Discover 11 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in San Rafael (United States). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: China Camp State Park, McNears Beach, and Mission San Rafael Arcángel. Also, be sure to include Dixie Schoolhouse in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in San Rafael (California).
Table of Contents
China Camp State Park
Campgrounds with hiking and biking trails. China Camp State Park is a state park in Marin County, California, surrounding a historic Chinese American shrimp-fishing village and a salt marsh. The park is located in San Rafael, California, on the shore of San Pablo Bay. It is known for its hiking and mountain biking trails, scenic views, and open spaces. The 1,514-acre park was established in 1976. A 75-acre district, including the shrimping village and a prehistoric shell midden, were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 for having state-level significance in archaeology, architecture, commerce, settlement, and social history. China Camp State Park, along with the Rush Ranch Open Space Preserve, is part of the San Francisco Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve.[1]
McNears Beach
McNears Beach was the site of a fashionable beach resort established in the 1880s on San Pablo Bay in Marin County, California. It was located 0.5 miles north-northwest of Point San Pedro, and 3.4 miles northeast of San Rafael. The United States Board of Geographic Names rejected other, similar names proposed for the site, including McNear, McNear Landing, and McNear's Beach.[2]
Address: 201 Cantera Way, 94901 San Rafael
Mission San Rafael Arcángel
Church gift shop selling religious wares. Mission San Rafael Arcángel is a Spanish mission in San Rafael, California. It was founded in 1817 as a medical asistencia of Mission San Francisco de Asís. It was a hospital to treat sick Native Americans, making it Alta California's first sanitarium. The weather was much better than in San Francisco, which helped the ill get better. It was not intended to be a stand-alone mission, but nevertheless grew and prospered and was granted full mission status on October 19, 1822.[3]
Address: 1104 5th Ave, 94901-2916 San Rafael
Dixie Schoolhouse
The Dixie Schoolhouse is a historic one-room schoolhouse located in San Rafael, Marin County, Northern California. It was built in 1864, in the Victorian Italianate style.[4]
Address: Las Gallinas Avenue, San Rafael
Marin Shakespeare Company
Theatre company. The Marin Shakespeare Company was established in 1989 at Dominican College’s Forest Meadows Amphitheatre in San Rafael, California, by Lesley Schisgall Currier and Robert Currier.
The original Marin Shakespeare Festival, founded by John and Ann Brebner, produced outdoor Shakespearean theatre at the Ross Art and Garden Center for 6 seasons from 1961 to 1967. That year the Forest Meadows Amphitheater was built for the Shakespeare Festival where it remained until 1973.
In 2001 Marin Shakespeare Company celebrated the 40th anniversary of the founding of California's first outdoor Shakespeare festival.
Marin Shakespeare Company is listed as a Major Festival in the book Shakespeare Festivals Around the World by Marcus D. Gregio (Editor), 2004.
The Marin Shakespeare Company is part of the Shakespeare Theatre Association of America (STAA).[5]
Address: 890 Belle Ave, 94901-2272 San Rafael
Marin County Civic Center
Building. The Marin County Civic Center, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, is located in San Rafael, California, United States. Groundbreaking for the Civic Center Administration Building took place in 1960, after Wright's death and under the watch of Wright's protégé, Aaron Green; it was completed in 1962. The Hall of Justice was begun in 1966 and completed in 1969. Veterans Memorial Auditorium opened in 1971, and the Exhibit Hall opened in 1976.
Located away from the former county seat in downtown San Rafael, the expansive complex stretches across two valleys just east of US 101. Its pink stucco walls, blue roof and scalloped balconies are distinctive. The smaller wing is the county administration building and the larger the Hall of Justice, joined by a round structure on a small hill that houses a county library.
A battle between factions of the Marin County Board of Supervisors played out through the selection of the site and the architect, the financing of the project, and its eventual completion. The Marin County Civic Center is a state and National Historic Landmark.
The nearby fairgrounds host the Marin Sonoma Concours d’Elegance each spring; they host the Marin County Fair each July.[6]
Address: 3501 Civic Center Dr, 94903-4112 San Rafael
Falkirk Cultural Center
Museum, Art gallery, Art museum, Shopping
Address: 1408 Mission Avenue at E Street, 94901-1971 San Rafael
Bret Harte Community Association
Park, Relax in park
Mount Tamalpais Cemetery
Cemetery. Mount Tamalpais Cemetery is located in San Rafael, California.[7]
Rodef Sholom
Synagogue in the Santa Venetia, California. Congregation Rodef Sholom, founded in 1956, is a Reform Jewish Congregation located on the Lonee C. Hoytt Jewish Campus in San Rafael, California. Prior to its establishment, Shabbat services were held at the Marin Jewish Community Center, established in 1946 at Mission and Forbes Street. The congregation met at the center until 1962 when it moved to its current location. The congregation shares a campus with the Osher Marin JCC and the Brandeis Hillel Day School. Rodef Sholom has been affiliated with the Union for Reform Judaism since 1957. The congregation receives its name, meaning "pursuers of peace," from a Talmudic quote by Rabbi Hillel: "Be among the disciples of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving people and bringing them closer to the Torah."[8]
San Rafael Improvement Club
The San Rafael Improvement Club, at 1800 5th Ave. in San Rafael, California, was built in 1915. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
It was built in 1915 as a pavilion for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, and was relocated and reassembled in 1916 in the City of San Rafael to be used as a permanent clubhouse building the San Rafael Improvement Club, a civic organization founded in 1902.
The organization may or may not have defined itself as a women's club, but photos show that is what it was.
It served as the Victrola Pavilion, for the Victrola company, inside the Liberal Arts Palace.
It is a wooden building about 63 by 63 feet (19 m × 19 m) in plan. It was designed by William B. Faville in Classical Revival style. When it was reassembled, a roof was added.
It was eventually sold by the club. It was unused from 1997 to at least 2018.
The only other building surviving from the 1915 exposition is the San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts.[9]