White Hill — A Workout with Rewards

Time for a workout. There's nothing better than a good bit of exercise combined with beautiful surroundings. Marin is so great! An adventure to the top of White Hill requires some fitness. We prefer to ride our bikes for this outing, but hiking or running are great options as well.

White Hill is more of a treeless rocky ridge than a hill. At a height of 1430' and unobstructed 360 degree views of all the major peaks in central Marin, the effort of getting there is well worth it. Loma Alta and Big Rock Ridge are clear to the north, Pine Mountain is to the west and Mt. Tam to the south.

Like most places in Marin, late April has brought White Hill a glorious rolling green carpet and many wild flowers, with Lupine, California Poppy and lilies being the most common. The habitat along the route is diverse as well, with many animal species living in unique microhabitats.

According to the Marin County Open Space website, Porcupine Trail was named after trailbuilders found evidence of porcupines, while building the trail in 2004-05. Don't hold your breath while looking, however, because nobody has actually seen a porcupine here and they remain an elusive species . 

The climb of White Hill has two main access points. First is Cascade Canyon in Fairfax and the second is White Hill Trail off Sir Francis Drake Boulevard at Brown Bridge, also in Farifax. We prefer White Hill Trail. There is plenty of parking and you cut out some of the elevation gain by driving up a bit. The adventure starts by heading up White Hill Trail through mixed forest. You break out onto grass land on White Hill Fire Road and then climb up Porcupine Trail through Douglas Fir forest.

All these trails are part of the Bay Area Ridge Trail and you can follow the ridge trail markers along your way. After several miles you reach Blue Ridge Fire Road. This is a steep, loose, rocky climb to the peak. At the top you can double back or head down the other side until you reach Camp Tamarancho and use the trails in the camp to create a loop back to White Hill Fire Road.

The combination of green grass, moisture, flowers and warmer weather is bringing out the wildlife. The insects are out in force to pollinate and eat the fresh greenery and each other. Small mammals are running all over collecting food and building their burrows. Marin's "sleeping" reptiles are waking to find heat and food. The most commonly seen are the fence lizards, also called "blue bellies." They scurry across the trail, over rocks, logs and through the grasses. Much less common are snakes, but, that said, I saw four on my outing. One small Rattlesnake, a Common Kingsnake (see photos), a Ring-Necked Snake, and maybe a Gopher Snake (only saw the tail as it slipped into the grass).

Snakes

Snakes are often misunderstood. All but one species of local snake are relatively harmless. The only venomous snake is the Rattlesnake. It is easily identifiable by the rattle on the tip of the tail (or a small bud if it is young). If you see (or hear) a rattlesnake just carefully pass it by and it will most likely leave you alone.

All the other species of snakes are relatively harmless. If you leave them alone, they will go on their way. If snakes feel threatened they will get into a defensive position and, in some cases, they look like they want to strike in an attempt to scare you. Many will also wiggle their tails in the grass or leaves in an attempt to make a rattle-like noise to further scare you off. They are not typically aggressive and will not chase you.  

If, for some rare reason, you are bit by a snake (other than a rattler) it generally doesn't hurt much and most likely will not even break the skin. The jaw muscles of a snake are weak and fragile and can do very little harm to humans. So please be kind to our local snakes. Enjoy their beauty and amazing movements. Just give them a bit of space and let them go about their own business.

See the book "Hiking Marin: 141 Great Hikes in Marin County" for more details. Click here to go the Marin Trails website, where you can find more information about the book.