On a clear day free from San Francisco's famous fog, visit the vantage point at Muir Beach Overlook, where you can see Point Reyes to the far north, past the Bolinas peninsula. Point Reyes & Bolinas are part of the Pacific Plate which grinds against the land where you stand (North American Plate) and push up from beneath to form the coastal mountains.
If you think you feel the earth moving, the well known San Andreas fault line associated with earthquakes in California, separates the two plates. It lies just offshore from here, coming into land at Stinson Beach 10 miles north. You can follow the path of San Andreas by driving along Highway 1 through Olema Valley and Tomales Bay.
The in-and-out, scalloped coastline contains coastal bluffs, sandy beaches, rocky shores, mountain ridges, valleys and peninsulas extending into the sea. Each part tells a geologic tale!