The hook
A Tiburon ridge with 2,400-year-old Native carvings pecked into the boulders, a wildflower found nowhere else on Earth, and a full sweep of the bay.
01Why it's worth it
Ring Mountain rises off the Tiburon peninsula, and for a modest climb it stacks three uncommon things. The rocks hold pecked curvilinear petroglyphs, a style unique to western North America, carved by the Coast Miwok roughly 2,400 years ago, faint spirals and cups you have to look for on the serpentine boulders. In spring the slopes bloom with the Tiburon mariposa lily, which grows on this one hill and nowhere else in the world. And the top gives you a clean 360 of the bay, the city, and Mount Tam. It's a short, unglamorous-looking preserve that quietly rewards the curious: ancient art, a globally unique flower, and a big view, all on one hillside.
02How to experience it
Start from the Taylor Road or Phyllis Ellman trailheads in Corte Madera/Tiburon and climb to the ridge. Hunt for the petroglyph boulders (tread lightly, they're fragile and sacred), come in spring for the mariposa lily, and pick a clear day for the views.