Anderson Marsh State Historic Park contains oak woodlands, grass-covered hills, and tule marsh. One of the largest groups of people in prehistoric California, the Southeastern Pomo, knew this land as home. Today, descendants of those people still live nearby.

Anderson Marsh's archaeological sites hold clues to the lives of the Pomo. Some sites are over 10,000 years old, making them among the oldest in California. The park protects several habitats including freshwater marsh, oak woodland, grasslands, and riparian woodland.

If you like to hike, you can take advantage of miles of trails. Trailside signs offer insight into understanding the native plants and animals of the park. The park is also popular for bird watching, hiking and picnicking. Explore the past at the historic Anderson Ranch, with its nineteenth century structures.

The park has a Bluegrass Festival in September.

Anderson Marsh is also a nature preserve, which protects the habitat of a tule marsh, itself an integral part of the Clear Lake ecosystem. The marsh, located on the southeast shore of Clear Lake, offers food and breeding habitat for mammals, fish, birds and amphibians. The crappie, catfish, bass and blue gill spend parts of their life cycles amidst the tules.

One of the most populous Native American groups in California, the Pomo occupied the Anderson Marsh area as far back as 10,000 years ago. The Pomo, known as some of the best basket-makers on the continent, found an ample supply of raw material in the marsh.

Pomo elders construct a village in the park every year. This village of tule huts also serves as a picnic area, an odd, but somehow fitting mixture of the ancient and modern uses of nature.

Anderson Marsh is a remnant (about 8 percent) of a once-vast tule marsh that nourishes Clear Lake, California?s largest natural lake. Marsh and park are named for Scottish immigrant John Still Anderson, who started a cattle ranch here in 1885. Anderson?s descendants continued to live and work the ranch until the late 1960s. Some of the original ranch buildings are open for tours on the weekends.