Marin hike: An adventure through Tiburon

The Tiburon Uplands loop trail and adjoining hike through Old St. Hilary’s Preserve offer a great opportunity for sure-footed hikers to get in touch with the wild and rugged natural landscape of the Tiburon Peninsula. This trail includes great views, a chance of seeing rare wildflowers and a lot of strenuous climbing.

• Summary of hike: The Tiburon Uplands trail is a 0.7-mile loop through narrow, rocky and steep trails along the side of the hill. Near the highest point of the loop is a trail (approximately 0.5 miles) that leads up through Old St. Hilary’s Preserve, which is navigable by a network of trails. The total hike should not be longer than 3 miles, though it may feel longer because of its steepness.

• How to get there: Take U.S. 101 and exit at Tiburon Boulevard. Take Tiburon Boulevard to downtown Tiburon, where it becomes Paradise Drive. Follow the road until you reach a sign on the left for the Tiburon Uplands trailhead. A shoulder of the road slightly ahead provides parking.

• The hike: The trail begins with a short flight of stairs but quickly yields to muddier and more uneven terrain. Bring good, grippy hiking shoes.

If you’re planning to just do the 0.7-mile loop, I recommend starting on the left (south) side of the trail. This is the more forested section of the trail and does not offer particularly great views, while the right side of the trail is less densely vegetated and offers views of Angel Island and the East Bay. If you start on the left side, you will face the ocean while descending.

California bay and coast live oak are the dominant trees in the forest. Toyon shrubs enliven the landscape with vivid splashes of red from their bright berries. Look at the ground to see if you can spot any wildflowers. Watch your step for banana slugs. If it has recently rained, you may have to step over a small stream.

The vegetation becomes less thick as you get higher on the Tiburon Uplands loop trail, and the best views and most even terrain on the trail can be found around the halfway point. There are two wooden benches along this stretch. The trailhead leading up to Old St. Hilary’s Preserve is between the benches.

The trail up to Old St. Hilary’s is as steep and rocky as the loop trail. Shortly past the trailhead, a small trail leads off to the right. Follow that short path to an excellent view of Tiburon, Paradise Cay and the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. Keep an eye out for the Larkspur and Angel Island ferries making their trips across the San Francisco Bay. You may see a cluster of old wooden buildings near the shoreline. That’s San Francisco State University’s Estuary and Ocean Science Center, the only university marine laboratory on the San Francisco Bay.

The trail lets out at Old St. Hilary’s Preserve near Heathcliff Drive, where you will be greeted by a panoramic view of the San Francisco Bay. The west side of Angel Island is clearly visible, and San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge and Sausalito are easy to spot. The terrain here is much more even and the trails much more defined than on the Tiburon Uplands loop trail, though there is some shift in altitude as you walk east along the Heathcliff Fire Road along the crest of the peninsula. Keep an eye out for deer and coyotes among the brush.

The John Thomas Howell Wildflower Preserve and Old St. Hilary’s Landmark are just down the hill. You can exit the preserve at Heathcliff Drive or Lyford Drive and walk down Lyford to Vistazo West Street, which becomes the Fishbits’ Trail and cuts directly through the preserve to the church. The preserve is famous for its wildflowers, many of them endemic to Marin County; rare flowers in the area include the Tiburon paintbrush, Tiburon buckwheat, Marin dwarf flax and the Tiburon jewelflower.

The surrounding area is full of curiosities to explore before or after your hike. In addition to its many bars and restaurants, downtown Tiburon features a stone tower commissioned by Lyford Drive’s namesake, 19th-century Tiburon settler Dr. Benjamin Lyford, whose attempt to build the utopian city of “Hygeia” at the tip of the peninsula only got as far as this curious construction. The waters between Tiburon and Angel Island are a prime area for sighting porpoises and dolphins.