sneeze at—that is, unless you’re allergic to the extremely precious flower that grows on it. Situated on the north side of Tiburon, Ring Mountain is home to the Tiburon mariposa lily, a rarest-of-rare member of the Liliaceae family which blooms in late spring. In fact, TML takes the concept of “rare” to new heights—the only place in the world it’s found is Ring Mountain and grows on a single twisting outcrop of grassland less than a football field in length. The Coastal Miwok of centuries past surely enjoyed the sights of the Tiburon mariposa lily, as those native Americans left an indelible mark on Ring Mountain, in more ways than one. Circular
petroglyph carvings—some estimated to be as much as 2,000 years old—are visible on the aptly named Petroglyph Rock, located near the base of the mountain, about a third-of-a-mile up the Phyllis Ellman Trail (named for a local 1970s conservationist who stymied development of the mountain). About half-a-mile up the Phyllis Ellman Trail there are rocks with Native American grinding basins carved into the stone. At this so-called “Indian Kitchen,” the basins were used to process acorns and shellfish and were so prolifically used, shell middens are still visible in the area.
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Tubbs Island, the Toilet of the North Bay Anyone who’s driven east on Highway 37 past Sears Point has gazed at the lush, green marshland to the left and asked themselves the immortal question: Why is there a toilet out there? That wooden outhouse framing the porcelain throne in the middle of the San Pablo Wildlife Refuge—Google maps calls it the “Lone Toilet”—is the last remaining remnant of Tubbs Island, a long-lost town (much like Wingo, see above) whose boom era at the turn of the 20th century was made possible by cordage magnate Hiram Tubbs, who diked the baylands and turned it into a farming community and duck-hunting club. Tubbs Island’s heyday ended when the land came under control of the U.S. military during World War II and various branches used it for everything from gunnery practice to chemical warfare training. Tubbs’ most famous resident was the legendary Richard Janson, a crusty former seaman who lived a hermetic existence on what’s been described as an “ark” and sold hand- carved duck decoys. “Fresh Air Dick,” as he was known, died in 1951. The levies were eventually breached in the 1970s and Tubbs Island sank into the mud like Atlantis. Only the toilet remains to tell the tale. If you want to visit the Lone Toilet you need a rubber raft to get through the marsh. Some pranksters make the journey for the express purpose of actually using the toilet; consider yourself warned. Native Kitchen Where the Mariposa Lilies Grow While the Mayacamas and Mt. Tamalpais get all the North Bay geological press, nearby Ring Mountain is nothing to
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