Deer
Island Open Space Preserve, One of the first things you may notice at 
Deer
Island is that it is a popular place for dog walking. Almost any time of
day you'll likely cross paths with locals and their canine friends. Deer Island's
easy 2-mile loop trail provides terrific daily exercise for man and beast (as
well as grandma, mom, and child). The loop trail skirts this 134-acre preserve
oddly situated on the edge of a mixed industrial and residential neighborhood,
where you'll find oak grassland, California bay woods, and substantial wildlife.
I think of Deer Island as a real island; a sea-level enclave where a little
ecosystem thrives.
Start at the junction immediately
past the entrance stile. Bear left on signed Deer Island Loop Trail.
The narrow flat trail, open to hikers and equestrians only, runs through grassland,
parallel to a road servicing a junkyard and storage units. Be grateful
to be on this side of the fence. In August and September you may notice
the "local color", as the preserve's ample supplies of poison oak turn brilliant
red. Deer Island Loop Trail climbs gently through a dense patch of California
bays. 
As
the woods thin to mixed oak grassland, traffic sounds from Atherton Avenue and
Highway 37 are audible. But on Deer Island, it's amazing to witness the
dramas of the natural world. You may see geese flying in formation and
a woodpecker settling on an overhead branch. On one hike, copious amounts
of skunk fur were scattered under a California bay. Vultures and hawks
commonly keep a look out for squirrels preoccupied with acorn hunting. Many
of Deer Island's small mammals dine happily on curly dock; the reddish seeds
of that plant are evident in their scat in autumn. In spring, you might
see purple Ithuriel's spear and bluedicks. Deer Island Loop Trail winds under
mostly California bays, with a few white oak, coast live oak, and buckeye for
company. There's a huge fig tree on the left side of the trail, ignored and
gnarled, but still producing fruit. At 0.44 mile, a spur trail heads out of
the preserve to the left. Continue on Deer Island Loop Trail. Just a
bit further along, De Borba Trail heads uphill at a signed junction at 0.58
mile. (This trail is an option. For a hike that's a little shorter, but with
more elevation gain and loss, turn right and ascend to the preserve's high point,
then descend to the junction with Deer Island Loop Trail, a few feet from the
trailhead.) Remain straight on Deer Island Loop Trail.
The marshes of Novato Creek, and
water treatment ponds are visible on the left. Look for two shallow caves off
to the east (hill) side of the trail. I've always been too chicken to check
them out. Coast live oaks dominate the landscape, but also look for blue and
black oaks (most conspicuous in autumn when they shed their leaves). One August
when I was here, thistles had shed their seeds and it appeared to have snowed
along the trail. I think this stretch of trail is the loveliest, with a
view to Big Rock Ridge across 101, and graceful coast live oaks and buckeyes
in the grassland. You will probably see raptors overhead, and deer are
common. In the winter the air is still and the hillsides brighten with
green fresh grass. By May, the grass is waist high and choked with thistles.
Deer Island Loop Trail passes a perfectly shaped buckeye tree. In mid spring
the sweet smell of its blossoms waft through the air. At 1.76 miles, a dead-end
path, Russell Antonio Trail, begins on the left. Stay to the right on Deer
Island Loop Trail.
You'll pass an old fallen-down house to the left.
On a May hike here, I came upon a dead squirrel in the middle of the trail.
The squirrel had obviously not died a natural death. Bobcat or coyote? I couldn't
tell. As you return to the parking lot, a few steps before the end of the loop,
the other end of De Borba Trail meets Deer Island Loop Trail at a signed junction.
Continue straight to the trailhead.
Total distance: 1.78 miles
Last hiked: Wednesday,
May 9, 2001
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