What happens when you hike 17.3 miles and gain 3868 in elevation in 6 hours and 46 minutes? A great time! That’s what happened on Saturday 4/9 when the chosen group hiked the Matt Davis trail up to the top of Mt. Tamalpias and then back down through the Steep Ravine trail.
We met at 8:15 at the Dipsea Trail Head parking at the intersection of the Panoramic Highway and Shoreline Highway. It is a parking lot filled with compressed rock that holds about 25 cars. I personally arrived at 8am and the lot was about half full. By the time we left at 830am it only had about 10 spaces left. So, in the future getting there early is a good idea if you choose to start from there.
The original planned hike was to take the All Trails 17 mile Stinson Beach to the top of Tam but being the adventurous group we alter the trail a bit and in my opinion made it a more beautiful hike. More details below!
It was a beautiful day with clear skies, sunshine, and mild temps. We headed from the lot to the Matt Davis trail head and went up. This was my first time on this trail and needless to say it did not disappoint. It was very lush, green, with some water still flowing in the little creeks. We started off with 5 hikers but one chose to peeled off to enjoy their hike.
As we broke the tree line, we hit an open space that led us to Bare Knoll which was about 3 miles into the hike. We took a few pictures and continued to the first restroom and water available at Pantoll Campground. As we were leaving another hiker joined us who arrived a little late!
After Pantoll there was Bootjack campground about a half a mile up the trail. Again, water and restrooms were available. Then off up to the West Point Inn and took a left off the Matt Davis trail to the Nora Trail. This trail offered on and off cover but by the time we hit the inn we were hot. It was a bit hazy but you could see the City, Golden Gate, and a few other key iconic locations. We took a 5 minute break and started off again on the Railroad Grade Fire road to the summit.
On the road up we encountered another group of hikers that started out at a different point, and they joined us too! Our group had swelled to 7 and up we went to the summit of Tam!
We hit the summit at about 12pm and took a 30 minute lunch. Many pictures were taken and conversation had.
After a well deserved break the I suggested that an alternative route that the group could take back. I had researched the route but wanted to see what others thought. The all agreed and we were off from the top of the mountain heading back down. This is where we took an alternate route back. See the trail we took on the link below.
We took the Fern Creek, to Railroad, to Hogback trail past the fire station to Mountain Home. There we crossed the road to Alive Eastwood Rd to the Troop 80 Trail. This was well worth the deviation on to this trail and I strongly recommend taking this route from the standard All Trails route. It was beautiful and well covered. Again, many pictures were taken.
We followed the trail to the Alpine trail which led us back to Pantoll. Then we hit the Steep Ravine Trail which was beautiful. As we were going along the trail many pictures were again taken and I was talking to the group about the Stinson Tree. I had never been there but with my convincing sales pitch they agree to go check it out.
Needless to say, the Stinson Tree did not disappoint, and it even had a swing! We all took a turn on the swing that bought us back to our childhood memories. Then back on the trail to finish out the hike.
It was a great day to be out on Mount Tamalpais! Good times, good conversation, and many laughs were had today. Thanks to all the hikers who followed this chosen one. LOL
Please follow me on my Facebook page Jason’s Hiking Adventures, Instagram @jasonshikingadventures, and All Trails. I also have many other hikes planned so check out the events tab on Bay Area Hikers and come join the fun!
Today’s All Trails Hiking Map:
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