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Hikes & Tours
Summer 2009
If, like many of us, you’re staying closer to home this summer, consider spending a day on a West Marin farm.You’ll feel as if you’ve traveled to a new place and you’re sure to make all kinds of discoveries. Visit a goat dairy where your kids can pretend to be Heidi or a lonely goatherd. Or try our 3-boot hike to one of Marin’s tallest peaks. Enjoy oysters pulled from the sparkling waters of Tomales Bay, sip wine produced from grapes grown in Marin, or savor olive oil pressed from a local harvest. For your summer vacation this year, why not, “Go local,” because at the end of the day, there’s no place like home.
Our hikes, tours, and talks visit some of the farmers and ranchers profiled in the book Marin Farm Families—Stories & Recipes. Their lives revolve around the rhythms and tempos of Marin agriculture. Some are ranchers with thousands of acres of land and a legacy spanning three or four generations; others are first-generation growers leasing land and making their own history, one day at a time. Look for the  in the list below, and be sure to order a copy of this little book about diversity, adversity, tenaciousness, extraordinary devotion, and FOOD for yourself at The MALT Shop. Proceeds benefit MALT's work of preserving Marin County farmland.
Due to ongoing concerns about Foot-and-Mouth Disease, we ask that individuals who have visited farms outside the U.S.A. up to 10 days prior to events not participate in farm tours. Weather can change quickly in West Marin. Bring a jacket for warmth, a hat for protection from the sun, and a daypack for food & drinks. Most tours are not appropriate for young children. Please check with malt . For more detailed directions to a Hikes & Tours meeting place, phone 415-663-1158, Monday – Friday, 9 a.m.–5 p.m. or email hikesntours@malt.org.
To sign up for an event, click the pre-registration link on the event listings, or contact MALT at 415-663-1158 or hikesntours@malt.org.
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Windrush Farm Family Day
Saturday, May 2
Bring your children to watch baby animals bounding over spring-green fields. Feed the lambs, llamas, cows, and goats then walk around the pond to look for tadpoles. We’ll make pizzas with local ingredients and cook them in an outdoor, wood-fired oven. Mimi Luebermann raises a variety of sheep for wool and spins her own yarns. She’ll show us various fleeces and wool products and teach carding and spinning. Bring picnic items to enjoy with your pizza lunch in the corral. A great tour for the whole family.
TIME: 10:30 A.M.–1:30 P.M.
WHERE TO MEET: 2263 Chileno Valley Rd. From Marin, go west on Hicks Valley/Wilson Hill Rd. Go right at intersection with Marshall/Petaluma Rd.; bear right on Chileno Valley Rd. 3 mi. to Windrush Farm on right. From Petaluma, take Western Ave. west for 2 miles; turn left at Chileno Valley Rd., 3.6 mi. to farm
WHAT TO BRING: Water, picnic lunch, shoes that can get dirty and wet.
DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY:
COST: $20 / $25 non-members ($10 for children, $55 family of 4 or more)
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Ryan-Tocalino, Grossi, Daniels & Dolcini Ranches
Saturday, May 9
Join Marin County Open Space Naturalist David Herlocker and Alison Kiehl, MALT’s Stewardship Associate, for a long hike starting at Stafford Lake and wending over four ranches with MALT easements. You’ll see some spectacular views and visit hidden valleys and redwood groves. Learn about the ranching operations as well as the natural habitats and identify a variety of birds, plants, and wildlife. Pre-registration required.
TIME: 11 A.M.–3 P.M.
WHERE TO MEET: Stafford Lake County Park, 3 miles west of Novato; Free parking at Area #5
WHAT TO BRING: Water, picnic, hiking boots that can get dirty and wet
DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY:
COST: $25 / $30 non-members
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Three Peaks Hike
Panfiglio Ranch, Bivalve Dairy & Point Reyes Vineyards
Saturday, June 27
This strenuous hike over historic ranchlands tops out at Three Peaks (elevation 1,161) which overlooks Tomales Bay, Point Reyes, Soulajule Reservoir, and Verde Valley. The obscure Salmon Creek School, located near the summit served children from the Cheda, Scilacci, Maggeti, Ink, and DeGottardi families from 1886–1945. Meet rancher Joe Panfiglio and learn about his family’s ranching history. The Bivalve Dairy dates back to the 1860s and is now being run by Karen and John Taylor. At the end of the hike, visit Point Reyes Vineyard’s tasting room for a sip of fine wines and a chance to meet the winemakers. Pre-registration required.
TIME: 10 A.M.–3 P.M.
WHERE TO MEET: Point Reyes Vineyard Inn, 12700 Hwy. 1, two miles north of Point Reyes Station.
WHAT TO BRING: Water, hiking boots, lunch
DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY:
COST: $35 / $40 non-members.
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McEvoy Olive Ranch
Fridays, July 10 & August 7
Tour Nan McEvoy’s 550-acre organic olive ranch, where 16,000 olive trees thrive in a spectacular valley near the Marin-Sonoma border. Walk among the orchards, learn about olive-growing, and tour the pressing facility to see how olives are transformed into oil. Afterwards, taste and purchase olive oil and a variety of related products. Pre-registration required, click on your preferred date, July 10 or August 7.
TIME: 9:45 A.M.– noon
WHERE TO MEET: McEvoy Ranch, 5 miles south of Petaluma at 5935 Red Hill Rd.
WHAT TO BRING: Water, walking shoes
DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY:
COST: $30 / $35
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Hog Island Oysters & Straus Organic Dairy
Thursdays, May 14 & July 16
Tomales Bay Oyster Company &
Straus Organic Dairy
Thursday, August 20
Meet the shellfish experts at two local aquaculture operations for a very special tour. Taste oysters fresh from Tomales Bay while enjoying great views from the shoreline picnic area where you also can enjoy the lunch you brought along. Afterwards, we’ll car pool to the Straus Dairy and learn about the organic operation, the methane digester, and other energy-producing and -conserving techniques used at the ranch. We’ll also watch the cows being milked! The dairy, which was converted to organic in 1993, today milks 270 cows. Pre-registration required, click on your preferred date, May 14, July 16 or August 20.
TIME: 11 A.M.–3 P.M.
WHERE TO MEET: Hog Island Oyster Co., 20215 Highway One, Marshall (July 16); Tomales Bay Oyster Co., 15479 Hwy. One, Point Reyes Station (August 20)
WHAT TO BRING: Water, lunch, shoes that can get dirty
DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY:
COST: $35 / $40 non-member
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Food & Farming on the Urban Edge:
Growing Food in Your Own Backyard
Saturday, July 18
Michelle Obama is doing it, and so can you. Join instructor Wendy Johnson, co-founder of the Zen Center’s Green Gulch Farm and author of Gardening at the Dragon’s Gate, for an introduction to organic gardening. After her informational presentation, tour the new organic teaching farm at College of Marin’s (COM) Indian Valley campus in Novato, then visit the back yard garden of one of Marin’s Master Gardeners for inspiration and more how-to information. Space is limited to 40 participants. Pre-registration required.
TIME: 10:00 A.M.– 2 P.M.
WHERE TO MEET: COM Indian Valley campus; 1800 Ignacio Blvd., Novato, Bldg. 12, Rm. 100.
WHAT TO BRING: Water, lunch, shoes that can get dirty
DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY:
COST: FREE
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Family Day!
Toluma Farms Goat Dairy
Saturday, July 25
Toluma Farms currently raises 200 goats including Nubians, Saanens, Alpines, La Manchas, Toggenbergs, and Oberhaslis on 160 organically certified acres in Tomales. Owners David Jablons and Tamara Hicks (along with their girls Josy and Emmy) bought the land in 2003 and spent the first few years on land and water restoration projects. The goat dairy, launched in 2007, supplies Grade A milk to Redwood Hill Creamery. You’ll get to taste yummy yogurt, learn how goats are milked, take a goat on a hike to the top of the property, take a fun tractor ride, and meet the farm’s predator control bird—a peacock. Pre-registration required.
TIME: 11:00 A.M.–2:00 P.M.
WHERE TO MEET: Toluma Farms 5488 Middle Rd. From Tomales, go west on Dillion Beach Rd. for 1 mile. Turn right on Middle Rd.
WHAT TO BRING: Water, hiking boots, lunch
DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY:
COST: $12 / $15 non-members $8/$10 for children (under 2 years old free)
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History of Ranching on Point Reyes
Murphy Ranch (aka the Home Ranch)
Saturday, August 15
Meet Dewey Livingston, historian and author of Discovering Historic Ranches at Point Reyes a new book published by Point Reyes National Seashore Association. He’ll be joined by Gordon White, Chief of Cultural Resources for Point Reyes National Seashore, to speak on the history and evolution of farming and ranching on the Point Reyes Peninsula. Learn about early immigrants who raised artichokes, peas, pigs, oats, hay, and cows. Hear the story of how the Park was formed. Then visit the Home Ranch. In 1857, the Shafter Brothers owned and operated it as the first substantial Marin dairy to ship butter and cheese to San Francisco. Current ranch resident Anne Murphy will provide more ranch history as we walk around the historic 150-year-old buildings.
Pre-registration required.
TIME: 1–4 P.M.
WHERE TO MEET: Dance Palace Community Center, 5th & B streets, Point Reyes Station, then drive to Murphy Ranch, 16375 Sir Francis Drake Blvd. Four miles past Inverness, turn left onto the Estero Trail road which ends at the ranch.
WHAT TO BRING: Water, snacks, shoes that can dirty
DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY:
COST: $20 / $25 non-members
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