This short and easy hike circles the popular Phoenix Lake.
Location: Marin Municipal Water District
Length: 2.8 miles
Difficulty: easy
Shade: mostly shaded, except on the fire road
Parking: lot at Natalie Coffin Greene Park at the end of Lagunitas Road (free but small—be prepared to wait for a spot to open up)
Public Transportation: none
WC: toilet at parking lot
Dogs: allowed
Hiked: April 2025
Trail Route & Notes
This is an easy hike to follow – just keep to the trails that circle the lake. From the parking lot, walk up to the lake on the fire road, then head around the lake to the right, walking along Phoenix Lake Road. At the first trail marker to the left, turn onto Gertrude-Ord Trail. Follow that until you hit another fire road, Bill Williams Road, and walk to the left along the lake. You can either take the wide fire road back to the parking lot, or turn early onto Ross Trail, which is a slightly-overgrown and narrow path that also leads back to the parking lot.
The fire road gets busy by the late morning/afternoon with hikers and bikers, but the small hiking-only Gertrude-Ord Trail is calm. The little trail also has a little bit of uneven ground, but it’s pretty easy to traverse.
This is a hike I would definitely do again, and I hope to explore some of the other trails in the water district.
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