Old
St. Hilary's Open Space Preserve,
Marin County Open Space District,
Marin County
In brief:
1 mile loop on a grassy ridge with million dollar views of the bay and San Francisco.
Getting there:
From US 101 in Marin County, exit Tiburon Boulevard. Drive east about 3.5 miles,
and turn left on Lyford Drive. Drive about 0.8 mile uphill, and bear left on Sugarloaf
(Lyford ends to the right, and another access gate to the preserve is visible).
Drive 0.1 mile more, and turn right onto Heathcliff. Continue a short distance
to the end of the road.
Trailhead details:
Side of the road parking in a residential neighborhood. No parking or entrance
fees. No maps, or toilet facilities. No designated handicapped parking, and trails
are not wheelchair accessible. There is no direct public transportation to the
preserve, but Golden Gate Transit's #10 bus runs on Tiburon Boulevard, and you
could walk uphill to the preserve from there.
Gas, food, and lodging:
Gas, pay phone, stores, and restaurants a few miles east or west on Tiburon Boulevard.
No camping.
Distance, category, and difficulty:
This 1 mile loop hike is easy, with about 75 feet in elevation change.
Rules:
Trails are multi-use. Dogs are permitted on leash on trails; off leash under voice
command on fire roads. Dog owners must have a leash for each dog.
The Official Story:
MCOSD's
Old St. Hilary's page
MCOSD field office 415-499-6405
Map Choices/More Info:
• Use AAA's Mill Valley and Vicinity map to get there.
• Download the pdf
map from the MCOSD website.
• Barry Spitz's Open Spaces has a simple map and preserve descriptions
(order
this book from Amazon.com).
• Don and Kay Martin's Hiking Marin has a useful map of the preserve
and the surrounding area (order
this book from Amazon.com).
• View 28 photos from this hike.
The million dollar views enjoyed by residents
of the Tiburon peninsula can be yours too, during the time you spend at Old St.
Hilary's Open Space Preserve. Expansive vistas of San Francisco, the Golden Gate
Bridge, Angel Island, and the Marin Headlands make Old St. Hilary's a must for
folks searching for the perfect picnic spot with a view. This small parcel of
ridgetop grassland, just 117 acres, is an enclave for spring wildflowers (common
and rare), and the trails provide great exercise for locals and their dogs.
Old St. Hilary's hosts two official trails, although
some unofficial paths are well-worn. Vistazo Fire Road crosses through grassland
further down the hill, and can be accessed by either end of Vistazo Street. Vistazo
Fire Road is a little over a quarter mile long, and does not connect to the preserve's
main, ridgetop trail, Heathcliff Fire Road. You may want to combine a visit to
Old St. Hilary's Open Space Preserve with a stop at Old St. Hilary's Church and
the
surrounding botanical gardens, both in the preserve's southern corner. The pathway
to the church is off Vistazo West (for more information and a map, visit the Belvedere-Tiburon
Landmarks Society webpage, above).
Start at the open space gate at the end of Heathcliff.
Heathcliff Fire Road, open to hikers, cyclists, and equestrians, skirts a small
rocky outcrop, then sweeps through grassland and begins a brief climb. Right away
you'll have great views of the Golden Gate Bridge and the Marin Headlands. When
I visited in March, weeks away from spring, the grass was dotted with Fremont's
camas, suncups, checker-blooms, and johnny-jump-ups. Coyote brush shrubs punctuate
the hillsides. Ignore a side path that heads right, and continue south
on Heathcliff Fire Road. The wide dirt trail descends briefly, then regains altitude
and climbs a bit more to a crest. 
From
here you'll have perhaps the bay area's premier view of Angel Island, as
well as San Francisco and the east bay. Heathcliff Fire Road drops sharply
to the preserve's border, at 0.43 mile. From here, a trail continues onto private
land (luxury houses may be built on this land, but a battle rages and the
outcome is uncertain), on the other side of a fence. Walk past the open space
sign, and turn right onto a small unsigned path before you reach the fence
(or, if you like, retrace your steps to the trailhead on Heathcliff Fire Road).
Irises and bluedicks may be seen flowering together
in late winter off the side of the path. The unnamed path descends and ascends
gently, then drops down to a creek crossing. A plum tree flowers near a clump
of poison oak and coyote brush. Boards help you cross the creek during wet months,
and the path continues across the hillside. In spring, look for blossoms on lupine
as well as false lupine on the sides of the path. As houses come closer into view,
stay to the right as the path splits at 0.77 mile; the left leg ends at
the Lyford Drive Trailhead.
The path heads back to the ridge line, climbing
easily through coyote brush and grassland. At the crest, the path joins Heathcliff
Fire Road at a previously encountered junction, at 0.89 mile. Turn left and
retrace your steps to the trailhead, savoring the views north.
Total distance: 1 mile
Last hiked: Tuesday, March 6, 2001
Go to Bay Area Hiker Home page
of the Tiburon peninsula can be yours too, during the time you spend at Old St.
Hilary's Open Space Preserve. Expansive vistas of San Francisco, the Golden Gate
Bridge, Angel Island, and the Marin Headlands make Old St. Hilary's a must for
folks searching for the perfect picnic spot with a view. This small parcel of
ridgetop grassland, just 117 acres, is an enclave for spring wildflowers (common
and rare), and the trails provide great exercise for locals and their dogs.
surrounding botanical gardens, both in the preserve's southern corner. The pathway
to the church is off Vistazo West (for more information and a map, visit the Belvedere-Tiburon
Landmarks Society webpage, above).
From
here you'll have perhaps the bay area's premier view of Angel Island, as
well as San Francisco and the east bay. Heathcliff Fire Road drops sharply
to the preserve's border, at 0.43 mile. From here, a trail continues onto private
land (luxury houses may be built on this land, but a battle rages and the
outcome is uncertain), on the other side of a fence. Walk past the open space
sign, and turn right onto a small unsigned path before you reach the fence
(or, if you like, retrace your steps to the trailhead on Heathcliff Fire Road).