David Hansen Trail-Roy’s Redwoods
(scroll to bottom for photo gallery)
Location: Roy’s Redwoods Preserve near Woodacre and San Geronimo, CA
Starting Point: Trailhead parking is along the road near the intersection of Nicasio Valley Road and West Nicasio Road, off Sir Francis Drake Blvd. between San Anselmo and Samuel P. Taylor State Park. The David Hansen Trail (previously called the Roy’s Redwoods Nature Trail) is a smaller trail that loops around a peak inside the Roy’s Redwoods Loop Trail, starting a little under a half mile from the trailhead when walking northeast on the Roy’s Redwoods Loop Trail.
Info links:
For all web links, if a link doesn’t jump directly, copy and paste into browser.
Roy’s Redwoods info link (Marin County Parks):
https://www.parks.marincounty.org/parkspreserves/preserves/roys-redwoods
Also suggested:
https://www.redwoodhikes.com/Roys/Roys.html
https://www.marinmommies.com/hiking-kids-roys-redwoods-open-space-preserve
Distance:
The David Hansen Trail is approximately 0.35 miles, jutting south off the Roy’s Redwoods Loop Trail, and culminating in a small loop at the peak. This is a nice short side excursion from the main hikes available from the trailhead. (Hikers could walk the half mile to the David Hansen Trail start, add that 0.35 miles, and return the half mile back to the trailhead for the shortest option of 1.35 miles.) Roy’s Redwoods Preserve covers 293 acres, with multiple trail options. The full Roy’s Redwoods Loop Trail (excluding the David Hansen Trail) is approximately 2.5 miles.
Considerations:
• There is a port-a-potty with handwash station at the trailhead, despite official sites saying no toilets.
• The loop trail is a mixture of shade and open sun. Bring sun protection and water. The David Hansen Trail itself is mostly shady, but is reached via more open trail.
• Poison oak is prevalent along some stretches of trail. Learn to identify and avoid touching. A scrub like Tecnu is handy in case of contact.
• Check for ticks after hiking.
• Heed health, safety and wildlife notices.
The trail:
(Some of this description overlaps with the Roy’s Redwoods Loop Trail Hike Notes, since it starts at the same trailhead and covers some of the same ground to reach the David Hansen Trail start.)
We were pleasantly surprised to find roadside parking a short distance from the trailhead (look for a port-a-potty structure visible from the road) on Nicasio Valley Road, even on a Mother’s Day Sunday with beautiful weather.
I’d read that there really aren’t a whole lot of redwoods at Roy’s Redwoods Preserve, so we soaked up a bit of redwood atmosphere in the trailhead grove along a creek before starting on the trail.
The Loop Trail offered a lovely mixture of bay and oak trees through dappled shadowy trails, and open stretches with soft, rolling hills in view. We chose to take an extra excursion uphill to the center of the Loop Trail by taking the David Hansen Trail, which we’d read includes more redwood trees than the Loop Trail.
This proved to be true. We saw more redwoods during our David Hansen Trail leg of our hike than we did on other parts of the Roy’s Redwoods Loop other than the grove of redwoods by the creek near the trailhead.
There is a distinctive open area about half a mile along the Roy’s Redwoods Loop Trail where the trail sign for the David Hansen Trail marks a path into the forest. Though there were no extremely steep parts of this trail, there is some climbing to get to the forested loop area, again marked by a David Hansen Trail marker where the miniature loop starts.
Typical of many other redwood forests, this shady trail was partially lined by ferns and moss. We noticed many charred redwood trunks. The trees were still living, but clearly had been through fire trauma.
This short extra trail gave us a chance to get a shade break on a sunny day, and offered the chance to see many more redwood trees than we would have if we had only taken the main loop trail. It was worth the extra energy to walk up some inclines to get a feel for the namesake redwoods of this nature preserve.
David Hansen Trail-Roy’s Redwoods Hike Notes were originally paired with the “Taking the Extra Step” 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)
Location: Roy’s Redwoods Preserve near Woodacre and San Geronimo, CA
Starting Point: Trailhead parking is along the road near the intersection of Nicasio Valley Road and West Nicasio Road, off Sir Francis Drake Blvd. between San Anselmo and Samuel P. Taylor State Park. The David Hansen Trail (previously called the Roy’s Redwoods Nature Trail) is a smaller trail that loops around a peak inside the Roy’s Redwoods Loop Trail, starting a little under a half mile from the trailhead when walking northeast on the Roy’s Redwoods Loop Trail.
Info links:
For all web links, if a link doesn’t jump directly, copy and paste into browser.
Roy’s Redwoods info link (Marin County Parks):
https://www.parks.marincounty.org/parkspreserves/preserves/roys-redwoods
Also suggested:
https://www.redwoodhikes.com/Roys/Roys.html
https://www.marinmommies.com/hiking-kids-roys-redwoods-open-space-preserve
Distance:
The David Hansen Trail is approximately 0.35 miles, jutting south off the Roy’s Redwoods Loop Trail, and culminating in a small loop at the peak. This is a nice short side excursion from the main hikes available from the trailhead. (Hikers could walk the half mile to the David Hansen Trail start, add that 0.35 miles, and return the half mile back to the trailhead for the shortest option of 1.35 miles.) Roy’s Redwoods Preserve covers 293 acres, with multiple trail options. The full Roy’s Redwoods Loop Trail (excluding the David Hansen Trail) is approximately 2.5 miles.
Considerations:
• There is a port-a-potty with handwash station at the trailhead, despite official sites saying no toilets.
• The loop trail is a mixture of shade and open sun. Bring sun protection and water. The David Hansen Trail itself is mostly shady, but is reached via more open trail.
• Poison oak is prevalent along some stretches of trail. Learn to identify and avoid touching. A scrub like Tecnu is handy in case of contact.
• Check for ticks after hiking.
• Heed health, safety and wildlife notices.
The trail:
(Some of this description overlaps with the Roy’s Redwoods Loop Trail Hike Notes, since it starts at the same trailhead and covers some of the same ground to reach the David Hansen Trail start.)
We were pleasantly surprised to find roadside parking a short distance from the trailhead (look for a port-a-potty structure visible from the road) on Nicasio Valley Road, even on a Mother’s Day Sunday with beautiful weather.
I’d read that there really aren’t a whole lot of redwoods at Roy’s Redwoods Preserve, so we soaked up a bit of redwood atmosphere in the trailhead grove along a creek before starting on the trail.
The Loop Trail offered a lovely mixture of bay and oak trees through dappled shadowy trails, and open stretches with soft, rolling hills in view. We chose to take an extra excursion uphill to the center of the Loop Trail by taking the David Hansen Trail, which we’d read includes more redwood trees than the Loop Trail.
This proved to be true. We saw more redwoods during our David Hansen Trail leg of our hike than we did on other parts of the Roy’s Redwoods Loop other than the grove of redwoods by the creek near the trailhead.
There is a distinctive open area about half a mile along the Roy’s Redwoods Loop Trail where the trail sign for the David Hansen Trail marks a path into the forest. Though there were no extremely steep parts of this trail, there is some climbing to get to the forested loop area, again marked by a David Hansen Trail marker where the miniature loop starts.
Typical of many other redwood forests, this shady trail was partially lined by ferns and moss. We noticed many charred redwood trunks. The trees were still living, but clearly had been through fire trauma.
This short extra trail gave us a chance to get a shade break on a sunny day, and offered the chance to see many more redwood trees than we would have if we had only taken the main loop trail. It was worth the extra energy to walk up some inclines to get a feel for the namesake redwoods of this nature preserve.
David Hansen Trail-Roy’s Redwoods Hike Notes were originally paired with the “Taking the Extra Step” 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
