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As Highway 1 winds along Tomales Bay, it only accentuates the sense of peaceful isolation found in the community of Marshall. No matter where you're coming from, Marshall isn't an easy place to reach. A trip to a supermarket means a 40 minute drive to Petaluma, although the Marshall Store can provide the most essential provisions for land and sea. A view of Tomales Bay in the distance, with Marshall on the nearest shore, is shown here as seen from high atop Marshall-Petaluma Road.
This relative isolation is no doubt the reason Tomales Bay has managed to maintain such a pristine environment. The Bay is the largest unspoiled coastal embayment on the California Coast, and it is home to 45 species of fish, a variety of rare ducks and 25,000 wintering loons, grebes, cormorants, geese and other open water birds. The Bay's nutrient and clean water serves as a major spawning ground for Pacific herring and is an ideal environment for crab, perch and halibut. The clean environment and pure water are the reason for the existence of each of Marshall's primary industries.
One of the town's claims to fame are the oysters, which are farmed in the middle of Tomales Bay, a few miles north of town near Hog Island. The Hog Island Oyster Company sells oysters by the boatload on the weekends, just be sure to bring an ice chest, and if you want to place a large order call ahead.
Tamal Saka Tomales Bay Kayaking offers kayak rentals, extensive guided kayak tours and camping on beaches accessible only by kayak. Other tours include ethnobotany tours, culinary kayaking, yoga kayaking and oyster tours. This is the best way to get your feet wet and really experience Tomales Bay.
The Straus Family Creamery was established in West Marin 50 years ago by Bill and Ellen Straus. In the early 1990s it became the first organic dairy operation on the west coast and today the Straus family bottles organic milk and produces yogurt and butter. It's positively the best tasting milk I've ever tried, and aside from the value of clean organic milk, I'm convinced the glass packaging has a lot to do with the superior taste of Straus milk. My kids are crazy about this milk, particularly since it comes in bottles. It might be a bit difficult to find if you're outside Sonoma or Marin Counties, but give it a try sometime.
Want to see more of Marshall?