Bolinas is an unincorporated coastal community and census-designated place in Marin County, California, United States.

It is only accessible via unmarked roads; any road sign along State Route 1 that points the way into town has been torn down by local residents,[8] to the point where county officials offered a ballot measure to which the voters responded by stating a preference for no more signs.

[10] Bolinas and present-day Stinson Beach were once encompassed by Rancho Las Baulines, a Mexican land grant given by Governor Pío Pico to Gregorio Briones in 1846.

Today, it contains five galleries featuring contemporary art, historical information, and works from local artists.

[5] According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 5.8 square miles (15 km2), all of it land.

[4] The GNIS has cited archaic alternate town-names, including "Ballenas", "Baulenas", "Baulings", and "Bawlines".

[citation needed] Point Reyes National Seashore borders Bolinas to the northwest.

Duxbury Reef State Marine Conservation Area encompasses Bolinas' western shoreline.

Like much of the California coast, summer afternoons are often cool and windy (and sometimes foggy) as winds blow in off the ocean.

In 1951, Ford Times identified Bolinas as the first in its series of "Tom Sawyer Towns... a good place for boys and girls to live and grow... its school days, its summer vacations, its vast adventures in fishing, swimming, baseball, basking and dreaming in the sun.

The Bolinas Community Public Utility District provides water and wastewater service and contracts for garbage and recycling collection.

[42] In 1967, the Bolinas Community Public Utility District was formed by the Marin County Board of Supervisors.

[16] In November 1971, the Bolinas Community Public Utility District instituted a moratorium on new water permits, which halted the construction of new homes.

[15] In 1990, the BCPUD enacted a moratorium on new sewer connections, to address the limited capacity of the sewage collection system.

[43] The advisory measure called for the following language to be adopted as a policy of the Bolinas Community Public Utility District: Vote for Bolinas to be a socially acknowledged nature-loving town because to like to drink the water out of the lakes to like to eat the blueberries to like the bears is not hatred to hotels and motor boats.

The town also hosts the Marin-Bolinas Botanical Gardens, and borders on the Point Reyes National Seashore to the north.

Alamere Falls, one of only two beach waterfalls in the continental U.S., is on the California Coastal Trail from Palomarin Trailhead at the end of Mesa Road.

Duxbury Reef State Marine Conservation Area lies offshore from Bolinas.

[45] Stickers that say "Radio Free Bolinas" were subtly put on a couple of the Y-wing pilot helmets seen in Return of the Jedi.

This sticker was put on by the prop makers as they were likely in or around the area listening to the station while making the helmets.