Fairfax Open Space Preserve
Managed by Town of Fairfax and Marin County Open Space District
103 acres1 mi of trail
Marin Open Space Trust Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: ERobson at English Wikipedia · CC BY 3.0A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Fairfax
Fairfax has 7.5 miles of mapped trails, 3.4 for every square mile of land
99% of residents live within a half mile of a park. The biggest trail networks: Fairfax Open Space Preserve (1 mi), Cascade Canyon Preserve (0.5 mi), Elliott Nature Preserve (0.5 mi). 5% of Fairfax’s land is conserved, about 68 acres.
Ahead of 83% of U.S. towns · #255 of 847 in California. What drives it
Conserved land
5%
68 acres · of 2.2 sq mi of land
Trails
7.5 mi
3.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
64 ac
8.5 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.7 mi
1.5 mi lanes · 0.1 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Fairfax?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Fairfax have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Fairfax is ahead of 83% of U.S. towns, #255 of 847 in California. Trail miles hold the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Fairfax’s overall grade.
Conserved land5% of the land · typical CA town 4% · U.S. 4%BTrails3.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (8 mi) · CA 0.9 · U.S. 0.4A+Park land8.5 acres of park per 1,000 residents (64 acres) · CA 5 · U.S. 13C+Parks close to home99% of residents within a half mile of a park · CA 91% · U.S. 72%A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 83%
LessMore
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 70%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A. Trails and many small parks come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by volunteers, so coverage varies from town to town; the half mile is a straight line from each census block, so a river or highway in the way isn’t counted against it.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
The map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Easements protect land from building but are usually private.© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Pick a walk
The longest trail network is Fairfax Open Space Preserve, with 1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Cascade Canyon Preserve
Managed by Marin County Open Space District
41 acres0.5 mi of trail
Ridge ConnectorPam's Blue Ridge Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Elliott Nature Preserve
Managed by Marin County Open Space District & Town of Fairfax
12 acres0.5 mi of trail
Carry Camp Loop
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Mount Tamalpais Watershed
Managed by Marin Municipal Water District
9 acres0.4 mi of trail
Deer Park Fire Road Extension TrailDeer Park Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
All 10 parks & preserves
Fairfax Open Space Preserve103 acres · 1 mi of trail · Town of Fairfax and Marin County Open Space District
DirectionsCascade Canyon Preserve41 acres · 0.5 mi of trail · Marin County Open Space District
DirectionsElliott Nature Preserve12 acres · 0.5 mi of trail · Marin County Open Space District & Town of Fairfax
Mount Tamalpais Watershed9 acres · 0.4 mi of trail · Marin Municipal Water District
DirectionsLoma Alta Open Space Preserve9 acres · 0.2 mi of trail · Marin County Open Space District
DirectionsBolinas Park7 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsBald Hill Open Space Preserve6 acres · 0.1 mi of trail · Marin County Parks
Hawthorne Canyon Open Space Preserve1 acres · Town of San Anselmo
Upper Hawthorne Canyon Open Space Preserve1 acres · Town of San Anselmo
Piper Lane Presere1 acres · Western Alliance for Nature
Who protects it
68 conserved acres
5% of Fairfax’s land. Who manages Fairfax’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Regional agency51 ac
Regional Water Districts9 ac
Town or city7 ac
Local Conservation Area · 51 acLocal Resource Management Area · 9 acLocal Other or Unknown · 6 acLocal Recreation Area · 1 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cascade Canyon Open Space Preserve Local Conservation Area | Regional agency | 41 | Open |
| Marin Municipal Water District Watershed Local Resource Management Area | Regional Water Districts | 9 | Open |
| Loma Alta Open Space Preserve Local Conservation Area | Regional agency | 9 | Open |
| Fairfax City Government Facilities Local Other or Unknown | Town or city | 6 | Open |
| Hawthorne Hills Town Open Space Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
2 places to go in Fairfax
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Fairfax
Andy Peri Memorial PlaygroundIn Bolinas Park
DirectionsPicnic areas in Fairfax
Bolinas ParkIn Bolinas Park
DirectionsTrails & water
9 named trails
Named trails
Unpaved · 2.1 mi
Ridge Connector0.4 mi
Holly Trail0.3 mi
Carry Camp Loop0.2 mi
Redwood Trail0.2 mi
Deer Park Fire Road Extension Trail0.1 mi
Carry Camp Trail0.1 mi
Marin Open Space Trust Trail0.1 mi
Deer Park Trail0.1 mi
Sky Ranch Trail0.1 mi
Biking & sports
1.7 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.5 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
0.1 mi
off-road bike paths
0.1 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
9Tennis
2Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Fairfax: April to August
NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals for the town and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 59 to 86 °F and little rain for the place.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 9.8 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.1 | 14.2 | 14.8 | 14.5 | 13.6 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.1 | 9.5 |
| High (°F) | 56 | 59 | 62 | 64 | 67 | 73 | 76 | 77 | 77 | 72 | 63 | 56 |
| Rain (in) | 7.3 | 7.2 | 5.2 | 2.4 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 1.7 | 4.0 | 8.1 |
July is the driest month (under 0.1 in) and August the warmest (highs of 77 °F). 8.1 inches fall in December, the wettest month. The climate in Fairfax →
Next door
Fairfax and its neighbors
Fairfax has the second most mapped trails of the 3 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairfax | 5% | 3.4 | 8 | 99% | A− |
| Sleepy Hollow | 28% | 8.4 | 97 | 64% | A+ |
| San Anselmo | 10% | 2.4 | 15 | 99%+ | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Fairfax
Where can I hike in Fairfax?
The longest trail networks: Fairfax Open Space Preserve, 1 miles; Cascade Canyon Preserve, 0.5 miles; Elliott Nature Preserve, 0.5 miles; Mount Tamalpais Watershed, 0.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Fairfax is conserved land?
5% of its land, against a typical 4% for a California town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Fairfax’s trails?
Fairfax Open Space Preserve and Cascade Canyon Preserve don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Fairfax?
1.7 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.5 of painted or protected lanes, 0.1 of off-road paths and 0.1 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Fairfax?
94,623 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Fairfax or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 64 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Fairfax have?
Ahead of 83% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #255 of 847 in California. The grade combines the share of land that is conserved, miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, park acres per 1,000 residents and the share of residents within a half mile of a park. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Trail talk
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Fairfax neighbors.
Share a tip
Sources
Where this page comes from
Conserved and public land: USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), service updated July 2026. Parks, trails, playgrounds, beaches and other places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), map data as of 2026-10-28. Land and water area: Census 2025 Gazetteer. Residents near a park: 2020 Census blocks. National Register: National Park Service. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →