Top of Tam: Marin's Verna Dunshee Trail 

I'm high atop Mount Tamalpais on the Verna Dunshee memorial trail and the Bay Area spreads out below me in miniature. It's a magical view:  lush ridges, hills and valleys, fog-kissed San Francisco and the Golden Gate, the scintillating waters of San Francisco Bay, and Mount Diablo rising beyond the East Bay hills.  A stone-lined ADA-accessible path descends from the parking lot to the right, with a plaque honoring Verna Dunshee, a longtime Marin resident, outdoorswoman, and passionate conservationist. Built in 1904, the Verna Dunshee Trail was at the time called the Racetrack Trail, created for railroad passengers to have a scenic walkabout while visiting the peak. It was later renamed the Verna Dunshee Memorial Trail in 1973 when she passed away. 

The Verna Dunshee trail is the crown jewel of Marin's Mount Tamalpais State Park. Since its construction in 1896, this easy-going path traces a three-quarter-mile circle around the rocky east peak of the county's 2,571-foot signature mountain. Be sure to take a few minutes on one of the occasional benches along the trail, where you can soak up the views of the entire Tamalpais watershed on the northern side and views of Bay Area landmarks from Sunrise Point on the peak's south side.  Continue on to more vistas of the east, and west Marin—and beyond.

For more detailed information on the memorial trail and who Verna Dunshee was, visit Modern Hiker.

GETTING THERE From Highway 101, take the Highway 1–Stinson Beach exit and follow the signs to Mount Tamalpais–East Peak. The trail is open daily from 7 a.m. to sunset. (415) 388-2070, Mount Tamalpais State Park.