mt. Tamalpais State Park	East Peak views, redwood canyons, waterfalls; the Matt Davis, Steep Ravine and Dipsea loop (about 7 miles, 1,600 ft of climbing) is a Bay Area classic	No entry fee; parking fees at East Peak, Pantoll and Bootjack
Muir Woods	Old-growth redwoods	Drivers need a parking reservation ($10); walk or bike in without one. Entry $15 (16+).
Mt. Tam watershed	22,000 acres, 150+ miles of trails, lakes like Lagunitas and Bon Tempe	Leashed dogs OK; parking fee at Sky Oaks
Marin Headlands	Point Bonita Lighthouse, Hawk Hill, Rodeo Beach	Five minutes from the Golden Gate Bridge; many dog-friendly trails
Tennessee Valley	Easy, mostly level 3.4 miles round trip to a hidden beach	Great with kids
Point Reyes National Seashore	About 71,000 acres, 150 miles of trails, the 1870 lighthouse	Seasonal closures protect elephant seals
Ring Mountain	Bay views; the only Tiburon mariposa lilies in the world	Right between Tiburon and Corte Madera
Angel Island	A state park island reached by ferry from Tiburon	Bike the perimeter road; visit the Immigration Station

Road cycling

Paradise Loop: the ride around the Tiburon Peninsula, a classic Saturday morning loop.
Alpine Dam and the Seven Sisters: a hard, beautiful climb through Fairfax and over the ridge, often above the fog.
Point Reyes and Nicasio: about 56 miles from Mill Valley through ranch country and back along the coast.
The Marin County Bicycle Coalition has helped bring major bike infrastructure to the county, including paths along SMART.

Mountain biking

Marin is the birthplace of mountain biking. Riders raced down Repack Road above Fairfax starting in 1976, and the Marin Museum of Bicycling in Fairfax tells the story.

Camp Tamarancho (Fairfax): the best legal singletrack nearby; day or annual pass required
China Camp State Park (San Rafael): 15 miles of flowy bayside trails
Mt. Tam fire roads: bikes are allowed on fire roads (15 mph), not singletrack

Beaches and surfing

Stinson Beach: a long sandy beach with lifeguards in summer
Bolinas: a beginner-friendly surf break, with lessons from March to October
Muir Beach: a small cove next to the Pelican Inn
Drakes and Limantour in Point Reyes
Water temperatures run about 50 to 62°F, so wear a 4/3 wetsuit. Great white sightings occasionally close beaches; follow posted advisories.

More of my favorite hikes, town by town

Near	Hike	Why go
Tiburon	Old St. Hilary’s Open Space	Spring wildflowers on the ridge, the 1888 white church on the hill, and city and Golden Gate views. The county added about 110 acres of Tiburon Ridge in 2024.
Tiburon	Angel Island	Take the ferry from downtown Tiburon. The Perimeter Road is about 5 miles, and the climb to Mt. Livermore (788 ft) ends in a 360-degree view.
Larkspur / Kentfield	Dawn Falls, Baltimore Canyon	Redwoods, a year-round creek and a waterfall that’s best after winter rain.
Ross	Phoenix Lake loop	About 6.2 miles through redwoods and oaks from Natalie Coffin Greene Park. Parking is tight, so come early.
San Rafael	China Camp State Park	About 15 miles of trails on San Pablo Bay, salt marsh, and the old shrimp-fishing village.
Novato	Mount Burdell	The county’s largest open space preserve. The 1,558-ft summit has a stone wall built in the 1870s.
Novato	Olompali State Historic Park	Coast Miwok history, a 2.5-mile loop, and a longer climb to Mt. Burdell. No dogs or bikes on the trails.
Novato	Indian Valley Preserve	558 acres around College of Marin’s Indian Valley campus, with a waterfall trail in the rainy season.
Point Reyes	Tomales Point	The place to see tule elk. It’s 9.5 miles round trip to the point, or 2 miles to Windy Gap.
Point Reyes	Chimney Rock	A 1.75-mile ridge walk known for spring wildflowers, next to the elephant seal overlook (December to March).

Two things to know right now: the Matt Davis Spur Trail off Laurel Avenue in Stinson Beach closed permanently on September 1, 2026, though the main Matt Davis Trail is still open from the Stinson trailhead. And Muir Woods needs a parking reservation made ahead of time, with no cell service once you’re there.

A safety note on Alamere Falls: it’s famous, but the Park Service warns the path down to the falls is not a maintained trail, and people are hurt there almost every week. The safe route is about 6.5 miles each way from the Palomarin trailhead, then along Wildcat Beach at low tide only.

Tennessee Valley: the easy walk to the ocean

If I had to pick one outing for anyone new to Marin, it would be Tennessee Valley. From the trailhead at the end of Tennessee Valley Road, just off Highway 1 near Tam Junction, it’s about 1.7 miles on a wide, mostly level path through a quiet green valley to Tennessee Cove, a small beach between the cliffs. Much of the trail is partly paved and works for strollers and wheelchairs, and bikes are allowed on the main trail, with bike racks halfway down and at the cove. Dogs aren’t allowed on the main trail.

The shipwreck: the cove is named for the SS Tennessee, a steamer that ran aground here on March 6, 1853. All 550 passengers made it to the beach, along with fourteen chests of gold. On some low tides in winter you can still see pieces of the wreck at the south end of the beach.
The city that never happened: in the 1960s, developers planned a city called Marincello on these hills, with 50 apartment towers, hundreds of homes and room for up to 30,000 people. Sausalito sued, a court ruled in 1970 that it was improperly zoned, and in 1972 the land was sold to The Nature Conservancy and became part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The five-lane boulevard they started grading is now the Marincello Trail.
On horseback: Miwok Livery Stables, near the trailhead, offers guided rides, including rides over to Muir Beach.
Tips: the lot fills early on sunny weekends. Go on a weekday morning or late in the afternoon, and bring layers, because it’s often foggy and windy at the cove even when the valley is sunny.

Angel Island: Tiburon’s backyard island

I grew up looking at Angel Island from Belvedere, and it’s still one of my favorite days out. It’s the largest natural island in San Francisco Bay, and the whole island is a state park. From Tiburon you just walk down Main Street and get on the Angel Island Tiburon Ferry, and after a short ride across Raccoon Strait you’re in Ayala Cove.

Bike or walk the Perimeter Road. It loops the island in about 5 miles, with views of the Golden Gate, the city, the Bay Bridge and Mt. Tam. Bring your own bike on the ferry, or rent one on the island in season. There are more than 8 miles of bike trails and 13 miles of hiking trails.
Climb Mt. Livermore. The 788-foot summit has a 360-degree view of the whole Bay.
Visit the Immigration Station. From 1910 to 1940 it processed hundreds of thousands of immigrants, most of them from China under the Chinese Exclusion Act. It’s a powerful place to take older kids.
Stay over. The island has campsites and picnic areas, and seasonal tram tours and a cafe at Ayala Cove.
Good to know: dogs aren’t allowed on the island (service animals only), and the park is open 8 a.m. to sunset. Check the ferry schedule before you go, because it changes by season.

For buyers, this is part of what you get with a home in downtown Tiburon or Belvedere: an island state park that’s a walk and a ferry ride from your front door. See my Tiburon guide.

Waterfall hikes (go after it rains)

Most people don’t realize Marin has waterfalls, and good ones. The catch is timing. Our falls run from about December through early spring, and they’re at their best a day or two after a real storm. By late summer most of them are a trickle. When the rain comes, this is what I tell friends to do.

Waterfall	Near	The hike
Cataract Falls	Fairfax / Alpine Lake	The big one: nine cascades on Cataract Creek dropping through the redwoods above Alpine Lake. Start from the trailhead on Bolinas-Fairfax Road near the lake. It’s about 2 miles to the top, steep with lots of steps, or you can make a 7-mile loop of it.
Cascade Falls	Mill Valley	The easy one. Take Cascade Drive past Throckmorton, and it’s about a 20-minute walk along the creek in Cascade Canyon. Great with little kids.
Carson Falls	Fairfax	Four under-the-radar falls on the watershed, reached from the Azalea Hill lot on Bolinas-Fairfax Road. It’s about 3 miles to the falls over open ridge with big views.
Dawn Falls	Larkspur / Kentfield	Baltimore Canyon, redwoods and a creek the whole way.
Ken Harth Waterfall Trail	Novato, Indian Valley	A 2.2-mile loop in the Indian Valley Preserve, next to College of Marin’s Indian Valley campus. A quiet one most people outside Novato don’t know about.
Alamere Falls	Point Reyes	The famous one that falls onto the beach. Read my safety note above before you go.

A few tips: wear real shoes, because the trails get muddy and the rocks near the falls are slick. Parking on Bolinas-Fairfax Road fills up fast on a sunny weekend after rain, so go early. And check for road closures, since storms sometimes close that road.

China Camp: more than a bike park

China Camp State Park in San Rafael is about 1,500 acres of oak woodland, salt marsh and shoreline on San Pablo Bay, and it’s one of my favorite places to show people who think Marin is just Mt. Tam and the Golden Gate.

The history is the part I love. In the 1880s this was a Chinese shrimp-fishing village of roughly 500 people, and the fishermen here caught millions of pounds of bay shrimp a year. The village is on the National Register of Historic Places, and you can still walk through the old buildings and the pier at China Camp Village. Frank Quan, the last of the Quan family who fished and ran the store and cafe here, kept living in the village until he passed away in 2016 at 90.

Heritage Day: the park holds a Chinese-American Heritage Day each August, with lion dancers, acrobats and tai chi demonstrations.
Camping: Back Ranch Meadows is one of the closest campgrounds to most of Marin, and under the oaks it feels far away even though you’re minutes from Highway 101.
On the water: the marshes are part of the San Francisco Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, and it’s a calm place to launch a kayak at high tide.
On a bike or on foot: the trail network is gentle enough for beginners and pretty enough for everyone (see the rides section below).

The Dipsea: Marin’s most famous trail

The Dipsea runs about 7.5 miles from Old Mill Park in downtown Mill Valley, up and over the shoulder of Mt. Tam, through Muir Woods and down to Stinson Beach. It starts with the Dipsea Stairs: about 690 steps in three flights. The trail was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010.

The Dipsea Race was first run in 1905 and is held on the second Sunday in June. Runners get handicapped head starts of up to 25 minutes by age and gender, which is why winners have ranged from 8 to 72 years old. The field is capped at 1,500, and about twice that many apply, partly by lottery.
The Double Dipsea in late August goes Stinson to Mill Valley and back, 13.7 miles.
The Quad Dipsea on the Saturday after Thanksgiving is four crossings, about 28 miles, and it sells out every year.

Riding the Marin Headlands

It’s one of the most beautiful places to ride in the Bay Area, and it’s minutes from the Golden Gate Bridge.

On the road: the Headlands loop climbs out of Sausalito to Hawk Hill, where you look straight down on the Golden Gate Bridge and the city. The Park Service allows bikes on all park roads, but check for temporary closures before you go.
On a mountain bike: the classic loop from the Tennessee Valley lot is about 9.5 miles with 1,650 feet of climbing, up Marincello, down Bobcat through Gerbode Valley, and back over the Miwok. It includes Old Springs, a rare bike-legal singletrack in the Headlands.
Tennessee Valley is an easy, mostly level 1.7 miles to a hidden beach, and a nice way to end a ride.

More great rides

Camp Tamarancho, Fairfax. More than 480 acres of purpose-built singletrack on Boy Scouts land, including Endor, a downhill-only flow trail. You need a pass; day passes are sold online and at Sunshine Bicycle Center in town.
Pine Mountain loop, Fairfax. About 14 miles of rocky fire road with nearly 3,000 feet of climbing. It crosses Repack Road, where the first mountain bike race was run on October 21, 1976.
China Camp, San Rafael. An 11-mile loop that is almost all singletrack, and often called the best beginner singletrack in the Bay Area.
Stafford Lake Bike Park, Novato. 17 acres with a pump track, jump lines and a dual slalom course. Great for kids.
E-bikes: since July 2025, Class 1 e-bikes are allowed on Mt. Tam watershed fire roads wherever regular bikes are, under a pilot program.
Marin Museum of Bicycling, Fairfax. The Mountain Bike Hall of Fame, open Thursday to Sunday.
After the ride: The Junction at Tam Junction in Mill Valley, home of PizzaHacker, is an easy stop coming down from Mt. Tam or out of Tennessee Valley. It’s a big beer garden with about 30 taps and sourdough pizza, and it’s friendly to bikes, dogs and kids.

Annual races and rides

When	Event	Where
Late April	Mt. Tam Wild Boar Half Marathon & 10K	Rock Spring, Mt. Tam
Early May	Miwok 100K	Stinson Beach
Memorial Day	Tamalpa Memorial Day 5 Miler	Hosted by Tamalpa Runners
Second Sunday in June	Dipsea Race	Mill Valley to Stinson Beach
Early August	Marin Century (37 to 127 miles)	Stafford Lake, Novato
Mid-August	Headlands 50K	Muir Beach
Late August	Double Dipsea	Stinson Beach
Late August	Run Tiburon 5K and 10K	Tiburon
Labor Day	Mount Tam Hill Climb	Mill Valley Depot to the summit
Thanksgiving	Turkey trots	Corte Madera and Novato
Saturday after Thanksgiving	Quad Dipsea	Mill Valley

Runner silhouetted against a sunset over the water

Skateparks

Skatepark	Town	Good to know
McInnis Skatepark	San Rafael	The big one: 25,000 sq ft of concrete with a 10-foot-deep bowl, at McInnis Park on Smith Ranch Road. Helmet and elbow and knee pads required.
Novato Skate Park	Novato (Hamilton)	About 15,000 sq ft of concrete, with a street course around the outside and a 5-foot bowl.
Scotty Lapp Memorial Skatepark	Corte Madera	In Town Park. Rebuilt and expanded in 2025 with money raised by the Scotty Lapp Foundation, in memory of a Tiburon teen. Skateboards and inline skates only; helmet and pads required.
Memorial Park	San Anselmo	A neighborhood park with a half pipe, quarter pipes, rails and a grind box, rebuilt in 2021.
Mill Valley Skate Park	Mill Valley	A small park on Sycamore Avenue.
Mesa Skatepark	Bolinas	Concrete, with a mini-ramp and a street course.
Lagunitas Skate Park	San Geronimo Valley	At Lagunitas School; closed during school hours, and kids under 10 need an adult.
Marin City Skatepark	Marin City	Wood ramps on the old tennis courts, reopened in 2018 with help from Proof Lab.

Dog parks and dog-friendly beaches

Marin is a dog town. The rules change a lot from one park to the next, though, and it’s easy to get a ticket, so here’s the short version.

Dog park	Town	Good to know
Remington Dog Park	Sausalito	Fenced and off-leash, with a small-dog area, at 100 Ebbtide Ave. Open since 1991 and run by a volunteer nonprofit.
Mill Valley Dog Park	Mill Valley	Off-leash, in Bayfront Park next to the bike path, with Mt. Tam views across Richardson Bay.
Field of Dogs	San Rafael	Big fenced field across from the Civic Center, with a separate small-dog section, water and benches.
Red Hill Dog Park	San Anselmo	Fully fenced and double-gated, with water fountains and picnic tables.
Dogbone Meadow	Novato	Off-leash, on Novato Boulevard near O’Hair Park, with a grassy middle and a dirt track around it.

In Tiburon, dogs must be leashed at Blackie’s Pasture, on the Old Rail Trail and McKegney Green, at Shoreline Park and in open space. People are surprised by that one, because the path along Richardson Bay is where everyone walks their dog.

Beach	Dog rules
Rodeo Beach, Marin Headlands	Off-leash under voice and sight control along the shoreline; leashes above the dunes and in the parking and picnic areas.
Muir Beach	Off-leash on the sand from the water to the top of the dunes; leashes inland and in the parking lot.
Upton Beach, Stinson	Leashed dogs at the north end, by the houses. Dogs aren’t allowed on the main national park beach.
Point Reyes: Kehoe, Limantour, North and South Beach	Leashed dogs only. Wildlife closures apply, so check before you go.

On the trails, leashed dogs are welcome on the Mt. Tam watershed and on many Marin Headlands trails, and Oakwood Valley has an off-leash section. Dogs aren’t allowed in Muir Woods.

Where to live if you love the outdoors

This is the real reason I wrote this guide. Where you buy in Marin decides which of these places are part of your week and which are a Saturday outing. Here’s how I help buyers think about it:

Mt. Tam and the redwoods: Mill Valley and the Ross Valley (Ross, San Anselmo, Fairfax), where trails start at the end of the street.
Tennessee Valley, the Headlands and the beaches: Tam Valley, Homestead Valley and Sausalito put Tennessee Valley and Muir Beach minutes away. For the beach itself, look at Stinson, Muir Beach or Bolinas.
Road riding: Tiburon, Fairfax and Mill Valley put the classic routes at your door.
Mountain biking: Fairfax and San Anselmo, close to Tamarancho and Pine Mountain, or Terra Linda and Santa Venetia for China Camp.
Kids who skate: San Rafael and Novato have the biggest parks, and Corte Madera’s rebuilt park is central.
Dog owners: check the leash rules for your street’s nearest park before you fall in love with a house. Sausalito and southern Mill Valley are close to off-leash parks and Rodeo and Muir beaches.

I grew up here, and this is the part of Marin I love showing people. Tell me how you like to spend a Saturday, and I’ll show you the towns that fit. See my town guides to compare.

Financing in Marin. Many Marin homes need jumbo financing: the 2026 conforming limit here is $1,249,125, so with 20% down, homes above about $1.56 million usually mean a jumbo loan. My husband Michael DiVita is a mortgage broker and owner of DiVita Home Finance, with access to 40+ wholesale lenders, and he’s a great resource for jumbo and bank-statement loans. Learn more at mycahomeloan.com.
Disclosure: Michael DiVita is my husband. You are free to choose any lender; using DiVita Home Finance is never required, and I receive no referral fee.

Frequently asked questions

Where should I live in Marin if I love hiking?

For Mt. Tam and the redwoods, look at Mill Valley and the Ross Valley towns of Ross, San Anselmo and Fairfax, where trails often start at the end of the street. For the Marin Headlands, Tennessee Valley and Muir Beach, look at Tam Valley, Homestead Valley and Sausalito.

How long is the Tennessee Valley trail?

It’s about 1.7 miles each way on a wide, mostly level path from the trailhead at the end of Tennessee Valley Road to Tennessee Cove. Much of it is partly paved and works for strollers, bikes are allowed on the main trail, and dogs are not.

Which Marin beaches allow dogs off leash?

At Rodeo Beach in the Marin Headlands and at Muir Beach, dogs can be off leash under voice and sight control on the sand, and must be leashed in the parking and picnic areas. Point Reyes beaches like Kehoe and Limantour allow leashed dogs only.

Where are the waterfalls in Marin?

The best-known are Cataract Falls near Alpine Lake, Cascade Falls in Mill Valley, Carson Falls off Bolinas-Fairfax Road, Dawn Falls in Larkspur, the Ken Harth Waterfall Trail in Novato’s Indian Valley, and Alamere Falls in Point Reyes. They run best from about December through early spring, after rain.

Sources

Want a home near the trails?

Send me a note through my contact form. Tell me how you like to spend a Saturday, and I’ll suggest where to look.

Contact Melissa