Olema Valley Trail
Trail length: 5.3 miles
Terrain: grasses, oak, fir, bay forests
Restroom? Yes, at Five Brooks parking lot
Parking: Olema Valley Trailhead (South) has a small pullout area that fits 3 or 4 cars. Five Brooks has a large parking lot. Olema Valley Trailhead (Hagmaier) has a small pullout area.
Kid friendly? Yes
Bikes? Yes
Dates visited: 9/16/16, 11/5/17, 8/13/18, 8/16/18, 12/27/18, 4/26/19, 8/22/19, 8/1/20, 11/14/20, 2/26/21
Favorite plants on this trail: Common Snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus)
Favorite spots:
The Olema Valley Trail traces the rift zone of the San Andreas Fault through Olema Valley, not to be confused with the Rift Zone Trail. The trail can be accessed from the Five Brooks Trailhead on the Olema end or the Olema Valley (South) Trailhead on the Bolinas end. The trail can also be accessed in the middle via the Randall Spur Trail at the Olema Valley (Hagmaier) Trailhead.
The trail ascends through oak and bay forests and passes through grassy meadows. In many sections, the trail is deep, sandy dirt. This dirt turns to mud in the wet season, so best to hike this trail when it’s dry. The open meadow areas, bordered by blackberries, are filled with butterflies, bees, and dragonflies. Insects use the narrow trails between the tall grasses as a flyway. It’s amusing to watch them following the trail. Less than half a mile from the Olema Valley (South) Trailhead (10-15 minute walk), you must cross Pine Gulch Creek without a bridge. In summer, the creek is low and it’s easy to use the fallen tree trunk or rocks to cross. Another creek crossing is farther along about 20 minutes on foot. It’s shallow and easily crossed in summer but too deep to cross without soaking your hiking boots in winter.
As a popular trail for horse-back-riding, you need to pay attention to where you step on the trail to avoid the inevitable piles of poop. The buzzing sound of flies will alert you when you are near a poop hazard. Another thing to keep an eye out for is the Western Terrestrial Garter Snake (Thamnophis elegans). I’ve spotted at least one on my past two visits. Watch out not to step on one on the trail!
The grassy meadow is intensely hot in the warm months, reflecting heat from the dirt path and straw-colored dead grasses. The shaded oak and fir forest sections of the trail come as a great relief. The terrain varies significantly, from the grass and sedge meadows of the Bolinas end of the trail to the lush vine-covered forest of the Five Brooks end of the trail. It’s clear this land has been disturbed over the years; it’s full of invasive plants such as non-native blackberry, thistles, and poison hemlock which the pollinators enjoy greatly. The trail has a very large thicket of snowberries that are covered in tiny pink flowers in the spring and summer and large white berries that persist on bare stems into the winter. Common Snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus) is in the honeysuckle family.
The trees are watching you
I was delighted to spot these majestic oaks with “eyes” along the Olema Valley Trail. It was the highlight of my hike! They are growing in the shaded section of trail between the Randall Spur and Bolema Trail.
Mushrooms and Lichens
I observed the funghi and lichens below in late December 2018 with two exceptions — the oyster mushroom was spotted in November 2018 and the Shellfish-scented Russula was seen in January 2019. Until my observations are verified by experts on iNaturalist, I’ve noted “unconfirmed” to indicate a best guess.
If you are interested in learning more about mushrooms, the Point Reyes National Seashore Association’s Field Institute offers classes during peak mushroom season in the winter.
Mill pond at Five Brooks
Volunteer Opportunity: PRNSA Field Institute
The Point Reyes National Seashore Association needs assistants for their Field Institute classes. You will spend a day training with PRNSA staff, then a couple of times a year you'll select the classes you'd like to help with. Shortly afterwards, you'll receive a confirmation of which ones you've been assigned. As a facilitator, you get to take the class for free. Normally, two facilitators help with every class. Duties include signing in class participants, making coffee (for indoor classes), talking briefly about PRNSA, and generally helping out as needed. I've been volunteering for about a year. It's a great experience to work with other facilitators and get to know the amazing field institute instructors.