"The Hills North of San Francisco"

As a native Northern Californian, I bristled when I read this in a BBC story:

When James W Marshall discovered gold in the hills north of San Francisco in 1848, it sparked a migration of epic proportions.

If you don't know the area, how far would you say this distance is?  "Hills north of San Francisco" sounds to me to be "not far".  10 miles?  Maybe even 25 miles?  And what does "north" mean?

To a Northern Californian, "north of San Francisco" means Marin County--Sausalito, Mill Valley, San Rafael, maybe even as far north as Santa Rosa.  But that's not what the BBC author meant.

Sutter's Mill, located along the American River, was where Marshall first discovered gold in the tailrace of the mill.  The Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park is located in Coloma, California.  Here's its location relative to San Francisco, thanks to Google Earth:

Yes, Coloma is more northern than San Francisco, but would you describe it as "north" of San Francisco?  I guess it is in the same way that London is "north" of San Francisco.

And, as the crow flies, Coloma is over 100 miles from San Francisco.  Does "the hills north of San Francisco" seem at all accurate for describing the location of the Gold Discovery Site?

No, this mistake isn't earth-shattering.  And the location of Coloma has nothing to do with the BBC story, which was about San Francisco's sourdough bread.  But such an error is like fingernails on a chalkboard to people who know better.

Here are some pictures from Coloma:

Very pastoral.  When visitors come from out of state, I like to take them to Coloma.  It's maybe 45 min from home, peaceful, and interesting.  I'd say it's where modern California began.