Bald Hill Open Space Preserve
Managed by Marin County Parks
55 acres1.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
AOutdoors
Outdoors in Ross
6% of Ross’ land is conserved, and virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 2.5 miles of mapped trail cross Ross, 1.6 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Bald Hill Open Space Preserve (1.4 mi), Ross Open Space (0.6 mi).
Ahead of 93% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
6%
60 acres · of 1.6 sq mi of land
Trails
2.5 mi
1.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
64 ac
24 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.0 mi
0.3 mi paths
Highest peak
1,132 ft
Bald Hill
What kind of outdoors town is Ross?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Ross have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Ross is ahead of 93% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of residents near a park ranks highest, conserved land lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Ross’ overall grade.
Conserved land6% of the land · typical CA town 4% · U.S. 4%B+Trails1.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (3 mi) · CA 0.9 · U.S. 0.4APark land24 acres of park per 1,000 residents (64 acres) · CA 5 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to homeVirtually all residents within a half mile of a park · CA 91% · U.S. 72%A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 93%
LessMore
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A− 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 Bald Hill Open Space Preserve, with 1.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Ross Open Space
Managed by Town of Ross
52 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Upper Toyon Ridge Nature Preserve (WAN)
Managed by Western Alliance for Nature
9 acres0.2 mi of trail
Upper Toyon Ridge TrailSentinel Ridge Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 5 parks & preserves
Bald Hill Open Space Preserve55 acres · 1.4 mi of trail · Marin County Parks
Ross Open Space52 acres · 0.6 mi of trail · Town of Ross
DirectionsUpper Toyon Ridge Nature Preserve (WAN)9 acres · 0.2 mi of trail · Western Alliance for Nature
Ross Commons4 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsMount Tamalpais Watershed1 acres · Marin Municipal Water District
Who protects it
60 conserved acres
6% of Ross’ land. Who manages Ross’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city78 ac
County1 ac
Regional Water Districts1 ac
Local Park · 58 acLocal Other or Unknown · 20 acLocal Recreation Area · 1 acLocal Resource Management Area · 1 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natalie Coffin Greene Park Local Park | Town or city | 31 | Open |
| Mudd Dedication Local Other or Unknown | Town or city | 20 | Open |
| Ross Lands 001 Local Park | Town or city | 20 | Open |
| Ross Common Park Local Park | Town or city | 5 | Open |
| Ross City Government Facilities Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Corte Madera Creek Path Local Recreation Area | County | 1 | Open |
| Marin Municipal Water District Watershed Local Resource Management Area | Regional Water Districts | 1 | Open |
Things to do
2 places to go in Ross
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Peaks in Ross
Bald Hill1,132 ft elevation · In Bald Hill Open Space Preserve
DirectionsMoore Hill551 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail
Named trails
Unpaved · 1.5 mi
Upper Toyon Ridge Trail0.1 mi
Biking & sports
1.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.3 mi
off-road bike paths
0.7 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
13Tennis
2Pickleball
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
Marin Art and Garden CenterDistrict · listed 2022
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Ross: 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) | 57 | 60 | 62 | 65 | 68 | 73 | 75 | 77 | 77 | 73 | 63 | 57 |
| Rain (in) | 6.8 | 6.8 | 4.7 | 2.1 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 3.6 | 7.4 |
July is the driest month (under 0.1 in) and September the warmest (highs of 77 °F). 7.4 inches fall in December, the wettest month. The climate in Ross →
Next door
Ross and its neighbors
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ross | 6% | 1.6 | 24 | 99%+ | A |
| Kentfield | 21% | 3.3 | 44 | 99%+ | A+ |
| San Anselmo | 10% | 2.4 | 15 | 99%+ | A |
| San Rafael | 35% | 3.8 | 48 | 97% | A+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Ross
Where can I hike in Ross?
The longest trail networks: Bald Hill Open Space Preserve, 1.4 miles; Ross Open Space, 0.6 miles; Upper Toyon Ridge Nature Preserve (WAN), 0.2 miles; Ross Commons, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Ross is conserved land?
6% 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 Ross’ trails?
Bald Hill Open Space Preserve and Ross Open Space don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Ross?
1.0 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.3 of off-road paths and 0.7 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Ross?
86,947 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Ross or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 64 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Ross have?
Ahead of 93% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. 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 Ross 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 →