Bolinas
Lagoon Preserve,
Audubon Canyon Ranch,
Marin County
In brief:
2.6 mile loop through the wildlife sanctuary with fantastic bird watching; only
open mid-March to mid-July.
Getting there:
From US 101 in Marin County, exit CA 1/Mill Valley/Stinson Beach and drive on
Shoreline Highway to the junction with Almonte, about 1 mile. Turn left and
drive about 2.5 miles to the junction with Panoramic Highway. Turn right
on Panoramic and drive about 1 mile to the junction with Muir Woods Road; stay
straight on Panoramic (right lane). Continue about 7.5 miles (past Pantoll) to
the junction with CA 1, just before the town of Stinson Beach. Turn right, drive
about 3.6 miles, then turn right into the preserve. Follow the ranch road around
the buildings, then park in the dirt lot.
Trailhead details:
Lots of parking in a dirt lot. There is designated handicapped parking, but trails
are not wheelchair accessible. No parking or entrance fees, but donations are
requested. Drinking water, maps, and restrooms at trailhead. This trailhead is
accessible by public transit. Visit the Transit
Info website for details.
Gas, food, and lodging:
Pay phone, stores, and restaurants in Stinson Beach. Gas north in Point Reyes
Station, or back in Mill Valley. No camping in the preserve. The nearest camping
options are at Point Reyes and Pantoll.
Distance, category, and difficulty:
Although this 2.6 mile hike is a short loop, two of the trails are
moderately steep. Trailhead elevation is about 35 feet. The ranch's highest (trail)
elevation is about 1440 feet. The featured hike climbs from the trailhead to about
720 feet, then descends back to the trailhead -- total elevation change is about
800 feet.
Rules:
The ranch is only open from mid-March to mid-July. Visit from 10-4 Saturday and
Sunday (and holidays), or Tuesday-Friday 2-4 (by appointment only). Trails are
open to hikers only. No bikes, horses, or dogs.
The Official Story:
Audubon Canyon Ranch website
Ranch office 415-868-9244
Map Choices:
• Use AAA's San Francisco Bay Region map to get there.
• Olmsted Brothers' map, A Rambler's Guide to the Trails of Mt. Tamalpais
and the Marin Headlands (order
this map from Amazon.com) is useful, although some of the trails are
named differently from the preserve maps.
• Point Reyes by Jessica Lage (order
this book from Amazon.com) has a good map and descriptions of this hike.
• Hiking Marin by Don and Kay Martin (order
this book from Amazon.com) has a good map and descriptions of this hike.
• 101 Great Hikes of the San Francisco Bay Area, by
Ann Marie Brown (order
this book from Amazon.com) has a simple map and descriptions of a featured
hike.
• Trail Map of Point Reyes National Seashore, by Tom Harrison (order
this map from Amazon.com)
shows the trails of this preserve.
Audubon
Canyon Ranch in a nutshell -- a printable, text-only guide to the featured
hike.
View
photos from this hike.
Audubon Canyon Ranch's Bolinas 
Lagoon
Preserve opens to the public from mid-March to mid-July, showcasing treetop rookeries
for great egrets, great blue herons, and snowy egrets. Birds begin nesting in
January, lay eggs from March to May, and baby birds hatch about one month later,
from April to June. At Henderson Outlook, volunteers point viewing scopes to the
nesting trees, and visitors can spy on the birds as they sit on their eggs or
feed youngsters. Most people only make the short trek uphill to the outlook, but
there are a few other trails on the property, suitable for a few hours of hiking.
Although most of the preserve is forested with redwood, coast live oak, and California
bay, there is some grassland and chaparral.
Start near the ranch buildings on Griffin Loop
Trail, signed "Trails to Overlook Canyon Loop/Garden Club Canyon Nature
Trail." 
The
narrow hiking only trail starts in a mixture of buckeye, sagebrush, monkeyflower,
and poison oak, but soon ascends into a woodland of coast live oak, toyon, California
coffeeberry, Douglas fir, and California bay. At about 300 feet, you'll reach
Clem Miller Lookout, with a view west to Bolinas Lagoon. A few steps later the
trail splits, with the left fork descending. Bear right, following signs to
overlook.
Griffin Loop Trail leans left at a reroute, ascending
easily through shaded woods where yerba buena is common. At 0.20 mile, Cutoff
Trail breaks off to the left. Continue right on Griffin Loop Trail, again
following the sign for the overlook.
Look just off the left side of the trail for a bulbous
California bay. The grade picks up a bit, as the trail climbs through an area
with lots of coffeeberry, as well as snowberry, Douglas fir, 
coast
live oak, hazelnut, and California bay. Poison oak crowds the path in places.
At 0.40 mile, the path to the overlook departs on the right. Turn right,
and make note of the "Quiet: birds nesting" sign.
After a few steps downhill, you'll reach Henderson
Outlook. A forested ridge blocks most of the western view, but the attraction
here is the birds. When I visited in late June volunteers helped me pick out a
nest of great blue herons, and the egrets were impossible to miss: dozens of the
white birds were plainly visible in two tall redwood trees. With binoculars or
scopes you can get a good look, perhaps catching egrets arriving back at the nest
with a snack for their offspring. When you're ready to continue, retrace your
steps back to the previous junction, then turn right, continuing uphill on Griffin
Loop Trail. 
(If
you're ready to call it a day at the outlook, take the path downhill, Kent Trail,
which ends at the ranch's picnic area.)
The path narrows, and if you're wearing shorts
prepare to conduct a vigilance campaign against wandering poison oak tendrils.
Griffin Loop Trail ascends at a steady, moderately steep pace. In sunny stretches
you might see ceanothus, buckeye, and monkeyflower, while in the shade hazelnut
is a nearly constant understory companion to coast live oak and Douglas fir. The
upper reaches of the trail travel through pockets of huckleberry and redwood,
with some of the trees formed into perfect fairy circles. At 1.00 mile you'll
reach a signed junction with Zumie Loop Trail. Turn right, continuing on Griffin
Loop Trail.
Griffin Loop Trail levels out and widens a bit.
Along with a blend of redwood, hazelnut, huckleberry, Douglas fir, and California
bay, you may notice some tanoak. At 
1.31 miles you'll reach Picher Canyon Creek and a rest bench on the left. Elk
clover and ferns thrive along the creek, which runs year round, although you won't
see much water in summer and autumn. The trail persists through almost total tree
cover, with a few big-leaf maple and some creambush mixed through redwood and
California bay. Griffin Loop Trail steps out into a sunny spot, where coyote brush
is common, then reaches an unsigned junction at 1.85 miles. Turn right.
The grassy trail, which may be overgrown in late
spring, weaves through some Douglas fir, then emerges in a clearing, in the upper
reaches of a sloping meadow. Douglas fir block most of the view northwest, but
southwest there are sweeping views
of Bolinas Lagoon, Stinson Beach, and the ocean. Devine Bench sits on the left,
a perfect place for lunch on a clear day. When you're ready continue, now downhill,
on the cutoff, which ends at an unsigned junction at 1.95 miles. Turn right,
back onto Griffin Loop Trail.
Widened to fire road width here, the trail begins
a moderately steep descent. Coyote brush dominates the landscape, but orange-blossomed
sticky monkeyflower is conspicuous in late spring and early summer. Douglas fir
seem to be overtaking the hillside in fits and starts. By late June the grasses
were dry and golden, but there were a few lingering flax and brodiaea blooming
along the trail. At 2.33 miles dead-end Spring Trail sets off on the right. Continue
straight. At 2.40 miles Olive-Hyde Trail breaks off on the left (signed as
closed in June 2002). Continue straight on Griffin Loop Trail. Savor the
last of the views west, for the trail soon arches right, returning to a coast
live oak woodland. At about 2.59 miles, Griffin Loop Trail crosses a bridge and
ends, back at the ranch area.
Total distance: 2.59 miles
Last hiked: Saturday, June 29, 2002
Go to Bay Area Hiker Home page
Lagoon
Preserve opens to the public from mid-March to mid-July, showcasing treetop rookeries
for great egrets, great blue herons, and snowy egrets. Birds begin nesting in
January, lay eggs from March to May, and baby birds hatch about one month later,
from April to June. At Henderson Outlook, volunteers point viewing scopes to the
nesting trees, and visitors can spy on the birds as they sit on their eggs or
feed youngsters. Most people only make the short trek uphill to the outlook, but
there are a few other trails on the property, suitable for a few hours of hiking.
Although most of the preserve is forested with redwood, coast live oak, and California
bay, there is some grassland and chaparral.
The
narrow hiking only trail starts in a mixture of buckeye, sagebrush, monkeyflower,
and poison oak, but soon ascends into a woodland of coast live oak, toyon, California
coffeeberry, Douglas fir, and California bay. At about 300 feet, you'll reach
Clem Miller Lookout, with a view west to Bolinas Lagoon. A few steps later the
trail splits, with the left fork descending. Bear right, following signs to
overlook. 
coast
live oak, hazelnut, and California bay. Poison oak crowds the path in places.
At 0.40 mile, the path to the overlook departs on the right. Turn right,
and make note of the "Quiet: birds nesting" sign.
(If
you're ready to call it a day at the outlook, take the path downhill, Kent Trail,
which ends at the ranch's picnic area.)
1.31 miles you'll reach Picher Canyon Creek and a rest bench on the left. Elk
clover and ferns thrive along the creek, which runs year round, although you won't
see much water in summer and autumn. The trail persists through almost total tree
cover, with a few big-leaf maple and some creambush mixed through redwood and
California bay. Griffin Loop Trail steps out into a sunny spot, where coyote brush
is common, then reaches an unsigned junction at 1.85 miles. Turn right.
of Bolinas Lagoon, Stinson Beach, and the ocean. Devine Bench sits on the left,
a perfect place for lunch on a clear day. When you're ready continue, now downhill,
on the cutoff, which ends at an unsigned junction at 1.95 miles. Turn right,
back onto Griffin Loop Trail.