Forest Knolls, Lagunitas-Forest Knolls, CA

Forest Knolls runs along Sir Francis Drake Boulevard in the San Geronimo Valley of Marin County. With Lagunitas to the west it forms the Lagunitas-Forest Knolls community. A pair of local hangouts anchor it, a coffee bar that doubles as a morning meeting spot and a saloon with a long musical past. Grassy hills rise on both sides of the road, and the houses sit among trees in between. Pump Espresso Bar, at 6825 Sir Francis Drake, sits beside Garageland, a shop of vintage and local goods. It brews organic coffee with Strauss milk and housemade vegan syrups, bakes scones and pastries, and has tables inside and out. Papermill Creek Saloon is the other fixture. The dive bar counts Janis Joplin and Jerry Garcia among past visitors, reopened under a new owner after a long stretch of county paperwork, and books live music again. For a sit-down dinner people drive east into San Geronimo, to Giaco's Valley Roadhouse for farm-to-table plates or Two Bird Café at the Valley Inn. The valley was subdivided into villages by a development company, which is where the names Forest Knolls and Woodacre came from. Houses here are scattered along the boulevard and the side streets that climb toward the hills, with a mix of older cottages and larger homes among redwood, oak and bay trees. The look changes block to block more than it follows any single plan. Open ground is close. Roy's Redwoods Open Space Preserve has old-growth redwoods, a 2.3-mile loop and a short meadow trail, with no entry fee. Gary Giacomini Open Space has longer routes through golden grass and oak, and both are a few minutes east. Out west, Samuel P. Taylor State Park has the bigger trail system for full-day hikes. There is no full grocery in Forest Knolls itself. The Lagunitas General Store sits just to the west for staples, and anything larger means a drive over White Hill toward San Rafael. Route 68 buses serve the boulevard, running every hour or two. What you notice living here is how much happens at a counter. People order coffee at Pump, then run into half the valley without leaving the block.