Mount Burdell Open Space (4/5) Hike Preview

This week we head to the Novato area to hike on Mount Burdell.

Here's Wendy's description of the hike: "This loop takes us by Hidden Lake, which hopefully will have water from these later rains. We may see Cream Cups, Tidy Tips, Baby Stars, and Balloon Clover as well as seven or eight species of butterflies. This is the only spot where Bitterroot, the Montana state flower, grows in Marin."  (Click here for a recap of our 2009 hike. Click here for an album of photos from past hikes.)

Directions to trailhead: Take Highway 101 north and take the San Marin Drive exit. Go west on San Marin Drive. Turn right on San Andreas Drive. The entrance to the Open Space will be on your right.

If you come to the dead end of San Andreas you've only gone about half a block too far. No lot, but plenty of curbside parking.

Click here for a MapQuest map showing the trailhead location. Click on #1 to get driving time and directions from your location.

30 minutes from College of Marin.

Carpoolers can meet at 9:15 am at the Park & Ride lot on the east side of Highway 101 at Smith Ranch Road in the Terra Linda area north of the Marin Civic Center and downtown San Rafael. Click here for a MapQuest map showing the location of the lot. Click on #1 to get driving time and directions from your location.

No restrooms on this hike, but you can use the one at the Starbuck's in the shopping center at the intersection of San Marin Drive and San Andreas Drive, just down the street from the trailhead. (Click here to get a MapQuest map and driving directions.)

Weather forecast: As of Wednesday, March 30th, the National Weather Service forecast for the day of the hike was mostly sunny, with a high near 70. (Click here for an updated forecast).

More on this hike: Hike "E13 Old Quarry Trail to Mt. Burdell" in the Martin's book, Hiking Marin, shows the general area that we'll be hiking in, although we'll probably turn left at intersection #2 and head directly to Hidden Lake rather than climb all of the way to the summit of the mountain as shown on the Martin's map.

Click here for a Mount Burdell Open Space Preserve map from the Marin County Open Space District's Web site.

Here's the vertical profile and route for the hike.

The Google Earth image below shows where we'll be hiking. (Click on the photo to open a larger image in your Web browser).