Blithedale Ridge

Near: Mill Valley
Trip Type: Hike
Distance: 3 miles
Elevation: 200 - 900 feet
Vegetation: Oak and Redwood
Last visit: 4/16/2017

Blithedale Ridge is the easternmost piece of the Marin county open spaces surrounding Mt. Tamalpais.  We took a light hike up to the highpoint on a rainy April Sunday.   I've seen this ridge from Mt. Tam plenty of times, so I know it's got several open spots with clear views of the mountain and surrounding towns, but they weren't in evidence for us.  While we were just out for a short jaunt, you could always use the trails and fireroads in this area for a jumping off point to climb Mt. Tam from the northeast, with routes running around 10-15 miles round trip.

Rules and Regulations

The Marin County open spaces tend to require leashes on smaller hiking trails and allow voice control on open fire roads.  Signs at trail junctions usually alert you when you need to put your dog on leash.  Otherwise no red tape to speak of.

Trailhead

We accessed the ridge via the Tartan trail, which starts from the end of Tartan road, just of Glen Ave in Mill Valley.   There's not really any developed parking on Tartan Rd, just a dead end residential street.  Street parking seem legal here, though there's only room for a few cars.  Alternatively you could continue up Glen Ave and follow the Glen fire road up to the ridge.

Route

https://caltopo.com/m/2A0F


This hike is just a simple quick pop up to the ridge and back. We headed up the Tartan Trail, took a quick right on Elinor fire road, then stayed left to take the Maytag trail up to the ridge.