Marin County Hikes

I’m Tim Kizirian, closing this Marin series with a route that rarely trends on social feeds: the 5.7-mile out-and-back from the Gary Giacomini Preserve gate to San Geronimo Ridge. It’s fire road, 1,250 feet total climb, and on many Saturdays I meet fewer than six people. Access Gate on San Geronimo Valley Drive, five minutes west of Fairfax. Ten paved pullout spaces. Arrive by 8 a.m. to avoid being the car on the blind bend. Climb phase The first 1.9 miles ascend Del Gaspi Fire Road—steady eight-percent grade under bay laurel canopy. I treat it like a treadmill: even pace, minimum pauses, similar to walking the aisles in a Chico audit file room back in the day—functional, not flashy. Ridge walk At the saddle you intersect Pine Mountain Road. Turn west for 0.8 mile to the viewpoint—Lagunitas watershed, Sonoma peaks, and Inverness Ridge lined up like columns on a balance sheet. I stay ten minutes max: photo, snack, brief gear check. Return Backtrack. Total moving time two...

Tim here again. If you paddle only one flat-water spot in Point Reyes, make it Drakes Estero—four narrow fingers of bay water that close to power boats after March 1 and stay blissfully quiet through summer. It’s a day trip you can drive from Chico, paddle, and return before bed. Launch logistics Put in at the Crown Road dirt lot. High-tide launch times vary, so check NOAA table “Drakes Entrance.” I aim for 1.5 hours before peak so the incoming tide carries me in and the ebb helps me out. Gear rundown 14-foot touring kayak, skirt, PFD, 2 liters water, dry bag with shell and sandwich. No fancy fish-finder or sail; wind is unpredictable past noon. Route I paddle two miles up the Home Bay finger, hugging southern shore to watch bat rays in four-foot water. Harbor seals loaf on mudflats; maintain the mandated 100-yard buffer. At the narrow top I beach on a shelly bar, eat half the sandwich, and note tide slack in my logbook. Total paddle time upriver: 45 minutes. Return Ebb...