Mount Tamalpais

Today part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Mount Tamalpais used to be resplendent with elk, caribou and even grizzly bears. During the 1849 Gold Rush wealthy San Franciscans fancied eating roast grizzly bear. As quoted in Jack Masons "Early Marin", “it was no uncommon sight to see a grizzly, killed in the woods at the base of Mount Tamalpais, hung in front of a San Francisco butcher shop."

In the 1820's Mount Tamalpais was called "Table Mountain” - but the origin of the name Tamalpais is somewhat controversial. It probably comes from one of the following two sources:

• When the Spanish soldiers arrived by ship at the Golden Gate, they referred to the land to the North, inhabited by "hostile and ill-tempered" Indians, as mal-pais (bad lands).
  
• But others say "Tamalpais" is a Miwok Indian term -- Tamal, meaning "bay"; and pais meaning "mountain". Contrary to popular belief, Mount Tamalpais is not an extinct volcano but is made mostly of "tourmaline hornfels" -- very hard and unusual rock formations. Mount Tamalpais is 2,604 feet high -- and is growing by four feet per century.