Sleepy Hollow-Terra Linda Ridge: Not Just for the Dogs

Marinites love to get outside, but sometimes we don't have time for a big adventure. Luckily the Terra Linda ridge is just steps away from many of our houses in the Ross Valley and San Rafael. I often find myself trying to squeeze in a dog walk or quick run before picking up the kids or heading off to work. Terra Linda ridge is one of our favorite places for a quick jaunt outdoors.

The ridge is accessible from many neighborhoods (click here to vist the Marin County Open Space web site on Terra Linda ridge for access details and a map), but one of the best places to enter is at , at the end of San Francisco Boulevard. The Sorich entry point is probably the least steep of the lot and has a sweet little two and a half mile loop. This small town of San Anselmo dog park/open space has a trail out the end that winds it way up through the old Eucalyptus grove, skirts the Mt. Tamalpais Cemetery, and is channeled up to Ridgewood fireroad.

In 1976, a wildfire swept through the Eucalyptus groves and grasslands. Burned out stumps remain as evidence of the dangers of these non-native, highly flammable trees. Since then some efforts have been made to thin or cut down the remaining eucalyptus. It can be an interesting side trek to go to the cemetery's upper boundary to see some of the old grave markers.

The ridge looks north into Terra Linda and you can see the Marin Civic Center and Highway 101 winding north. Mt. Tam dominates the view to the south. This time of year the trail isn't dusty and hot. In fact, on these fall days with the low sun angle, these hills can be a warm and glowing respite from the cool valleys. There are several small unofficial singletracks that offer short detours to interesting places. It is fun to mix up the route and explore some of these  little trails to make it feel like your backyard open space. 

Heading from the Sorich Ranch/San Rafael end, Ridgewood fireroad makes a Y towards Fawn Drive to the north or to Tomahawk Drive to the south. I headed south and at the low point of the saddle caught a small unsigned trail that empties into a steep downhill fireroad that takes you back to Sorich Ranch. A memorial bench under a grand old oak on the way down is a reminder of all the other folks that are also enriched by this land. I was done in under an hour, refreshed and unburdened.

This is an overview of a hike from the book "Hiking Marin: 141 Great Hikes in Marin County." Click here to go the Marin Trails website, where you can find more details about the book, which contains this hike and 140 more great hikes around Marin County.