Samuel P. Taylor State Park has wooded countryside in the steep rolling hills of Marin County north of San Francisco. The park features a unique contrast of coast redwood groves and open grassland.

The park features a variety of flowers and trees, including oak, tanoak, madrone, live oak, laurel and Douglas fir. California native wildflowers include buttercups, milkmaids, and Indian paintbrush.

The most common animal in the park is the black-tailed deer. There are also raccoons, striped skunks and gray foxes. Coho salmon and steelhead trout migrate up Lagunitas Creek to spawn.  Salmon return to Lagunitas Creek each year after a good amount of rain has fallen in the area.  This will typically occur by the beginning of December.