Marin hike: A beautiful lakeside hike with an optional climb
For my initial column, I have chosen a hike that has it all: lake, creek, mountain, forest, clearings, and sometimes interesting wildlife. The Lake Lagunitas hike with Mount Tamalpais above and forest all around feels like the Sierra. For those seeking beautiful panoramic views, you can extend the hike with a steep climb to the top of Pilot Knob. We will brush shoulders with history, immerse ourselves in nature, and celebrate one of Marin’s hiking joys.
• Hike summary: The hike around Lake Lagunitas is an easy, relatively flat (some up and down) circle hike of 1.6 miles around the lake, with an optional extension of 1.6 miles with a steep climb to the top of Pilot Knob.
• Getting there: Take Bolinas Road out of Fairfax to Sky Oaks. Turn left on Sky Oaks, and drive slowly upward to the top and over, where you will pass by a ranger’s admission booth (generally unoccupied). About 50 yards farther, pull off to the right, and purchase an automobile day pass for $8 from the ticket machine. Drive to Lake Lagunitas slowly on the main paved road to its end, and park in one of the many parking slots.
• The hike: From the parking lot, walk up the dirt road’s moderate incline of about 150 yards to Lake Lagunitas and its dam. Turn right and walk the length of the dam to the wooden platform at the end. There, our trail is on the left and the lake’s spillway on the right. Mt. Tam and its peaks rise high above. Looking directly back across the dam, you will see a prominent hill, Pilot Knob, the destination for our optional extension.
Lake Lagunitas was dammed 150 years ago, in 1873, to capture the water flow of Lagunitas Creek and create a reservoir for the county’s first water system. The creek, Marin’s watery lifeblood, continues past Lake Lagunitas to pour into three additional Marin Municipal Water District reservoirs before emptying into Tomales Bay.
From the dam, except in winter, you can often see sunning Pacific pond turtles, cormorants, and ducks. There is a chance to view an osprey cruising high above the lake and diving for its fish prey.
From the platform, take the sloping path to the left and begin our counter-clockwise circle of the lake among redwoods, Douglas fir, tanbark oak, live oaks, a few alders bordering the lake, and laurel or bay trees. You’ll soon reach the west fork of Lagunitas Creek and cross the wooden bridge over it. One of the creek’s three forks flowing into Lake Lagunitas, you’ll also cross the other two.
From a still pool of water you may hear a newt or frog plop into the water and then see it. Notice the large stands of cattails in various areas around the lake.
As you continue to the middle fork of Lagunitas Creek and cross its bridge, you can see that the surrounding woods are fairly open. In the last two years, MMWD has partnered with One Tam to thin and clear the woods around the lake and Pilot Knob to promote a healthy forest, to protect MMWD’s watershed from catastrophic wildfires, and to restore the forest generally to the way it was in Native American times.
After crossing the east fork of Lagunitas Creek and its bridge, continue up an incline to where our path meets a dirt road, Lakeview Road. Here, turn left to continue our walk around the lake or turn right to take the steep hike to the top of Pilot Knob.
Turning left on the lakeside hike, you’ll encounter open views of the lake before entering the woods again, later pass by a ranger’s house uphill on the right, and soon come to the stairs down to the dam. You may hear and see acorn woodpeckers that are often present during the warmer months. Carefully descend the stairs, holding the handrail if necessary, and continue down the fire road to your car.
For those turning right to climb Pilot Knob, you’ll walk a relatively flat .2 miles until you see a sign on the left for the Pilot Knob trail. Take the trail and see along it some large madrone trees, their branches and trunks often smooth and naked of bark and colored light or reddish-brown.
The Pilot Knob trail, relatively easy at first and then steep, runs for about .3 miles where it flattens before descending. There, look for a spur trail to the left and climb it to the Pilot Knob summit. Inhale and rejoice in the panoramic view. Gaze down on Lake Lagunitas straight ahead and Bon Tempe Lake on the right. To the left, take in Mt. Tam reigning above. To the east, view the bay, the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, and in the distance, Mount Diablo.
When you are ready to descend, take the spur trail back to the Pilot Knob trail, turn left, and follow the trail down to the sign for Lakeview Road. Turn left and follow the dirt road down to the path around the lake, where you turn right to complete the hike.
Next column, we adventure!
A longtime avid hiker and Marin resident, Jim Holden is the author of two nonfiction books: “It Happened in Marin” and “Adventurous Lives, Daring Acts.” He can be reached at MarinhikingJim@gmail.com.