Bald Hill (Marin County)

Page Type Page Type: Mountain/Rock
Location Lat/Lon: 37.96728°N / 122.5803°W
Additional Information County: Marin
Activities Activities: Hiking
Additional Information Elevation: 1141 ft / 348 m
Sign the Climber's Log

Overview

 
Mt. Tamalpais from Bald Hill
Mt. Tamalpais from Bald Hill
Bald Hill is centrally located just west above the town of San Anselmo and less than 3 miles north of Mt. Tamalpais in the Marin Municipal Water District Watershed. The top and rolling south slope are indeed open and grassy with a forested north slope characteristic of many hills in the area. This is an easy to moderate walk-up hike that can be done in a couple of hours or less from several different trailheads around the hill. The 2 main ones are featured on this page. The summit offers fine 360 views of the county and the north bay. The view of the north side of Mt. Tamalpais is outstanding.

Getting There

 
Bald Hill from the west
Bald Hill from the west
 
East panorama from Bald Hill
East from Bald Hill



From Deer Park
: From Hwy. 101 take Sir Francis Drake Blvd exit west 3.8 miles to The Hub in San Anselmo. Turn left on Center Blvd. and go 1.7 miles to Bolinas Road in downtown Fairfax. Turn left and go .4 miles to Porteous at the green Deer Park sign. Turn left on Porteous and go .5 miles driving slowly down the narrow road of the neighborhood to the parking lot in Deer Park. From here there are a few approaches to the top of Bald Hill. Click on this link for a TRAIL MAP of the Bald Hill Open Space Preserve.
The Deer Park Trail to Worn Springs Fire Road is just under 1,000' gain and about 3 miles round trip.

From Natalie Coffin Green Park: From Sir Francis Drake Blvd exit on Hwy. 101 go west 2.6 miles to Lagunitas Road. Turn left and go 1.3 miles to the parking lot. Click on the link above for the trail map.
The Worn Springs Fire Road from the right of Phoenix Lake is just over 1,000' gain and a little over 3 miles round trip.
TAKE NOTE: This parking lot is small, limited and fills up fast especially on weekends. If you don't get there early chances are you won't find a space.
This wouldn't be a problem except for the fact that there is no parking allowed at all along Lagunitas Road! I recommend the Deer Park approach from Fairfax which is a more scenic route anyway.


Red Tape

 
West from Bald Hill
West from Bald Hill
 
Red Tape sign
 
Click on this sign.

Camping

 
South from Bald Hill
South from Bald Hill
 
Passing Cloud Patterns
south slope
There is no camping on Bald Hill or in the Marin County Water District.

Current weather and 5 day forecast

For the San Anselmo weather forecast click here.