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Mount Tamalpais (; ;
Miwok The Miwok (also spelled Miwuk, Mi-Wuk, or Me-Wuk) are members of four linguistically related Native American groups indigenous to what is now Northern California, who traditionally spoke one of the Miwok languages in the Utian family. The word ...
: ''Támal Pájiṣ''), known locally as Mount Tam, is a peak in
Marin County Marin County is a county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and largest city is San Rafael. Marin County is a ...
,
California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...
, United States, often considered symbolic of Marin County. Much of Mount Tamalpais is protected within public lands such as Mount Tamalpais State Park, the Marin Municipal Water District
watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...
, and
National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government within the United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of ...
land, such as
Muir Woods "Muir" is the Scots word for "moorland", and Scots Gaelic for "sea", and is the etymological origin of the surname and Clan Muir/Mure/Moore in Scotland and other parts of the world. Places United States * Muir, Willits, California, a former uninc ...
.


Toponym

The name ''Tamalpais'' was first recorded in 1845. It comes from the
Coast Miwok Coast Miwok are an indigenous people that was the second-largest group of Miwok people. Coast Miwok inhabited the general area of modern Marin County and southern Sonoma County in Northern California, from the Golden Gate north to Duncans Po ...
name for this mountain, '' támal pájiṣ'', meaning "west hill". Various different folk etymologies also exist, but they are unsubstantiated. One holds that it comes from the Spanish ''Tamal país'', meaning "Tamal country," ''Tamal'' being the name that the Spanish missionaries gave to the
Coast Miwok Coast Miwok are an indigenous people that was the second-largest group of Miwok people. Coast Miwok inhabited the general area of modern Marin County and southern Sonoma County in Northern California, from the Golden Gate north to Duncans Po ...
people. Another holds that the name is the Coast Miwok word for "sleeping maiden" and is taken from a " Legend of the Sleeping Maiden" Supposedly, the legend is that the mountain's contour reflects the reclining profile of a young Miwok girl who was saved from a rival tribe by the shuddering of the mountain. However, this legend actually has no basis in Coast Miwok myth and is instead a piece of Victorian-era
apocrypha Apocrypha are works, usually written, of unknown authorship or of doubtful origin. The word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to writings which were kept secret because they were the vehicles of esoteric knowledge considered ...
.Robertson, David. (1991). Mt. Tamalpais: The Legendary Birth of a Holy Mountain. ''California History'' 70(2):146–161. The "Sleeping Lady" story was the creation of playwright Dan Totheroh, who wrote the first play performed at Mt. Tamalpais' Mountain Theater about Tamelpa, the Mountain Queen. Another suggests a tie to the Asian origins of the Miwoks, where "pais" means place and "tamal" is a tribe in Siberia.


Geography

Mount Tamalpais is the highest peak in the Marin Hills, which are part of the Northern California Coast Ranges. The elevation at the West Peak, where a radar dome currently stands, is between and It stood over before the summit was flattened for the radar dome construction. The East Peak is at . The mountain is clearly visible from the city of
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
and the
East Bay The East Bay is the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area and includes cities along the eastern shores of the San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. The region has grown to include inland communities in Alameda and Contra Costa countie ...
region. The majority of the mountain is contained in protected public lands, including Mount Tamalpais State Park, Muir Woods National Monument, and the Mount Tamalpais Watershed. It adjoins the
Golden Gate National Recreation Area The Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) is a U.S. National Recreation Area protecting of ecologically and historically significant landscapes surrounding the San Francisco Bay Area. Much of the park is land formerly used by the United ...
(which in turn adjoins
Point Reyes National Seashore Point Reyes National Seashore is a park preserve located on the Point Reyes Peninsula in Marin County, California. As a national seashore, it is maintained by the US National Park Service as an important nature preserve. Some existing agricul ...
) as well as several Marin County Open Space Preserves. This provides nearly of continuous publicly accessible open space. Some of the lower slopes of Mount Tamalpais fall within several cities and unincorporated communities of Marin County, including Mill Valley,
Tamalpais-Homestead Valley Tamalpais-Homestead Valley is a census-designated place (CDP) in Marin County, California, United States. The population was 11,492 at the 2020 census. Geography Tamalpais-Homestead Valley is located at . It is bordered by Mill Valley to the nort ...
,
Stinson Beach Stinson Beach is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Marin County, California, on the west coast of the United States. Stinson Beach is located east-southeast of Bolinas, at an elevation of . The population of the St ...
, and Kentfield. These areas are generally developed, consisting of mostly low-density single-family homes.


Natural history


Geology and soils

Like the rest of the California Coast Ranges, Mount Tamalpais is the result of uplift, buckling, and folding of the
North American plate The North American Plate is a tectonic plate covering most of North America, Cuba, the Bahamas, extreme northeastern Asia, and parts of Iceland and the Azores. With an area of , it is the Earth's second largest tectonic plate, behind the Pacifi ...
as it slides along the
Pacific Plate The Pacific Plate is an oceanic tectonic plate that lies beneath the Pacific Ocean. At , it is the largest tectonic plate. The plate first came into existence 190 million years ago, at the triple junction between the Farallon, Phoenix, and I ...
near the San Andreas fault zone. In 2004, a team of Penn State geoscientists suggested that a
blind thrust fault A thrust fault is a break in the Earth's crust, across which older rocks are pushed above younger rocks. Thrust geometry and nomenclature Reverse faults A thrust fault is a type of reverse fault that has a dip of 45 degrees or less. If ...
, like the one that caused the infamous
Northridge earthquake The 1994 Northridge earthquake was a moment 6.7 (), blind thrust earthquake that occurred on January 17, 1994, at 4:30:55 a.m. PST in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles. The quake had a duration of approximatel ...
, lies beneath Mount Tamalpais. This idea was partly based on the steepness of Mount Tamalpais and of nearby Bolinas Ridge, such steepness on the visible surface often being the result of blind thrust faults. Another reason for the suggestion was that the San Andreas Fault creeps more slowly south of Mount Tamalpais than it does in its sections north of Mount Tamalpais and in the
Olema Valley Olema Valley is a gorge formed by the San Andreas Fault in rural west Marin County, Northern California. The valley runs from the southern end of Tomales Bay through Point Reyes Station, the town of Olema, and Dogtown, to the Bolinas Lagoon, which ...
, and that the existence of a blind thrust fault may explain the different creeping velocities. If a blind thrust fault does exist under Mount Tamalpais, and if it ruptures, it could be potentially devastating to the North Bay, San Francisco, and any other nearby locale resting on unstable earth and loose fill. Major Mount Tamalpais rockforms include
serpentine Serpentine may refer to: Shapes * Serpentine shape, a shape resembling a serpent * Serpentine curve, a mathematical curve * Serpentine, a type of riding figure Science and nature * Serpentine subgroup, a group of minerals * Serpentinite, a ...
, particularly evident in outcroppings near the summit and on the north side. A number of serpentine
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...
plants grow in the serpentine soils in this part of the mountain.


Hydrology

Since the steep slopes of Mount Tamalpais force out moisture from passing storms and/or fog, the mountain supports several year-round streams like
Redwood Creek Sequoioideae, popularly known as redwoods, is a subfamily of coniferous trees within the family Cupressaceae. It includes the largest and tallest trees in the world. Description The three redwood subfamily genera are '' Sequoia'' from coasta ...
on the southern face of the mountain down into
Muir Woods "Muir" is the Scots word for "moorland", and Scots Gaelic for "sea", and is the etymological origin of the surname and Clan Muir/Mure/Moore in Scotland and other parts of the world. Places United States * Muir, Willits, California, a former uninc ...
. The steep southeastern slopes of Mount Tamalpais drain to Arroyo Corte Madera del Presidio, which in turn discharges to Richardson Bay.


Climate

With its height, various faces, and proximity to the ocean and bay, the mountain contains many
microclimate A microclimate (or micro-climate) is a local set of atmospheric conditions that differ from those in the surrounding areas, often with a slight difference but sometimes with a substantial one. The term may refer to areas as small as a few squa ...
s, ranging from cool and foggy in lower ocean-facing valleys with their redwood forests, to hot and dry on the manzanita slopes, cool and breezy at the summit, and shady on the heavily Douglas-fir-forested north slopes near Alpine Lake. Annual precipitation around Mount Tamalpais varies greatly from around 27.5–31.5 inches (700–800 mm) in the drier, eastern foothills to about 59 inches (1,500 mm) near the Bolinas Ridge, close to the
Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...
. Both Mount Tamalpais and the Bolinas Ridge force moisture out of the air efficiently, since the air is cooled rapidly as it ascends the steep mountain faces and thus Mount Tamalpais's western part is heavily forested with tall redwoods and Douglas firs. The same fact holds for the steep, south-facing bowl canyon that Muir Woods is located in, with precipitation in Redwood Canyon at around 39.4–47.2 inches (1,000–1,200 mm). As in
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, most of the annual precipitation falls during the winter months. During cold, wet winter storms, the mountain also regularly gets some snowfall, sometimes as much as overnight, as observed in February 2001, March 2006, and February 2011. The region sometimes gets hit with strong Pacific storms that may topple trees, and bring hurricane-force winds to exposed, barren areas like the Bolinas Ridge and the summit of Mount Tamalpais. In summer, the area gets almost no precipitation, except for fog drip that occurs in Muir Woods, the Bolinas Ridge and the western end of Mount Tamalpais, where summer fog and oceanic breezes are more prevalent. In contrast, the eastern foothills, sheltered from the oceanic breezes and fog, are drier, since the foothills force little moisture out of the air. This leads to the fact that the eastern slopes contain only oak, pine,
chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterrane ...
shrub, coastal sage scrub, grassland and sparse Douglas-fir forest. Coastal sage scrub also occurs on some of the exposed coastal slopes. Temperatures on top of Mount Tamalpais are generally somewhat cooler than places next to the San Francisco Bay or the ocean due to elevation. In summer, however, the top of Mount Tamalpais may actually be warmer than the middle, foggy elevations due to a thermal inversion. The summer fog and breezes make locations on Mount Tamalpais, closer to the ocean, cooler than the blazing hot interior valleys.


Plant communities

Hardwood woodland types are generally subtypes of
California oak woodland California oak woodland is a plant community found throughout the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion of California in the United States and northwestern Baja California in Mexico. Oak woodland is widespread at lower elevations in coa ...
, including oak-bay-madrone forest, oak woodland, and
oak savanna An oak savanna is a type of savanna—or lightly forested grassland—where oaks (''Quercus ''spp.) are the dominant trees. The terms "oakery" or "woodlands" are also used commonly, though the former is more prevalent when referencing the Medite ...
h. Oak-bay-madrone forests are found in areas with moderate moisture and particularly favor north-facing slopes. They are dominated by one or more of three hardwood tree species – Coast Live Oak, California bay, and
madrone ''Arbutus'' is a genus of 12 accepted speciesAct. Bot. Mex no.99 Pátzcuaro abr. 2012.''Arbutus bicolor''/ref> of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae, native to warm temperate regions of the Mediterranean, western Europe, the Canary Isla ...
. Coast live oak tends to be dominant in somewhat drier areas, while bay is more dominant in shadier, moister areas; madrone is abundant in certain soil types in both moist and dry spots. Oak woodlands are a more open-canopy forest dominated by coast live oak, while oak
savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...
has a completely open canopy and represents a mixture of coast live oak woodland and grassland.Shufford WD, Timossi IC. (1989). ''Plant Communities of Marin County''. Sacramento, CA:
California Native Plant Society The California Native Plant Society (CNPS) is a California environmental non-profit organization (501(c)3) that seeks to increase understanding of California's native flora and to preserve it for future generations. The mission of CNPS is to con ...
.
The great diversity of microclimates on Mount Tamalpais ensures a wide variety of plant communities as well. Plant communities on the mountain include various types of
hardwood Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood (which comes fro ...
and coniferous forests, coastal scrub,
chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterrane ...
,
grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...
, and
wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...
vegetation. Wholly or partially coniferous forest types are found in the moistest areas of Mount Tamalpais. Coast redwood forests are restricted to areas where the particular ecological needs of redwood are met: areas characterized by high overall moisture, low elevations below the fog line, and deep soils. Muir Woods is the most extensive and best-known redwood forest of the Mount Tamalpais area. Mixed evergreen forests of various combinations of tanoak,
madrone ''Arbutus'' is a genus of 12 accepted speciesAct. Bot. Mex no.99 Pátzcuaro abr. 2012.''Arbutus bicolor''/ref> of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae, native to warm temperate regions of the Mediterranean, western Europe, the Canary Isla ...
,
coast The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...
and canyon live oak, and Douglas-fir are found in moist areas on middle to high elevations on the mountain. Very moist areas of mixed evergreen forest may also include bay, redwood, and California torreya. Areas in which mixed evergreen forests are predominant include areas of Fairfax-Bolinas Road and Ridgecrest Boulevard and around
Alpine Lake Alpine lakes are classified as lakes at high altitudes in mountainous zones, usually near or above the tree line, with extended periods of ice cover. These lakes are commonly formed from glacial activity (either current or in the past) but can a ...
. Various kinds of
scrub Scrub(s) may refer to: * Scrub, low shrub and grass characteristic of scrubland * Scrubs (clothing), worn by medical staff * ''Scrubs'' (TV series), an American television program * Scrubs (occupation), also called "scrub tech," "scrub nurse," ...
communities are also widespread. Low-elevation areas below the fog line with relatively low overall rainfall or thin soils are often the site of a
northern coastal scrub Northern coastal scrub is a scrubland plant community of California and Oregon. It occurs along the Pacific Coast from Point Sur on the Central California coast in Monterey County, California, to southern Oregon. It frequently forms a landscape mo ...
community characterized by
coastal sage ''Artemisia californica'', also known as California sagebrush, is a species of western North American shrub in the sunflower family. Description ''Artemisia californica'' branches from the base and grows out from there, becoming rounded; it gro ...
- coyote brush association, with lesser amounts of poison-oak, bush monkeyflower, California
blackberry The blackberry is an edible fruit produced by many species in the genus ''Rubus'' in the family Rosaceae, hybrids among these species within the subgenus ''Rubus'', and hybrids between the subgenera ''Rubus'' and ''Idaeobatus''. The taxonomy of ...
, western bracken fern, and various species of
grasses Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns a ...
and forbs.
Chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterrane ...
is predominant in areas characterized by thin, rocky soils and little moisture. Two main types of chaparral are found the mountain chamise chaparral and manzanita chaparral. Chamise is dominant in the hottest, most
xeric Deserts and xeric shrublands are a biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Deserts and xeric (ancient Greek xērós, “dry") shrublands form the largest terrestrial biome, covering 19% of Earth's land surface area. Ecoregions in this h ...
areas of the mountain, particularly on south- and west-facing slopes, while manzanita is dominant in other xeric areas, particularly on east-facing slopes and forest borders. Areas of mixed chamise-manzanita chaparral occur in relatively more
mesic Mesic may refer to: * Mesic, North Carolina, a town in the United States * Mesic habitat, a type of habitat See also *Mesić (disambiguation) *Mešić Mešić is a Bosnian surname, a patronymic derived from the masculine given name '' Meša'', it ...
areas; ''
Ceanothus ''Ceanothus'' is a genus of about 50–60 species of nitrogen-fixing shrubs and small trees in the buckthorn family (Rhamnaceae). Common names for members of this genus are buckbrush, California lilac, soap bush, or just ceanothus. ''"Ceanothus"' ...
'' and dwarfed interior live oak may also predominate on such sites. Areas in which various kinds of chaparral communities are dominant include areas along Old Railroad Grade. Grassland areas are also common on Mount Tamalpais. Native perennial bunchgrass species were originally dominant, but most of these grasslands are now dominated by
invasive Invasive may refer to: *Invasive (medical) procedure *Invasive species *Invasive observation, especially in reference to surveillance *Invasively progressive spread of disease from one organ in the body to another, especially in reference to cancer ...
annual grasses of European origin. Native grasslands, still found in a few isolated areas, are of two types. Northern coastal prairie is found below the fog line and is characterized by a ''
Festuca ''Festuca'' (fescue) is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the grass family Poaceae (subfamily Pooideae). They are evergreen or herbaceous perennial tufted grasses with a height range of and a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on e ...
''-''
Danthonia ''Danthonia'' is a genus of Eurasian, North African, and American plants in the grass family. Members of this genus are sometimes referred to as oatgrass, but that common name is not restricted to this genus. Other common names include heathgr ...
'' association, while valley grassland, found in drier areas, is dominated by '' Nassella pulchra'', with '' Elymus glaucus'' and '' Leymus triticoides'' also being common. Wetland vegetation types found on Mount Tamalpais include coastal riparian forests, wet meadows, and some marsh areas. Coastal riparian forest is predominant along the valley streams of Mount Tamalpais. Red and white
alder Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few sp ...
('' Alnus rubra'' and '' Alnus rhombifolia'') and arroyo and yellow
willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist ...
(''
Salix lasiolepis ''Salix lasiolepis'' (arroyo willow) is a species of willow native to western North America. Distribution The core range of the arroyo willow includes most of California, including the California Coast Ranges, Arizona, Klamath Mountains, Peninsu ...
'' and '' S. lasiandra'') are dominant in these types of woodland, with bigleaf maple ('' Acer macrophyllum''), box-elder ('' Acer negundo'' ssp. ''californicum''), and California bay also being common. Wet meadows are present in several high-elevation spots on the mountain,Howell JT. (1970). ''Marin Flora'' (2nd ed). Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. while High Marsh represents a rare example of a
marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found a ...
community on the mountain. Serpentine soils have a high rate of
endemism Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...
and are the site of several unique subtypes of the above plant communities. Serpentine grasslands are some of the few grasslands in which native perennial grasses are still relatively dominant. Serpentine chaparral forms a unique plant community, dominated by dwarfed leather oak (''
Quercus durata ''Quercus durata'', commonly known as leather oak, is a species of oak endemic to California, common in the California Coast Ranges, Coast Ranges and the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. The common name "leather oak" is derived from the leathery t ...
''), Jepson ceanothus ('' Ceanothus jepsonii''), Tamalpais manzanita ('), and Sargent cypress (''
Cupressus sargentii ''Cupressus sargentii'' is a species of conifer in the family Cupressaceae known by the common name Sargent's cypress. It is endemic to California, where it is known from Mendocino County southwards to Santa Barbara County. This taxon is lim ...
''). On the upper slopes of the mountain, small groves of Sargent cypress trees up to 50 feet (15 m) tall can be found in serpentine areas. Several species of
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...
plants are found only on serpentine soils; these species may be widespread, but only occur on serpentine soils, or the may be more restricted, only growing in a few other places besides Mount Tamalpais, or may even be restricted just to Mount Tamalpais. The Mount Tamalpais thistle ('' Cirsium hydrophilum'' var. ''vaseyi''), for example, is a rare variety of thistle known only from the serpentine seeps of the mountain. The Mount Tamalpais jewelflower (''
Streptanthus batrachopus ''Streptanthus batrachopus'' is a rare species of flowering plant in the mustard family known by the common name Mt. Tamalpais jewelflower. It is endemic to Marin County, California, where it is known only from Mt. Tamalpais and surrounding terr ...
'') is also limited to the area.


Wildlife

Mount Tamalpais provides one of the last remaining
wildlife Wildlife refers to undomesticated animal species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wild in an area without being introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous to game: those birds and mammals that were hunted f ...
refuges in the Bay Area.
Urbanization Urbanization (or urbanisation) refers to the population shift from rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. It is predominantly t ...
has invaded wildlife habitat, forcing many
fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as ''biota''. Zoo ...
in southern Marin County to retreat up onto Mount Tamalpais,
Muir Woods "Muir" is the Scots word for "moorland", and Scots Gaelic for "sea", and is the etymological origin of the surname and Clan Muir/Mure/Moore in Scotland and other parts of the world. Places United States * Muir, Willits, California, a former uninc ...
, and the Bolinas Ridge. A wide variety of avifauna, amphibians,
arthropod Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arth ...
s and mammals are found on Mount Tamalpais, including a number of rare and endangered species. Nonetheless, Mt. Tamalpais and the neighboring Golden Gate Recreation Area together encompass over 115 square miles (298 square kilometers) of land, forming one of the largest preserved parklands located near a U.S. urban center.


History

The
Coast Miwok Coast Miwok are an indigenous people that was the second-largest group of Miwok people. Coast Miwok inhabited the general area of modern Marin County and southern Sonoma County in Northern California, from the Golden Gate north to Duncans Po ...
are said to have believed that an evil witch dwelled at the top of Mount Tamalpais and therefore never set foot on the peak. Tamalpais was home to the Mount Tamalpais and Muir Woods Railway, also known as "The Crookedest Railroad in the World," a railroad which wound its way from downtown Mill Valley up to the mountain's East Peak, starting in 1896. An auto road was constructed to the peak as automobiles gained popularity in the 1920s. The 8-mile
standard-gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in E ...
railroad used conventional rails but required mountain-climbing geared steam locomotives and operated from 1896 to 1930. Early wireless towers were constructed on the mountain in the early 20th century, only to be destroyed by one of the periodic hurricane-force windstorms. In late November 1944, a US Navy plane crashed into the mountain after developing engine trouble shortly after takeoff from Alameda Naval Air Station. All eight aviators onboard were killed. The U.S. Weather Bureau operated a weather station at the site of the now defunct Mill Valley Air Force Station for many years. The peak and its surrounding areas are the birthplace of
mountain biking Mountain biking is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and p ...
in the 1970s, where early mountain bikers such as Gary Fisher, Charlie Kelly, and Joe Breeze were active. British philosopher Alan Watts owned a cabin on Mount Tamalpais later in his life where he ultimately died in his sleep of heart failure on November 16, 1973. In 1979 and 1980, Mount Tamalpais was the scene of a series of murders of hikers carried out by
serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...
David Carpenter, also known as the "Trailside Killer." On top of the East Peak is a
fire lookout A fire lookout (partly also called a fire watcher) is a person assigned the duty to look for fire from atop a building known as a fire lookout tower. These towers are used in remote areas, normally on mountain tops with high elevation and ...
station, staffed during the summer months by volunteers with the
Marin County Fire Department The Marin County Fire Department (MCFD) is the principal fire department for the county of Marin. History The first formal fire department in what is now Marin County was The Tamalpais Forestry Association, formed around the turn of the 19th c ...
.


Recreation

Mount Tamalpais is a hiking, picnicking, mountain and road cycling, horseback riding, and hang-gliding destination for residents of the
San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...
, with over of trails and fire roads. With numerous trailheads, a well-networked trail and road system, and hikes of greatly varying length and difficulty, the mountain offers a compelling range of attractions. Marin Municipal Water District maintains several reservoirs on the north slopes of Mount Tamalpais, including
Alpine Lake Alpine lakes are classified as lakes at high altitudes in mountainous zones, usually near or above the tree line, with extended periods of ice cover. These lakes are commonly formed from glacial activity (either current or in the past) but can a ...
, Kent Lake, Bon Tempe Lake, Phoenix Lake, and Lake Lagunitas. The western slopes of the mountain descend to the Pacific Ocean at
Stinson Beach Stinson Beach is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Marin County, California, on the west coast of the United States. Stinson Beach is located east-southeast of Bolinas, at an elevation of . The population of the St ...
. The annual Dipsea Race traverses the mountain from Mill Valley to Stinson Beach. Though backpack camping isn't allowed, walk-in camping exists at the Pantoll and Bootjack campgrounds. The historic Bootjack Campground was originally established in the early 1920s by the Tamalpais Conservation Corps, and the
Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part o ...
further refined the campground facilities in the 1930s. Showing substantial signs of overuse, the campground was closed by State Parks in 1969. The Bootjack Campground and Trail were reopened on Thursday, June 5, 2014. Trailhead parking within Mt. Tamalpais State Park is available generally with a self-service fee ($8). The scenic Ridgecrest Blvd. running along the ridgeline between the Rock Spring trailhead and Fairfax-Bolinas Road, with panoramic views of the summit, Pacific,
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, Bolinas, and
Point Reyes Point Reyes (, meaning "Point of the Kings") is a prominent cape and popular Northern California tourist destination on the Pacific coast. Located in Marin County, it is approximately west-northwest of San Francisco. The term is often applied t ...
, is featured in many automobile and other advertisements, as well as being the local hang-gliding launch point. Mount Tam is also home to the Edgewood Botanic Garden and to the Sidney B. Cushing Amphitheatre where Broadway musical productions are performed every year by the Mountain Play Association. Monthly astronomy viewings and lectures are held at Rock Spring and Mountain Theater April through October by Mt Tam Astronomy.


Hiking and mountain biking

Since the Mount Tamalpais area contains large expanses of undeveloped, natural land, there are many trails and trailheads that criss-cross the area. Many of these trails are used by hikers and bikers seeking refuge from the urban landscape of the San Francisco Bay Area. Some of these trails, including the mountaintop or ridgetop trails, have views of the San Francisco Bay and Pacific Ocean. Other trails, usually lower elevation valley trails, lead into natural, dense groves of mature Douglas-fir and redwood trees, clear, open grassland, and shrublands. All roads leading to the many trailheads around Mount Tamalpais are usually open, but during fire season some of these roads may be closed due to high fire risk. The many roads, paved and unpaved, that cross the Mount Tamalpais region are used by mountain bikers, especially on weekends. Mount Tamalpais played an instrumental role in the birth of
mountain biking Mountain biking is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and p ...
many years ago, with pioneer frame builders such as Tom Ritchey, Gary Fisher, and Joe Breeze setting up shops in nearby. There has been considerable controversy over trail access for mountain bikes, both in terms of
environmental impact Environmental issues are effects of human activity on the biophysical environment, most often of which are harmful effects that cause environmental degradation. Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment on t ...
and the safety of other trail users. As a result, bicycles have been banned from the majority of narrow, single-track trails, though bicycles are still allowed on fire roads. The fire roads on Mt. Tam are mixed-use and they are commonly used as running, hiking, biking and horseback riding routes. The Dipsea Race, the oldest cross-country
trail running Trail running is a sport-activity which combines running, and, where there are steep gradients, hiking, that is run "on any unpaved surface". It is similar to both mountain and fell running (also known as hill running). Mountain running may, ...
race in the U.S., is held in the area and part of the trail traverses the mountain from Mill Valley to Stinson Beach.


Art

Mount Tamalpais has been a common subject in California landscape painting. Painters who have made Tamalpais the subject of one or more paintings include Etel Adnan, Harry Cassie Best,
Albert Bierstadt Albert Bierstadt (January 7, 1830 – February 18, 1902) was a German-American painter best known for his lavish, sweeping landscapes of the American West. He joined several journeys of the Westward Expansion to paint the scenes. He was not ...
, Norton Bush, Russell Chatham, Edwin Deakin, Percy Gray, Ransome Gillett Holdridge, William Keith, Tom Killion, William Marple, William Birch McMurtrie, Gilbert Munger,
Julian Rix Julian Rix (1850–1903) was an American landscape artist. Biography A native of Vermont, he lived in California where his artwork caught the attention of silk tycoon, William Ryle, of Paterson, New Jersey. Ryle financed Rix's work and many of ...
, Frederick Schafer, Jules Tavernier,
Nancy Wallace Nancy G. Wallace is an American Republican politician from Evanston, Wyoming Evanston is a city in and the county seat of Uinta County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 12,359 at the 2010 census. It is located near the border wi ...
,
Thaddeus Welch Thaddeus Welch (July 14, 1844 – December 19, 1919) was an American landscape painter. Born in Missouri and reared in Oregon, he was trained at the Royal Academy in Munich, Germany. His paintings of Marin County, California became popular among ...
,
Ludmilla Welch Ludmila, Ludmilla, or Lyudmila (Cyrillic: Людмила, ''Lyudmila'') may refer to: People * Ludmila (given name) a Slavic female given name (including a list of people with the name) * Ludmila da Silva (born 1994), Brazilian footballer, com ...
,
Virgil Williams Virgil Williams is an American television producer and writer. He began working in television as a writer for '' 24'' and wrote a single episode of the first season in 2002. He was hired as a story editor for ''24'' day 2 in fall 2002. He wrote t ...
, Jack Wisby, Theodore Wores, and Raymond Dabb Yelland.


Theater

Broadway musicals are performed outdoors, several times each summer, in the stone open air
Cushing Memorial Amphitheatre The Sidney B. Cushing Memorial Amphitheatre, also known as the Cushing Memorial Amphitheatre or simply the Mountain Theatre, is a 4,000-seat open-air venue in Mount Tamalpais State Park, in Marin County, California, United States. History Begin ...
on the southern side of Mt. Tam.


Popular culture

*Tamalpais is referenced in the state song of California, " I Love You, California". *
Beat Generation The Beat Generation was a literary subculture movement started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced American culture and politics in the post-war era. The bulk of their work was published and popularized by Silent Generat ...
writer
Jack Kerouac Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac (; March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969), known as Jack Kerouac, was an American novelist and poet who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Of French-Canadian anc ...
depicted scenes of Mount Tamalpais in '' The Dharma Bums'' (1958). *Another Beat Generation writer,
Gary Snyder Gary Snyder (born May 8, 1930) is an American poet, essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist. His early poetry has been associated with the Beat Generation and the San Francisco Renaissance and he has been described as the "poet laureate o ...
, in his book ''Mountains and Rivers Without End'', (Counterpoint, 1996), has a poem entitled "The Circumambulation of Mt. Tamalpais." * Track 3 of
David Crosby David Van Cortlandt Crosby (born August 14, 1941) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. In addition to his solo career, he was a founding member of both the Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash. Crosby joined the Byrds in 1964. They got ...
's first solo record release ('' If I Could Only Remember My Name'', 1970), is titled "
Tamalpais High (At About 3) ''If I Could Only Remember My Name'' is the debut solo album by American singer-songwriter David Crosby, released in February 1971 on Atlantic Records. Guests on the album include Jerry Garcia, Graham Nash, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and other pr ...
". * Mt. Tamalpais was the "undisclosed" filming location of the jungle scenes in the 2011 "
Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the thi ...
at Play" television commercial. *In the '' Percy Jackson & the Olympians'' series by
Rick Riordan Richard Russell Riordan Junior (; born June 5, 1964) is an American author, best known for writing the '' Percy Jackson & the Olympians'' series. Riordan's books have been translated into forty-two languages and sold more than thirty million c ...
, Mount Tamalpais is the modern site of several mythological locations, including the Garden of the Hesperides, the prison of
Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geograp ...
, and Mount Othrys. *
Cookie Mueller Dorothy Karen "Cookie" Mueller (March 2, 1949 – November 10, 1989) was an American actress, writer, and Dreamlander who starred in many of filmmaker John Waters' early films, including '' Multiple Maniacs'', '' Pink Flamingos'', '' Female Tr ...
, in her book ''Walking Through Clear Water In A Pool Painted Black'', lists Mount Tamalpais as the location she goes with her friend Patrick to watch him perform a ceremony to evoke one of
Beelzebub Beelzebub ( ; he, ''Baʿal-zəḇūḇ'') or Beelzebul is a name derived from a Philistine god, formerly worshipped in Ekron, and later adopted by some Abrahamic religions as a major demon. The name ''Beelzebub'' is associated with the Ca ...
's footmen after collecting the necessary supplies from Anton LaVey, "America's foremost demonologist and devil worshipper of the moment". * Mt. Tamalpais State Park is the home location of the apes in " Dawn of the Planet of the Apes." A "Mt. Tamalpais State Park" sign can be seen as the apes return home from their hunting expedition early in the movie. *Mount Tam is a major location in the ''
Defiance Defiance may refer to: Film, television and theatre * ''Defiance'' (1952 film), a Swedish drama film directed by Gustaf Molander * ''Defiance'' (1980 film), an American crime drama starring Jan-Michael Vincent * ''Defiance'' (2002 film), a ...
'' video game. Originally it was built up as the community of ''Tranquility'' where Humans and Votans could live side by side but was actually an Earth Military Coalition experiment to create a virus to kill the Votans. After the Pale Wars, it became home to the Mutants, former EMC soldiers altered in terraforming blasts. The Earth Republic stratocarrier, the EMS New Freedom, was shot down and crashed at Mount Tam.


See also

* List of highest points in California by county * List of summits of the San Francisco Bay Area * Mount Tamalpais and Muir Woods Railway * Mount Tamalpais State Park


References


Further reading

* Fairley, Lincoln. (1987). ''Mount Tamalpais: A History''. San Francisco: Scottwall Associates. (hardbound), (paperback) * Spitz, Barry. (1998). ''Tamalpais Trails''. San Anselmo, CA: Potrero Meadow Publishing Co. * Skolnick,Sharon. (1989) ''Dreams of Tamalpais''. San Francisco,CA: Last Gasp of San Francisco.


External links


Mount Tamalpais State Park
– official site
Mount Tamalpais Watershed
– official site
Friends of Mt Tam
– official cooperating association of the state park
About Mt. Tam
– information the site of the Tamalpais Lands Collaborative
SFAA Tam Star Parties
Information on monthly star-gazing and lecture series.
Mt Tamalpais West Peak History Project
Interactive timeline of the history of the true summit of Mt. Tamalpais.


Video and photographs


A Day in the Life of a Fire Lookout
on Mt. Tam's East Peak, video by
Gary Yost Gary Yost (born April 5, 1959) is an American filmmaker and software designer, best known for leading the team that created Autodesk 3ds Max. Antic Software Yost created the Antic Software publishing unit for Antic Magazine in 1984 after Jack ...

The Invisible Peak
a short documentary about Mt. Tam's West Peak by Gary Yost
Mt. Tamalpais Sunrise to Moonset
time-lapse video by Gary Yost
2010 - Timelapse of fog rolling around Mt. Tamalpais
more video by Gary Yost
CA State Parks Photo Slideshow: Mount Tamalpais SP


Hiking and cycling


Mount Tamalpais State Park
''Marin County Visitors Bureau'' {{authority control Tamalpais Tamalpais Golden Gate National Recreation Area Landmarks in the San Francisco Bay Area Hang gliding sites Gliding in the United States Tourist attractions in Marin County, California Buried rupture earthquakes