For much of the twentieth century, Fairfax was best known as a weekend destination for San Franciscans. In the 1960s it became a haven for the counterculture movement. To this day it remains a place where alternative lifestyles are welcomed. The town has a thriving music and art community and easy accessibility to the best of Marin's wilderness.

Convenient railroad service early in this century made Fairfax a favorite weekend and summer retreat for city denizens. Fairfax Park hosted thousands on weekends. Many early Western movies were filmed here. Construction of Alpine Dam in 1917 brought a large Italian population to the area, adding to Fairfax's colorful history.

Fairfax is also the birthplace of mountain biking. Repack, a fire road near Fairfax, was the proving ground for the first mountain bikes and races beginning in 1976. Today many weekend hikers, equestrians, fishermen, and mountain bikers explore this wooded area dotted with lakes and streams.

Fairfax (population 7500) is a community of neighborhoods nestled in the hills and small valleys of the Upper Ross Valley. The town of Fairfax is the popular launching point to access many of the miles of trails that network throughout the Mount Tamalpais watershed, and many of the neighborhood streets feel like a bucolic forested setting. Neighbors take advantage of the friendly atmosphere in strolling amongst its numerous diverse restaurants, bars, bakeries and coffeehouses. No other Marin city holds Fairfax?s distinction of being such a well-situated nexus between colorful village culture and countryside.