Old St. Hilary’s Open Space Nature Preserve

This preserve is hands down THE MOST beautiful place in Marin county, and In my opinion, the world. If your traveling to the bay I highly recommend you make time to take a hike on the deer trails up to the top of the preserve where you can see a STUNNING 360 degree view of the Bay Area! Dogs are welcome and people are always friendly, not to mention the sunset looks EXQUISITE from the top of the hill!

Great views and feels quite remote. I parked on the residential streets and while I didn’t see any trail markers, you really can’t get lost because you can always reorient yourself with the views. I thought this place was more appropriate for a mid-​day or after-​meal walk though, not a very strenuous hike. I loved that it was relatively easy to access and close to downtown Tiburon. Great weekend activity!

A great hike with 360 degree views of the bay. Try to plan it when Old St. Hilary’s is open. This is really quite a hidden gem of the Bay Area.
This Church and hiking area is a short walk or drive from the center of Tiburon. Its fairly steep up roads to get to the entrance. The trail entrances are obvious and there isn’t just one trail. Several small trails crisscross this Preserve and most are rewarded with great views of the bay.
Views include:
* Golden Gate Bridge
* Tiburon and the Marina
* Belvedere
* Richardson Bay
* Sausalito
The trails range from small roads to tinier paths, but it really is difficult to get completely lost– as you can reorient by looking at the water.
If you don’t have time to go to Angel Island (ferries only run 10 – 5) for the more substantial hikes in the area– The Open Space Preserve is a great way to get the heart rate up for a couple hours and see the sights of the area.

Gorgeous million dollar views! Can’t say enough how beautiful this place. Very easy short hike, but so breathtaking! Bring your camera.

«You what??!»
«I forgot the camera!» confessed my husband.
This was pretty much the start of our hike as we parked our car facing an already-​magnificient view of the bay area. But, this was certainly a good excuse to come back here again! Before we had kids, my husband and I really enjoyed braving challenging hikes together. But with the new additions, we have been missing hiking. As our oldest one has turned three and is gaining the ability to accumulate more and more energy, I’ve been looking for hikes that my toddler can enjoy as well, within his ability of course, and terrains that somewhat exude a certain level of safety.
This place is most certainly a gem for our family. My boy hiked all the way from the start of the trail until the tip of mountain giving view to Angel island within 35 minutes (where we stopped for a snack with a priceless view) and hiked all the way back to the car, making the trip about an hour outing. What an awesome way of spending a toddler’s energy, but most of all he was so proud of his accomplishment! From that hike, we saw the Golden Gate bridge, the Richmond bridge and the Bay Bridge!
What memorable hike! We will be back — this time I AM taking charge of the camera!

This is the most beautiful place in all of San Francisco, and the Bay Area. Providing stunning views, amazing hikes, and perfect romantic picnics — there isn’t a more stunning place to live and play.
Phenomenal hiking. some of the best in the Bay Area. You can drive all the way up Lyford Drive and park at Heathcliff, or you can take a right at Vistazo W St. about ½ mile earlier and hit the trail to Old St. Hilary’s Church. Half way in on that trail you will find a path that leads directly up for one mile. It’s a hell of a good work out, I doubt it will cripple anyone, and all levels of experience can feel accomplished. It’s a great trail for running, too. Watch the mud and footing, it’s awesome. The main trailhead entrance has you enter much higher up. It’s basically sea level to 620 ft in elevation, and that church trail is already at about 200ft elevation… so it’s not that big a net gain, but it’s awesome. about 2000 feet total
Once you get to the top there’s a simple loop you can do, or plenty of nooks and crannies to settle down for a picnic or rest — overlooking Angel Island’s pleasant croissant shape with the city as a backdrop.
You will have 360 views of the Bay Area — and it’s usually stunning in Tiburon, around 10 degrees warmer than most places. 20 more than the city. =)
There’s dozens of trails that criss cross each other, but there’s been confusion about where to find the trails, and where to start… People were needing names to find this trail, and it was unnamed. No longer… here we have Fishbits’ Trail, Pavlov’s Path, and more! At a quick hiking pace, it’s about 20 minutes up. Leisurely it’s easily an hour. Once at the top of Pavlov’s Peak, it has 360 panorama view of the entire San Francisco Bay Area.
YAY. Go. Hike.
The Trailhead according to Bay Area Hiker:
Latitude 37 degrees 53’15.67“N
Longitude 122 degrees 27’20.10“W
The start of the hike from the lower Hilary church trail:
LAT 37 degrees 52’56.53“N
LONG 122 degrees 27’17.63“W
this is the most beautiful spot in the Bay Area, hands down!
Here’s a PDF of a map: