China camp state park, San Rafael: quiet and warm

Sunset, Sept, 2004

Immigrants from the Canton district of China built a shrimping village on San Francisco Bay here in the 19th century, exporting the haul back home and selling to merchants in nearby cities. But after a few decades, prejudicial laws drove the community out. Today you can tour a small museum at quiet China Camp Village on the beach or picnic on the grassy bluffs, imagining the bustle of long ago as you gaze at the East Bay's golden hills. Dip a toe in the water; bay temperatures are as warm as you're likely to find. This is one of the few places in the Bay Area where oak woodland habitat still reaches, uninter-rupted by development, to the bay shore. Trails--like the moderate 15-mile Oak Ridge to Ridge to Bay View to Shoreline loop--extend up into the hills for hiking and mountain biking.

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INFO: From U.S. 101 in San Rafael, take the N. San Pedro Rd. exit and go east 5 miles to the park. $5 per car. www.parks.ca.gov or 415/456-0766.

NEARBY TREAT: Grab take-out crab sandwiches and shrimp cocktails at Western Boat & Tackle Shop ($; call for hours; 101 Third St., San Rafael; 415/454-4177).--L. T.