Trail Runner September_2017

KAARE IVERSON / TANDEMSTOCK.COM; EMILY POLAR / TANDEMSTOCK.COM
trails
POINT REYES NATIONAL SEASHORE / The
seashore is the main gig for trail running in north
Marin County. The area envelops most of the Point
Reyes Peninsula, a chunk of land protecting most of
mainland Marin County from the ocean with miles
of beaches and rising to a north-south ridge some
1,400 feet tall. Almost 150 miles of trails await
here, from oceanside doubletrack to singletrack
switchbacking through redwood forests—and among
poison oak, watch out! Perhaps the most bang for
your buck can be had on the 9.5-ish-mile out-andback
on the Tomales Point Trail, which travels to the
peninsula’s northern tip.
GOLDEN GATE NATIONAL RECREATION AREA /
This recreation area extends from southern Marin
County northward. Its northern extension contains
the rightfully famous 11-mile Bolinas Ridge Trail.
Run this point-to-point or create an eight-mile loop
out of it and the Randall, McCurdy and Olema Valley
trails, which involves a steep ascent onto and off of
Bolinas Ridge, but gets you onto arguably the ridge’s
best miles. Bolinas Ridge tops out at over 1,600 feet
and will offer you big views from its grassy top in
good weather. In the spring, the ridge is also famous
for its wildflowers.
TOMALES BAY STATE PARK / This state park
sits in the eastern shadow of the Point Reyes
Peninsula, at sea level on Tomales Bay and under
the peninsula’s protective ridge. The park is mostly
used for its quiet and protected beach access, but
the trails leading to the beaches offer gorgeous
forest running. Start where the park road ends,
and run all the trails to all the beaches, racking up
about 10 miles of running total. Pick a weekday and
there’s a decent chance you won’t see anyone else
the whole time.
SAMUEL P. TAYLOR STATE PARK / This small state
park is named after a 19th-century entrepreneur
of the same name who previously owned the land.
Make the six-mile loop with about 1,500 feet of
climb to the park’s high point, Barnabe Peak, via the
Barnabe Fire Road, a wide, doubletrack dirt road,
and the paved Cross Marin Trail. The views onto the
Point Reyes Peninsula from high on the mountain
are superb as is the forest that you’ll climb and
descend through.
Sunset jaunt on Mount Tamalpais, Marin County, California.
223
The amount of public
lands in Marin County, in
square miles, about 27
percent of the county’s
total land area
490
The number of bird
species that have been
spotted in Point Reyes
National Seashore—
nearly half of all of North
America’s bird species
600
The number of Coast
Miwok Native American
sites discovered in Marin
and neighboring Sonoma
Counties, marking 6,000-
plus years of history
>
West Coast, Northern Marin County, California
Marin’s Quiet Side
The southern finger of Marin County, containing the town
of Mill Valley and the public lands of the Marin Headlands
and Mount Tamalpais, gets all the trail-running action.
But if you check out a county map, you’ll see that this area
represents a tiny part of the open space and trail systems
available in the north.
The main hotspot is Point Reyes National Seashore.
There, you’ll find quiet, curvy roads through grassy
greenscapes, restaurants cooking fresh oysters … and
hundreds of miles of singletrack all to yourself.
+
Insider Info: “Running in [north] west Marin offers a
wonderful mix of dense forest, open grasslands and
ocean views. The trails tend to be a bit less crowded
and not quite as steep as those surrounding Mount
Tamalpais [in southern Marin County].”
—Magda Boulet, an accomplished trail runner who lives in the
East Bay of San Francisco
races
MIWOK 100K / The Miwok 100K bridges the gap between southern and
northern Marin County. It’s also a race that bridges the past, present
and future of ultrarunning. Started in 1996, this race is something of a
NorCal icon in that it preceded the trail and ultra boom that has led to
literally hundreds of NorCal trail races. NorCal kids, you have this race
and the people behind it as starters of your culture! Tia Bodington is the
current and long-time race director and she puts a lot of love and her
decades of ultra experience into this special event. Info: Miwok100.com
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