Location: County: Marin. Nearest City: Novato.
Campsites, facilities: No campsite. Point of interest
to visit while on tour.
Reservations, fees: No reservations. There is a $2
fee for parking.
Contact: Phone the park at 1-415-892-3383 or FAX 1-415-898-1213.
Olompali SHP
P.O. Box 1016
Novato CA 94948
Operating hours, seasons: Call the park for information;
it is open for day use only.
Directions: The park is located three miles north of
Novato on U.S. 101. The park entrance is accessible only to southbound
traffic from Highway 101; northbound vehicles should continue
north past the park and make a safe u-turn in order to travel
south and enter the park.
Weather, clothing: Summer and spring are warm, fall
and winter can be cool. Layered clothing is best.
Trip notes: The park overlooks the Petaluma River and
San Pablo Bay from the east-facing slopes of 1,558 foot Mount
Burdell. Several historic buildings are preserved within the
park. Visitors may also use the hiking and horseback riding rail
as well as shaded picnic area.
The only "battle" fought during the 22 days that
California was a republic took place on June 24, 1846, at what
is now Olompali State Historic Park. During the "Bear Flag
Revolt" in 1846, the "Battle of Olompali" occurred
when a skirmish broke out between a troop of American Bear Flaggers
and a Mexican force gathered at Camilo Ynitia's adobe. Several
men were wounded and one man was reportedly killed, the only
fatality association with the brief California revolution.
Olompali State Historic Park encompasses land that has been
a cultural crossroads, beginning with a large Coast Miwok village.
The name "Olompali" comes from the lost Miwok language
and may be translated as "southern village" or "southern
people." The Coast Miwok inhabited at least one site within
the area of the present-day park continuously from as early as
6,000 B.C.,up until the early 1850s. The park contains "kitchen
rock," a large boulder used as a mortar in which early people
ground acorns and seeds into a fine flour for food preparation.
Many women would gather near such grinding rocks to prepare food
and socialize. There is a project underway to build several structures
representative of a Coast Miwok village. Partially completed
now, one may see two kotchas (houses), one made from redwood
bark and another made with bundles of native tule reeds. The
project involves local volunteers including several families
representing Coast Miwok descendants. The village will be used
as an interpretive and educational site.
© 2001, Miwok Lodge 439, Order of the
Arrow, Santa Clara County Council Inc., BSA
Revision 1.2
