South on Hilldale from Marin (longer)

Difficulty:  Hard. Many up and down paths and roads

Time:  a) 1 1/4 hours shorter hike b) 2 hours longer hike

Start at Hilldale Ave and Marin Ave and head south on Hilldale.  Follow Hilldale to Regal Rd, turn left and follow it to Pinnacle Path on the left.

Pinnacle Path

Take it uphill (about 30 steps plus 2 long ramps) to Poppy Lane and turn right.  When you get to Remillard Park, take Keeler Path to Keeler  Ave.  

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Keeler Path

Turn right on Keeler, heading to Bret Harte Lane Path on the left.

Bret Harte Lane Path

Take it uphill (about 135 steps) to Sterling and turn right until you reach Betty Olds Path.  

Betty Olds Path

Take it uphill (about 110 steps) to Whitaker Ave and turn right.  When you come to Sterling and Whitaker, take Whitaker Path downhill (about 140 steps) to Keeler Ave and turn right.

Whitaker Path

When you reach Upper Covert Path take it downhill (about 160 steps) to Cragmont Ave.

Upper Covert Path

Note the path continues downhill on Lower Covert Path.  Don’t take this but instead turn left on Cragmont.  When you get to Shasta Ave and Cragmont, veer to the right onto Shasta.  Follow it until you get to Northgate Path on the left.

Northgate Path

Take it uphill (about 240 steps) to Northgate Ave and turn left.  When you get to Quail Ave, turn right.  At Campus Dr, turn right and follow it to Lower Glendale Path on the left.  

Lower Glendale Path

Take it uphill (about 140 steps) to Queens Rd and turn right.  Make a left on Fairlawn Dr and take Upper Glendale Path uphill (85 steps) to Fairlawn and turn right.

Upper Glendale Path

When you get to Columbia Walk on the left, take it uphill (about 45 steps) to Grizzly Peak Blvd.

Columbia Walk

At this point, you can shorten the hike by turning left on Grizzly Peak and following it to Marin Ave.  Then go downhill for 2 blocks to reach the starting point at Hilldale. 

To continue the longer hike, turn right on Grizzly and go about a half mile, passing Avenida Dr and Senior Ave until you get to Summit Ln.  Turn right on Summit and take Wilson Walk on the right downhill (about 123 steps) to Wilson Circle.

Wilson Walk

Turn right on Olympus, right on Fairlawn and left on Avenida.  Follow Avenida, past Queens Rd and make a right on Campus Dr.  At the junction with Delmar Ave, Campus continues to the right.  Follow Campus until you get to La Loma Path on the left.  You have 2 options:

1) Shorter: Continue on Campus past Glendale Ave.

2) Longer: Take La Loma Path downhill (about 160 steps) to Glendale Ave and turn right.  Follow Glendale Ave uphill to the right back to Campus Dr and turn left.

La Loma Path

Cross Quail and continue on Campus.  When Campus meets Shasta, take Shasta  uphill to Sterling and turn left.  When you get to Stevenson Path on the right, take it uphill (about 144 steps) to Miller Ave.

Stevenson Path

Turn left on Miller, passing Anne Brower path and Ina Coolbrith on the right until you reach Poppy Path on the left.  Take it downhill (about 185 steps) to Poppy Ln at Remillard park.

Poppy Path

Take Poppy Ln to Hilldale, turn right and take Hilldale to the starting point at Marin.