The Bolinas-Fairfax Road

The Bolinas-Fairfax Road is unquestionably one of the most scenic roads anywhere. Its hundreds of serpentine turns wind from Fairfax in Marin County, just north of San Francisco, through redwood forests and grassy meadows along sparkling Alpine Lake, climbing a steep mountain ridge to sweeping views of the ocean, before plunging down to Bolinas on the Pacific coast. Beloved by photographers and those who make car commercials, it has been a popular drive for stagecoaches, cars, motorcycles, and bicycles for almost 140 years. It also provides access to scores of popular hiking trails and the heights of Mount Tamalpais.While the road is well known to locals, few know its history - when and why it was built, and by whom. They do not know that it did not originally go to Fairfax at all, but to San Rafael. Built in 1878 by Chinese laborers, it was the subject of anti-Asian vigilante threats. It had extensions to San Rafael and the summit of Mount Tamalpais. A whole series of stagecoach lines, driven by skilled and remarkable characters, provided a crucial transportation link across the county. Intimately tied to the history of Marin County and its water wars, the road was rerouted many times as dams and reservoirs were built. It was also the scene of runaway coaches, landslides, bridge collapses, forest fires, earthquakes, overturns, holdups, and encounters with bears and enraged stags.Compiled and meticulously researched by local historian Brian K. Crawford, with ample assistance by many librarians and historians, this book tells the remarkable story of this spectacular road. Illustrated with many maps and historical photographs, and directions on visiting the historic sites along the road.