Bayview Trail at China Camp State Park

China Camp State Park is one of Marin's natural resources that we so often take for granted. (And, with t, it may not be available soon.) It lies just around the mountain from downtown San Rafael and is often out-of-sight, out-of-mind.

A trip around San Pedro Mountain to the park is well worth it. China Camp offers wide sculpted trails for easy hiking and biking, grand vistas of marshes and bay, and an old-time, other-world feel. In the summer months you often will meet travelers who have come to China Camp to visit and camp and enjoy the natural and scenic beauty. These tourists are a hardy variety; most the sites are walk-in tent sites and so campers must travel light. There is even a bike-in tent site, and we have met bike touring folks who are resting here while on a long west coast bike adventure. The park also has reservable picnic areas. One of our favorites for a large group is Miwok Meadows Picnic Area, a large meadow nestled under oaks, with barbecue pits, picnic tables and a horseshoe toss area. It would make a great Fourth of July barbecue spot.

Our hike encompasses all the previously mentioned resources at China Camp, allowing you to see what fun it could be to incorporate China Camp into your recreation plans. We start just outside the front gate to catch the narrow Shoreline Trail into the park. At the signed Bay View Trail junction, we head right to start the Bay View Trail loop. This trail works its way up the northern flanks of San Pedro Mountain and then contours along in a forest of oaks and madrones and bays. There is abundant birdlife amongst the trees, and the park is also home to flocks of feral turkeys.

Bay View Trail has several small spurs that lead to lookout points of the bay and shoreline. Up near the top it is possible to make a detour up to the former Nike Missile Site where soldiers once stood guard against invasion during World War II. This trail can get busy with bike traffic on the weekends, so stay alert.

Bay View Trail ends on Ridge Fire Road, and the trails from there work their way back down to Shoreline Trail. Shoreline Trail is a small trail that meanders through grasslands above the marshes. It's route takes you past the picnic area and campgrounds we mentioned earlier. In the summer, the smell and sight of campers and campfires reminds us to slow down and enjoy some recreation time in these all-too-quick summer months. It can be fun to join the campers and take the kids to one of the campfire ranger programs that the state park offers. China Camp is vulnerable to the budget hatchet this year, so go and enjoy it now.

See the book "Hiking Marin: 141 Great Hikes in Marin County" for more details. Click here to go the Marin Trails website, where you can find more information about the book.