Calistoga Area: Oat Hill Mine Trailhead

Directions to trailhead:

The normal oat hill mine hikes are up and back. The full palisades hike is is a 1-way hike, you'll need cars at both ends.

From Santa Rosa, take HWY 101 north. Exit onto mark west springs road and head east. Follow the signs and turn left at Calistoga road. When you reach HW128, turn left away from Calistoga, then turn right onto Tubbs lane. Take a left onto HW29 when tubbs lane ends. Follow HW29 up to the top of a saddle point. When HW29 starts to head downhill at mile marker M.45.43, pull over and park at the trailhead. Drop 1 car off here and take the driver back down HW29 into Calistoga. As you drive back, do not turn onto Tubbs lane. Go straight until you reach Calistoga. Pull over to the left hand side at the Silverado trail (this is a road). Park here and begin your hike!

If you prefer to hike downhill instead of uphill the whole way, drop off a car in Calistoga first, then continue to the trailhead up top. This makes for an easier hike, and since it is faster, you can do it later in the afternoon in winter when it is cooler.

Maps: level 4 pdf, level 5 jpeg
Trailhead Signs: Oat Hill Road

The palisades are beautiful, and this hike offers gorgeous views of it and the Calistoga valley. This hike simply goes up and returns back to the same trailhead. This makes it easy to offer several hiking options - people can simply turn around when they are tired. The grade is fairly easy on the knees.

Extra Items:

Most of this hike is exposed to the sun. We recommend doing it during winter, or on cool days <65F. Bring 3-4 22oz water bottles each for 65 degree weather. Seriously! Wear sturdy hiking boots, the palisades trail is not well worn and is rocky in places. If people will split up, bring 2-way radios so the fast + slow groups can keep in touch.

Hiking options:

• Carpool: Add 2 hours to each of these times to cover carpooling + lunch + hike intro.
• Short hike to bald hill: 2 hours 45 mins. 5.7 miles, 1300ft gain/loss.
• Medium hike to Palisades trailhead / holmes house: 3 hours 45 mins, 8.1 miles, 1800ft gain/loss,
• Long hike to rocky outcropping: 5 hours, 10.7 miles, 2500ft gain/loss

1-Way hikes:

• Carpool: These hikes have never been done. Need permission for some private property. Carpool is MUCH longer to drop off/pick up cars.
• 1-way hike to Aetna Springs road: Est ~4 hours, ~6.8 miles, 2432ft gain, 496ft loss.
• 1-way hike to Oat hill mine road: Est ~5 hours, ~8.9 miles, 2507ft gain, 1091ft loss.

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Special Notes: Temps were 60-65 with some overcast and haze. Perfect for this hike, we didn't use up too much water. Originally we wanted to do lunch at the medium turnaround spot and have everyone meet there. People got too hungry, so we stopped at bald hill and had lunch. We waited a few times for everyone on the way up. We had 20 people! 1 person was short on time and left at bald hill, a couple late people caught up to us there. Most turned back at the medium length spot (palisades trail junction). Paul and Cheryl hiked to the top of the hill called "dutt" - just to the south, (elevation 2574). 5 of us continued until the "rocky outcrop" endpoint. We met up again at the bottom, and 5 had dinner in Calistoga at the Hydro grill. yummy!

Summary of Times and Distances: Leave Coddingtown 10:30am & returned at ~5:45pm. (7:15 for full hike + carpooling + stops). It took ~40min to drive to the trailhead. For the short hike to bald hill it took 1:30 up and 1:10 to return. Total time of 2:40, 5.68 miles, 1302ft gain and loss, speed of 2.13miles/hr. For the medium hike, it took 2:15 up and 1:30 to return. Total time of  3:45, 8.06 miles, 1843ft gain and loss, speed of 2.15 miles/hr. For the long hike at the rocky outcropping, it took 3:00 up and 2:00 to return. Total time of 5:00, 10.7 miles, 2511ft gain/loss, speed of 2.14 miles/hr. Carpooling each way took ~40min, the hike intro 15min, lunch 30min, plus 3-4 5 min breaks to let everyone catch up.

Detailed Timings: We left Coddingtown ~10:35am, and arrived at the trailhead at 11:15. The hike intro took ~15 minutes, we started at 11:30am. First good views of palisades occurred at 12:45pm. We reached bald hill and started lunch at 1pm. Lunch took 30 minutes, it was slightly windy (and chilly) on top of the hill. Leaving at 1:30, we arrived at the palisades trail junction at 2:12pm and saw the ruins of the Holmes house. From here, we split up. Paul and Cheryl hiked to the top of a close hill (Dutt on the map) and got to the top around 3:30. 5 of us continued inward to a rocky outcropping at 3pm. At 3:36, we returned back to the palisades trial junction, and at 4pm arrived at bald hill. We finished back at Calistoga at 5:10pm. The "rocky outcropping" hikers just caught up with Paul and Cheryl who came down from the hill.

GPS Readings: Start trailhead at Silverado trail was 475ft. Bald hill - short hike + lunch stop 2.84 miles and 1777ft. Medium hike ended at palisades trail junction, 4.03 miles and 2318ft. Long hike ended at the rocky outcropping, 5.36 miles. This had a few extra ups and downs. 2143ft gain, 368ft loss.

This is a long and beautiful hike. The oat hill mine road yields great views of the palisades and Mt. St. Helena and leads to the ruins of an old mining camp. The palisades trail runs just under the palisades rocks, yielding many close-up views. Table rock is a good lunch spot with great valley views and peregrine falcons. There is a lot of elevation, this trail is much easier when hiked downhill. The grade is fairly easy on the knees.

Extra Items:

Sometimes table rock can be windy, so you may want to bring a windbreaker and ear coverings if you'd like to stay there for a while. Peregrine falcons live near the rocks, we suggest bringing binoculars and/or good camera lenses for a good view. Much of this hike is exposed, do it in cold weather. If hiking uphill, bring 3-4 22oz water bottles each for 65 degree weather. Seriously! If hiking downhill in 65 degree weather, 2 22oz bottles should suffice. Wear sturdy hiking boots, the palisades trail is not well worn and is rocky in places.

TODO:

• Merge these values with the table rock hike.
• NOTE: values up & back are different! GPS disagrees with trail signs. Try it again & fix inconsistancies.

This is the mining cart trail that carried carts of mercury ore down from the mines to Calistoga. You can still see ruts in many rocks from the mining carts near the top. This trail has beautiful views of Calistoga valley to the south, with a few glimpses of the palisades above and to the north. We found several patches of poppies, and explorer the ruins of old mining houses at the top. This is a great hike in its own right.

This trail leaves the oat hill mine road, wanders by the foundation of the holmes house, does a quick climb up another ~200 feet, then slowly meanders downhill for several miles, always staying just below the palisades. There are frequent views of the Calistoga valley and many close-ups of the Palisades. The ground is very volcanic and often sharp from old lava flows, and hard on the feet. Boots are required. After Lasky Pt, it begins a steep uphill switchback to climb up to table rock.

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Special Notes: Temps were 60-62 in late January. 98% of the trail is exposed. Everyone was overdressed, and we all ran out of water, with 1 person having major dehydration. (we averaged. 2-3x 22oz bottles each) Rob hiked 60% of it in just shorts and was too hot - in January! Mostly due to exposed trail and constant uphill. Recommend all bring layers with shorts and short-sleeved shirts. Recommend 3-4 22oz water bottles each, leader should bring a few extra. If in summer, start very early (6-7am?), bring sunscreen, hats, and even more water. Palisades trail is over a lot of sharp lava rock, uphill from table rock to HW29 has some slippery clay. Both these sections require good boots.

Timings: Sometimes we list timings to help plan future events. 9:10 left Coddingtown Carpool spot; 9:40 3 cars met in Calistoga Silverado trail (start) - we dropped off all but the hikers, 9:55 3 cars reached end point on HW29, we left 2 cars there, 5 mins to shuffle around, 1 car shuttled the drivers back to the start. 10:15 we're back at the Silverado trail, we did introductions, and started the hike. 11:45 we reached bald hill. 12:30 we reached top - junction of oat hill mine trail and palisades trail. Trail sign says Lasky pt. 3,3 miles, table rock 3.9mi. Saw ruins of old miner houses, such as "holmes". We had lunch for 30 mins, started off on Palisades trail ~1pm. At 1:41, we reached a signpost, 1.5mi back to oat hill mine, 2.4 mi to table rock. At 2:38pm we made it to Lasky Pt: it has a plaque about the generosity of a family in making this trail happen. 0.6mi to table rock, 3.3 mi to oat hill rd. At 3:10 we reached table rock, enjoyed the view for 20 minutes, and left 3:30. At 4:07 we reached the table rock overlook (high point) and made it to the car at 4:45. This last bit was slow as a few people were really tired. At 5pm, we made it to Pacifico - a Mexican restaurant in downtown Calistoga for dinner. We carpooled back to Coddingtown, and Kerstin and I got home at 7pm. Showers were required. ;-)

[pics]

Special Notes: Temps were in high 60's, but the downhill trek was much easier than going uphill, and Rob barely drank 2 22oz water bottles. Rob wore shorts, and noted the middle section of the trail had dry stickers in Nov. Planning a downhill hike is easier and the downhill grades are easy on the knees.

Timings: These timings should help plan future events. 11:20am left Coddingtown Carpool; 12pm reached trailhead on HWY29 to hike to Table Rock. 12:20pm started hike; 12:30 reached northern lookout to see snow mountain; 12:55 reached table rock overlook; 1:07 reached circle of rocks; 1:42 reached table rock and junction with palisades trail. 1 hour 20 minutes to hike to Table Rock. 2:17pm left table rock after lunch and Rob started palisades trail, heading downhill. 2:30 reached Lasky point. 3:16pm reach trail sign, 4pm reached Holm's place, mining camp ruins, junction with oat hill mine trail. 1 hour 40 minutes to hike from table rock to mining camp. 5:40pm reached end of trail, hw29 junction and oat hill mine road in downtown Calistoga. 1 hour 40 minutes to hike down from mining camp to Calistoga on oat hill mine road. At 6:15pm we were back in Coddingtown, Santa Rosa.