Mount Burdell Open Space Preserve: Loop trail in Novato nice for nature lovers, picnickers
You don’t have to climb to the 1,500-foot summit of Mount Burdell in Novato to see great views, grassy hillsides, oak and bay forests, spring wildflowers, and serpentine outcroppings. This 1,600-acre preserve managed by the Marin County Open Space District offers multiple trails — including a 3-mile loop that takes you past a seasonal hidden lake with croaking frogs, a spring and an oak tree that serves as a granary for acorn woodpeckers.
The loop is mostly on fire roads, so you will share the trail with bikers, equestrians and possibly the occasional cow. Pick a cool day and bring water and a hat. There are no services at Mount Burdell. If you are planning a picnic lunch, you can stop at the shopping center at San Marin Drive and San Andreas Drive to pick up sandwiches or sandwich fixings at the Harvest Market (155 San Marin Drive) and also use the clean restrooms.
Before you go, you can download a map at http://bit.ly/ 15a9MF5.
The fire roads
At San Andreas Drive, go through the MCOSD gate, and start up the San Andreas fire road. If the gate is locked, go through the cattle gate to your right and meet up with the fire road near the kiosk. The trail is uphill for the first quarter mile but then levels off. Look at the dramatic rock formations to your left. You soon come to a quiet valley (sometimes called Bowl Meadow) with valley oak peppering the hillsides. You will probably see squirrels and, if you’re lucky, a deer or fox. Bluebirds hover in the air, juncos peck at the ground, and hawks soar overhead.
There are a number of side roads (marked and unmarked), but stay on the San Andreas fire road until you come to Middle Burdell, another fire road that climbs gently toward the summit. Turn right and continue on Middle Burdell past the Cobblestone Fire Road turnoff. If there has been rain, you can find Hidden Lake off on the right. But if it’s been dry, this seasonal lake is so hidden that it doesn’t exist except as a mildly marshy spot, fenced to keep the cattle out.
When you see San Francisco Bay, it’s time to search for a suitable rock to use as your picnic table and pull out your sandwich. Don’t look for any benches because there aren’t any. Then, continue past a marker for Old Quarry Trail. (This steep footpath takes you straight uphill toward the summit.)
After passing Two Brick Spring, which is one of a dozen natural springs on the mountain, turn right onto the San Carlos fire road. Here the sight of Novato homes reminds you that you are not far from civilization. This trail meanders along through some shady groves, crossing the Old Quarry Trail again and the Salt Lick fire road on its way to the Michako Trail.
Michako Trail
This is your chance to get off the fire roads and onto a more rugged hiking trail, closed to bicycles. At the intersection of the San Carlos fire road and the Michako Trail is an oak much beloved by acorn woodpeckers, who stash a supply of acorns in small holes in the tree trunk. Depending on the time of year, you can see the acorn woodpeckers with their clown-like faces, the acorns or just the holes.
The Michako Trail winds along the grassy hillside, crossing several streams and lots of side trails. (Don’t take them.) Although most wildflowers are past their bloom, you can still enjoy plentiful California poppies, buttercups and purple vetch. Eventually, the trail joins the Big Tank fire road, which shortly comes to a four-way juncture. Continue straight ahead on the unsigned San Marin fire road, which ends at the San Andreas fire road and your starting point.