DAY-TRIPPERS to Marin County's Mt. Tamalpais might never know it, but a short hike from the Pan Toll parking lot there sits a small, rustic lodging that's the last surviving station of a railroad 74 years deceased. A historical building in full use, the 100-year-old West Point Inn serves as a rest stop for hikers and a nighttime refuge whose guests are nearly the only people on the mountain, alone with the sunset and the sound of the wind in the trees.

Built in 1904, the inn was a restaurant and transportation terminal for the Mill Valley and Mt. Tamalpais Scenic Railway and stagecoaches heading to Stinson Beach and Bolinas. (The track earned the nickname "Crookedest Railroad in the World," owing to its 281 curves up the mountain.) In the late 1910s and '20s, it was remodeled and upgraded to include four cabins, a main lounge, and the front porch that's still a popular resting spot for hikers.

When the railroad stopped running in 1930, the inn was leased to private caretakers, later to be abandoned during World War II. All of the other stations on the line have burned down, and when the inn became the property of the Marin Municipal Water District, there was talk of razing it as a fire hazard (conflagrations are still a constant concern). But a group calling itself the West Point Inn Club, and later the West Point Inn Association, was bent on saving the building. It began leasing the inn from the district in 1942 and has run it as a volunteer operation ever since.

Public work parties are run by WPIA members the third Saturday of each month. And the association relies on member donations to maintain the facility and keep it open to the public. Annual $100 dues help ensure that happens – and guarantee members greatly reduced room rates.

The inn has been restored and refurbished several times since the association took over, but it's operated using the technology of the era in which it was built. There's no electricity. Propane provides for heat, lighting, and refrigeration. There's certainly no bellhop, no room service, and no wake-up calls. Guests bring sleeping bags or linen, as well as any food they wish to cook in the communal kitchen, and are responsible for doing their dishes, cleaning their rooms, and a common chore such as sweeping the lounge or mopping the kitchen.

With the closing of the railroad went virtually all vehicular transportation to the spot, which is now accessible by foot or bicycle via several trails. Most visitors hike the two miles in from a parking spot along the Panoramic Highway. (A locked, gated fire road leads to the inn, and occasional exceptions are granted to parties with special needs.) Once you're there, your lodging options are one of seven rooms upstairs in the main building or four small cabins. On summer weekends there's rarely a vacancy, but during the winter and on summer weekdays reservations are usually available.

Though the hotter seasons are most popular, winter guests can experience the joys of lounging around the wet-season-only indoor fireplace, listening to the rain pound against the roof, and sometimes even seeing snow. In any season the southeastern views of the East Bay and Mt. Diablo are magnificent, providing for beautiful sunrises. Elsewhere on Mt. Tam are 50 miles of hiking trails within the park, summertime plays at the Mountain Theater, hang-gliding opportunities, a few campsites, and virtually unlimited scenery.

Day hikers can visit the inn and use its facilities: clean bathrooms, a nice porch with picnic tables, and snacks and beverages for sale. The WPIA also throws popular, low-cost pancake breakfasts, starting on Mother's Day (May 9) and continuing June 13, July 7, Aug. 8, Sept. 12, and Oct. 10, provided no major renovations are going on at the time.

And plans are in the works for an anniversary celebration of the West Point Inn's century on the mountain, tentatively scheduled for June 26 and featuring a period meal, a fundraiser of some kind, and possibly a visit from an actual stagecoach, meant to re-create a time when the inn was more than just a quaint old spot with a gorgeous view.

If you go

Overnight guests should bring bedding (there's no heat in the cabins or upstairs at the inn), towels (for the hot showers), a flashlight, and food. Open flames, boom boxes, and smoking are prohibited.