Colier Spring Trail from Lake Lagunitas
(scroll to bottom for photo gallery)
Lake Lagunitas, Marin Watershed, southwest of Fairfax, CA
Location: Lake Lagunitas is one of five lakes in the Marin Watershed (Marin Municipal Water District).
For those on US Rte. 101, get onto Sir Francis Drake Blvd, which runs through a large section of Marin County, including Fairfax. In downtown Fairfax, from Sir Francis Drake, get onto Bolinas Road (Bolinas-Fairfax Road on some maps). This requires a tricky extra link via Pacheco and Broadway, depending on which direction one is driving from. (This is what maps are made for).
Follow Bolinas Road as it goes past Deer Park. Watch for the left turn onto Sky Oaks Road. The pay station on Sky Oaks Road has automated machines for purchasing parking passes, which are required.
Drive past the turnoff for the road to Bon Tempe Dam, staying on Sky Oaks Road as it veers to the right. A few dips, twists and turns will bring you to the Lake Lagunitas parking lot.
Links (if a link doesn’t jump directly, copy and paste into browser):
Mt. Tam Watershed information (Marin Water):
https://www.marinwater.org/mt-tam-watershed
Mt. Tam project and road status info (CA State Parks):
https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=471
Mt. Tam Watershed map (Marin Water):
https://www.marinwater.org/sites/default/files/2020-09/Watershed%20Visitor%20Map.pdf
Distance:
From the Lake Lagunitas parking lot to Colier Trail trailhead is about 0.7 miles. The full length of the Colier Trail is 1.5 miles, about 1.1 miles to Colier Spring. Our excursion covered in this photo gallery stopped just shy of Colier Spring.
Considerations:
• Be sure to stop at the pay station on Sky Oaks Road to pay the modest parking fee. It’s not worth getting a ticket.
• There is quite a bit of parking space at Lake Lagunitas, though as is the case everywhere, weekends and holidays are when spaces may be harder to find.
• Facilities include portable toilets and various picnic table areas.
The trail:
Starting from the parking area, there is a creek and forest area with a log cabin style structure marking the main picnic area. As you look in that direction you’ll see the wooden structure that runs diagonally up a hill with stairs leading along the lake spillway.
Walk up the stairs, and you’ll be at the edge of Lake Lagunitas.
Turn right and follow the fire road/trail that curves along the lake, starting westward, then going south and curving eastward as you go around a pointy turn in the lake. (Don’t take the Lagunitas Rock Spring Fire Road turn, which is a turn we missed to go to Hidden Lake, subject of a future post.) Watch for a smaller trail sign for Colier Spring Trail to Colier Spring.
The path is pretty wide starting out, leading to some wooden footbridges. The path gets narrower and appears to be less-travelled and not as frequently maintained as some of the other main trails.
There are some beautiful redwoods along this trail. At some point, the trail narrows more, and gets steeper. There are some mountain goat-friendly rocky twists and turns to climb over here and there. The real cardio effort actually comes more from some extended steeper grades.
Keep an eye out for wildlife, including the rough skinned newt, which we spent some time with on our hike. There are also water fowl to watch for on Lake Lagunitas.
The hike back down is way easier than the climb up, so choosing the Colier Spring Trail with the lake as a starting spot makes for an easier ending to an out-and-back hike on this trail.
(Colier Spring Trail from Lake Lagunitas Hike Notes were originally paired with the “The Accidental Steep Trail” Insights post.)
Click Insights/Hike Update News for inspiring reflections. Browse hikes on the main Hikes page or on the Hike Search by Area page. Check out selected articles and interviews under Media. Click World Walks to see or share favorite family-friendly walks! Stay in touch with Lisa Louis and HikingAutism via Contact. See products with inspiring designs that support the efforts of HikingAutism under Support/Shop. The Links page lists a loose collection of helpful information links.
Check the Home page for the broader background story. If you’re not able to take one of these Northern California hikes, hopefully you can enjoy the photo galleries at the bottom of each hike page! Feel free to share and follow on Facebook at HikingAutism, follow on Twitter at @HikingAutism and Instagram at lisalouis777
(scroll to bottom for photo gallery)
Lake Lagunitas, Marin Watershed, southwest of Fairfax, CA
Location: Lake Lagunitas is one of five lakes in the Marin Watershed (Marin Municipal Water District).
For those on US Rte. 101, get onto Sir Francis Drake Blvd, which runs through a large section of Marin County, including Fairfax. In downtown Fairfax, from Sir Francis Drake, get onto Bolinas Road (Bolinas-Fairfax Road on some maps). This requires a tricky extra link via Pacheco and Broadway, depending on which direction one is driving from. (This is what maps are made for).
Follow Bolinas Road as it goes past Deer Park. Watch for the left turn onto Sky Oaks Road. The pay station on Sky Oaks Road has automated machines for purchasing parking passes, which are required.
Drive past the turnoff for the road to Bon Tempe Dam, staying on Sky Oaks Road as it veers to the right. A few dips, twists and turns will bring you to the Lake Lagunitas parking lot.
Links (if a link doesn’t jump directly, copy and paste into browser):
Mt. Tam Watershed information (Marin Water):
https://www.marinwater.org/mt-tam-watershed
Mt. Tam project and road status info (CA State Parks):
https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=471
Mt. Tam Watershed map (Marin Water):
https://www.marinwater.org/sites/default/files/2020-09/Watershed%20Visitor%20Map.pdf
Distance:
From the Lake Lagunitas parking lot to Colier Trail trailhead is about 0.7 miles. The full length of the Colier Trail is 1.5 miles, about 1.1 miles to Colier Spring. Our excursion covered in this photo gallery stopped just shy of Colier Spring.
Considerations:
• Be sure to stop at the pay station on Sky Oaks Road to pay the modest parking fee. It’s not worth getting a ticket.
• There is quite a bit of parking space at Lake Lagunitas, though as is the case everywhere, weekends and holidays are when spaces may be harder to find.
• Facilities include portable toilets and various picnic table areas.
The trail:
Starting from the parking area, there is a creek and forest area with a log cabin style structure marking the main picnic area. As you look in that direction you’ll see the wooden structure that runs diagonally up a hill with stairs leading along the lake spillway.
Walk up the stairs, and you’ll be at the edge of Lake Lagunitas.
Turn right and follow the fire road/trail that curves along the lake, starting westward, then going south and curving eastward as you go around a pointy turn in the lake. (Don’t take the Lagunitas Rock Spring Fire Road turn, which is a turn we missed to go to Hidden Lake, subject of a future post.) Watch for a smaller trail sign for Colier Spring Trail to Colier Spring.
The path is pretty wide starting out, leading to some wooden footbridges. The path gets narrower and appears to be less-travelled and not as frequently maintained as some of the other main trails.
There are some beautiful redwoods along this trail. At some point, the trail narrows more, and gets steeper. There are some mountain goat-friendly rocky twists and turns to climb over here and there. The real cardio effort actually comes more from some extended steeper grades.
Keep an eye out for wildlife, including the rough skinned newt, which we spent some time with on our hike. There are also water fowl to watch for on Lake Lagunitas.
The hike back down is way easier than the climb up, so choosing the Colier Spring Trail with the lake as a starting spot makes for an easier ending to an out-and-back hike on this trail.
(Colier Spring Trail from Lake Lagunitas Hike Notes were originally paired with the “The Accidental Steep Trail” Insights post.)
Click Insights/Hike Update News for inspiring reflections. Browse hikes on the main Hikes page or on the Hike Search by Area page. Check out selected articles and interviews under Media. Click World Walks to see or share favorite family-friendly walks! Stay in touch with Lisa Louis and HikingAutism via Contact. See products with inspiring designs that support the efforts of HikingAutism under Support/Shop. The Links page lists a loose collection of helpful information links.
Check the Home page for the broader background story. If you’re not able to take one of these Northern California hikes, hopefully you can enjoy the photo galleries at the bottom of each hike page! Feel free to share and follow on Facebook at HikingAutism, follow on Twitter at @HikingAutism and Instagram at lisalouis777
