Marin Hills
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The Marin Hills are a series of steep high ridges and peaks in southern Marin County. They are a part of the long Pacific Coast Ranges mountain system. The centerpoint of these hills is the 2,571 foot, 784 m Mount Tamalpais near Mill Valley. The hills are bordered to the north by the lowlands to the west of Santa Rosa, to the east by San Pablo Bay of San Francisco Bay, to the south by Golden Gate Strait, and finally to the west by the San Andreas Fault and Olema Valley. Parts of the hills are protected for their scenic beauty by Mount Tamalpais State Park and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The many ridges and peaks of these hills form a dramatic backdrop to the Golden Gate Bridge, the San Francisco skyline, and several towns around Richardson Bay when viewed from the south.
Since these hills lie right next to the ocean, they force much of the incoming moisture out of the air and rainfall here is much greater than the bayside of Marin County. Due to this the Marin Municipal Water District has constructed several dams and reservoirs to store water for the population of Marin. The high rainfall also makes these hills suitable for coast redwoods and douglas fir to grow, especially close to the ocean. However, a side effect to this is that the eastern hills, where most of Marin's population lives, are drier and hotter due to the shielding of marine breezes. The low hills to the east support only oak and some grassland.
The western part of the hills hills once had extensive old growth forests, but in the 1800's they were an important source of valuable timber for the San Francisco Bay Area and thus logging took out most of the old growth stands. However, one old growth stand remained uncut, Sequoia Canyon, due to the steep terrain and withstood pressure from loggers and water companies. This stand is now the Muir Woods National Monument, part of the Golden Gate National Recreational Area. The parklands of these hills are popular with tourists and locals alike seeking to escape the urban areas of the Bay Area. California Mule Deer are the most common large mammal of the Marin Hills.
