| Northbayhikes.com |
Trailheads: Oat Hill Mine Trailhead, Robert Louis Stevenson
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Directions to trailhead: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. After a half mile or so, 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. |
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This hike has gorgeous views of the Calistoga and Napa valleys. When
visibility is good, you can see the Sierra Nevada mountains, Mt. Tam,
and Mt. Diablo. The first mile or so is on a a narrow trail, and the
rest of the 4 mile hike is on an exposed dirt road. We do not recommend
hiking here on hot days, it's an excellent hike during the winter,
spring, and fall when temps are in the 60's. This peak is one of the few
places close by that gets snow in the winter. It's a lot of fun to hike
it on a clear day and have snowball fights. This 10 mile round-trip hike
has ~xxx feet of elevation gain. It's strenuous, so we recommend that
you do easier hikes first if you're not in shape. You can also bike ride
the trail all the way on the dirt road. The dirt road meets HW29 a half
mile past the trailhead. Sometimes the top can be windy, so you may want
to bring a windbreaker and ear coverings if you'd like to stay at the
top for a while. Hiking options:
TODO: Bring GPS and camera next trip and get exact measurements, both up and down. |
Hike and Event Itinerary (trail map)
| Trail | Info | This Leg | Total/Return | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Setup | Duration | 1:00 | 1:00 | First drive to the trailhead at HW29 M.45.43. It takes
about 50 minutes from Santa Rosa, and 15 minutes from Calistoga. You
start at ~2200 ft, or 1600 feet above the Calistoga valley floor. Coordinates: 38,39.156 latitude,-122,36.011 longitude, 2275ft. |
| Hiking Trail | Duration Distance El. Gain El. Loss |
:25 up, ~:15 down ~1m 436ft none |
~:40 ~2m 436ft 436ft |
Hike by the remains of the Silverado homestead and the Silverado mine.
No dogs or bikes are allowed on this portion of the trail, but they can
take the fire road form HW29 to the end of this trail. Parts of this
trail have slippery clay after recent rains, boots are advised. Coordinates: 38,39.253 latitude,-122,36.321 longitude, 2711ft |
| Fire road to south peak turnoff | Duration Distance El. Gain El. Loss |
1:10 up, 1:00 down ~3m 1092ft none |
1:30 up, ~1:15 down ~8m 1528ft 1528ft |
The fire road goes through many switch backs on the way to the summit.
It's is exposed to the sun, and best done on cold days. As you gain
altitude, you 'll find higher and higher vista points to observe Napa
valley. It's great to see it unfold. Coordinates: 38,39.666 latitude, -122,37.016 longitude, 3803ft |
| Fire road to north peak | Duration Distance El. Gain El. Loss |
0:45 up, 0:30 down ~1m 532ft none |
2:15 up, 1:45 down 10m 2060ft 2060ft |
The fire road splits at this point. If you turn left/south, you'll
do an easy climb to the radio towers on the south peak. We recommend
continuing on to the North peak. At the top of the north peak you'll see
great views of Cobb and Snow mountains, the geysers, and sometimes you
can see the tip of mount Shasta. On clear days you can see the Sierra
Nevada mountain range across the Sacramento valley. It's often
windy at the top of the North peak, we recommend ear muffs for all hikes
(even if it's not windy); bring along a wind-breaker if you expect a
windy day. Coordinates: 38,40.150 latitude, -122,38.009 longitude, 4335ft |
| Optional: Fire road to south peak |
Duration Distance El. Gain El. Loss |
0:45 up, 0:30 down ~0.5m ~500ft none |
depends depends ~500ft none |
This is an easier climb than the north peak. If you're feeling
adventurous, do them both! Coordinates: 38,39.388 latitude, -122,36.892 longitude, 4003ft. |
| 2007, Jan 06 [pics] |
We were all slightly fast
hikers. We left Coddingtown ~10:30, started hiking ~11:30. It took ~ 2:30 to hike to the summit, and 2 hours to return. We
spent a leisurely 45 minutes at the top for lunch, snack, pictures and
conversation. We were back to the trailhead before 5pm and there was
plenty of light still. Brian rode his bike and it worked to be together
on the way up. We skipped dinner in Calistoga - most of us ate too much
at the top, and were not hungry when we made it back to the trailhead.
It was a little chilly with a very slight breeze on top. Ear warmers and
very light gloves made it perfect, but they were not necessary. Temp was
in the mid-50's when we started. Kerstin was fine hiking in shorts, and
Rob was a bit too hot in jeans, while others wore convertible pants
which were comfortable. Detailed Timings: We scheduled the hike to leave Coddingtown at 10:30 and start from the trailhead at 11:30. We only had 1 car of people, so organization was easy. It took us 40 minutes to get to the trailhead, and an extra 5 minutes to park as the main lot was full. We waited for latecomers, and started hiking at 11:45am. At 12pm we reached the Robert Lois Stevenson homesite. At 12:10 we reached the fire road, and at 12:12 took a brief peek at the mining cave just off the road. At 12:25 we reached the wall - a favorite place for rock-climbers. At 1:18pm we reached the top plateau and the 3-way junction with the south peak turnoff. We continued to the north peak and arrived at 2:05pm. We had lunch and met some new friends. We left 2:50pm. Didn't note time to north peak turnoff. At 4:15 we reached the hiking trail and homestead. Didn't note time we finished. We finished before 5pm, but I did not keep track of the time. Oops! GPS Readings: These were taken from a topo map. |
| 2005, Jan 17 | It had snowed on Mt. Saint Helena about a month before,
and we were determined to enjoy it. We met in Santa Rosa at the carpool
spot at 10am, left 10:15, and caught up with others at the trailhead at
11:10. We had a leisurely hike, and stopped along the way at the
Silverado mine, took many pictures, and had a 30 minute lunch break. We
continued to the far north peak at ~2:30pm, and stayed there for over 30
minutes enjoying the view and climbing to the top of the weather and
antennae station. A snow plow had come through several weeks back, so
our hike was on dirt the entire time. At the top of the mountain, there
was plenty of snow on the hills and on the sides of the road. We ate a
bunch and tossed a bunch at each other! The hill at the very end would
have been perfect for sledding if we had brought something to sit on.
(bring cardboard next time!) We took our time coming down, and made it
back to the trailhead at 5pm, with plenty of sunlight to spare. Our
group had both fast and slow hikers, your times may vary depending on
your hikers skill levels. We had clear skies, and the temps were around
60 degrees, with almost no wind. Most of us had brought several layers
of clothes, and found them unnecessary. We ate afterwards in Calistoga
at the Hydro Grill. It was a lot of fun! Detailed Timings: did not capture them for this trip. |
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Introduction The table rock hike is a fairly easy hike with wonderful views. It's one of our favorites. 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. Sturdy boots are recommended when muddy, as the hill near the creek is clay and can be slippery. Hiking options:
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Hike and Event Itinerary (trail map)
| Trail | Info | This leg | Total/Return | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Setup | Duration | 1:00 | 1:00 | First drive to the trailhead at HW29 M.45.43. It takes
about 50 minutes from Santa Rosa, and 15 minutes from Calistoga. You
start at ~2200 ft, or 1600 feet above the Calistoga valley floor. Coordinates: 38,39.156 latitude,-122,36.011 longitude, 2275ft. |
| Table Rock Trail | Duration Distance El. Gain El. Loss |
~1:15 out, 1:00 back 2.2m ~700ft ~500ft |
2:15 4.4m 1200ft 1200ft |
The hike takes you up over a small hill and down to a small, flat-ish
valley behind the palisades. You'll cross a stream and hike up to table
rock. Table rock has gorgeous views of Calistoga valley and is an
excellent place for photos. A peregrine falcon lives in the rocks below.
You can often hear it squawking, binoculars make for better viewing. The
area at the top of the palisades is unexpectedly pretty - with several
small varied hills and streams. Coordinates: TBD |
| Drive Home | Duration | 1:00 | 1:00 | It takes ~15 minutes to drive to Calistoga (dinner here is fun!) or 45-60 minutes to return to Santa Rosa. |
| 2005, Jan 23 | TBD |
| 2005, Nov 12 [pics] |
Overview: Patricia led this hike, with 2 options.
Tina Sun drove herself and started early on the Oat Hill Mine road in
Calistoga and met the rest of the group at Table Rock for lunch. Most
people drove to the upper trail head near Mt. Saint Helena, and hiked to
Table Rock and back. Rob left table rock and hiked down to Calistoga to
meet people for dinner. This took longer than expected (sorry!) and he
met up with everyone after dinner was over. Special Notes: Temps were in high 60's and it was a beautiful day. 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. The rest of the group hiked back to HWY29 and drove back to Calistoga for dinner. They reached Calistoga ~4pm.
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