Every Trail Tells a Story
Olompali State Historic Park
A kaleidoscope of California history, from Miwok village to hippie commune
Spring wildflowers and wide-open Bay views from the loop trail
The rare chance to walk where both Camillo Ynitia and the Grateful Dead left their mark
If you want one park that sums up California history in all its contradictions-abundance and loss, reinvention and eccentricity-Olompali is it. Miwok hunters and gatherers thrived here for millennia. Spanish missionaries and Mexican officials transformed it into a rancho. A San Francisco dentist turned it into a country estate. Jesuits used it as a retreat. Hippies made it a commune. The Grateful Dead played concerts. A nude wedding made national headlines. And now, it’s a state historic park where hikers like us can take it all in.
The Coast Miwok called Olompali home long before Europeans appeared. Archaeologists have found thousands of artifacts here-tools, ornaments, evidence of well-built tule shelters. The Miwok thrived on acorns, salmon, and wild game. Olompali was one of the largest villages in the Bay Area, and likely one of the happiest, too.
Spanish soldiers and missionaries swept that world away. But in a twist, Camillo Ynitia, a Miwok leader educated by Franciscan friars, received Olompali as a Mexican land grant in 1843-the only such grant ever made to a California native. Ynitia held onto it for a decade before selling, a rare story of adaptation and resilience.
Enter Galen Burdell, San Francisco’s first dentist, and his wife Mary. They built an imposing mansion, laid out a lavish garden, and entertained on a grand scale. Mary’s garden daffodils still bloom every spring, long after the mansion itself burned down.
In the 20th century, Olompali kept reinventing itself. Jesuits turned it into a retreat. Then came 1967: the Chosen Family Commune leased the property, threw open the doors to free spirits, hosted the Dead, and became briefly infamous for that nude wedding ceremony that had reporters rushing to Novato. The party ended in flames-literally-when fire gutted the Burdell mansion.
California State Parks purchased the land in 1977 and opened it to the public in 1990. Today you can walk past the adobe built by Ynitia, the ruins of the Burdell estate, and the remains of outbuildings that tell stories of every wild, weird, and wonderful era.
Best of all, you can step away from the history and into nature. Deer graze in the meadows. Eagles ride the thermals. Wildflowers brighten the slopes in spring. And a trail climbs Mt. Burdell to remind you this isn’t just a museum without a roof-it’s a living landscape still full of surprises.
Olompali State Historic Park is located at 8901 Redwood Blvd in Novato. From both northbound and southbound Highway 101, exit at Atherton Ave./San Marin Dr. Southbound drivers can make a U-turn at San Antonio Creek Road and backtrack to the park entrance. From the south, take the clearly marked exit straight into the park.
Wander first through Olompali’s historic heart: Ynitia’s adobe, the blacksmith shop, barns, the ranch foreman’s house, and the ruins of the Burdell mansion. Stroll through Mary Burdell’s garden and imagine her daffodils still brightening the spring air.
Then head for the loop trail into the hills. Whether clockwise or counterclockwise, you’ll climb steadily through grassland and oak woodland, rewarded near the crest with glimpses of San Pablo Bay. Purple iris, monkeyflower, and shooting stars splash color along the path. Look up-golden eagles often patrol these skies.
For more challenge, continue on the extension that ascends Mt. Burdell’s eastern slope. The trail links the park’s 700 acres with thousands more in Marin County open space. Suddenly, Olompali feels less like a quirky history park and more like a portal into the wider wild.