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Hamilton Field Bay Trail

4.3 (14 reviews)

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Lillian W.

I do appreciate when a community conserves a beautiful nature area and makes it a publicly accessible. Hamilton Field Bay Trail does just that. Back in 2014, this trail opened in the City of Novato's wetlands. They restored the wetlands over the old Hamilton Air Force Base. The base is long gone ( 1935-1974) and the hangars are converted to office buildings I entered the trail from the Hamilton office buildings back parking lot. Parking for trail use is allowed. There is a concrete walkway leading to the trail. The walkway is near the renovated air traffic tower. As you enter into the trail, there is an observation deck looking out into the marsh. The deck has large observation binoculars. I had my own and saw various birds and vegetation. The tide was low with dry areas but the marsh still held a simple summer beauty. Mount Tam, Burrell, and Diablo were hazily visible in the distance. The wetlands border along the San Pablo Bay. The trail is flat and dirt packed. It is not a destination trail but a great asset to the local community. There are no shade trees, toilets, or water fountains along the trail. I visited in the summer and did not venture far. It was hot and dusty out there. I do not function well in the heat. But alot of other folks do, I saw folks of various ages walking, biking and jogging out they. The trail is not a loop. Besides the wetlands the trail borders along the renovated Hamilton base and housing developments. What I totally missed out in was visiting the nearby Hamilton Filed History Museum, 555 Hangar Drive. Admission is free and visiting hours are limited. I was in the area on a day it was not open and did not know it existed until I spoke to a group of fellow trail users.

Viewing area
Debra R.

Nice hidden trail along the wetlands. Hardest part is weaving your way through the neighborhood but if you follow the small brown wildlife vieweing signs you will find large parking lots between the hangars left over from its airplane days. Good walking surface and plenty of space to pass dog walkers and family groups.

Chris L.

You can access this trail from either the big parking lot near the hangers, or go up the Reservoir Hill trail. The second option is quite a bit more difficult, so keep that in mind. I parked at Hamilton and went up Reservoir Hill, and then came down to get to the trail. The view up by the reservoir is really great. This makes for a pretty good workout, but the path is pretty smooth most of the way. That is, you don't need any hiking poles or anything like that. I did not see any drinking fountains, but there are a couple out houses at the park, which is about two-thirds down the trail. The trail itself is very flat and easy to navigate. There are lots of families with little kids, some even on bikes with training wheels! A lot of mothers bring their babies in strollers as well. The history in this area is really interesting. It's fun to study and explore what happened to Hamilton Air Base. The runways are invisible as they are deliberately covered up with sedimentation. However, you can see the old control tower atop one of the hangars. So all in all, a really nice way to spend part of an afternoon. There are several other interesting things to do in this little village, such as the History museum or the Contemporary Art Museum.

Swans were in this little inlet, but ducked under the water just as I was snapping this photo.
Jean M.

This is a fantastic trail for walkers, dogs & their people, families, bikers, and nature lovers. It is an out-and-back, not a loop, as others have noted, but it is well-tended, and has benches, special viewing areas with binoculars and signs explaining the plants, birds, and restoration process, and trail markers and benches and trash cans. As others have commented, there is no shade, so plan accordingly. There are a few ports-potties, but no drinking fountains. We walked from the park to Bel Marin Keys Road and back--about 6.2 miles round trip--all flat and lovely.

High tide at Hamilton Field, American Wigeons.

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4 months ago

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2 years ago

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2 years ago

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3 years ago

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1 year ago

Great flat trail overlooking a restored wetland. Many, many photo ops. Run, walk, or jog on a mild day. Not recommended on hot days.

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6 years ago

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7 years ago

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5 years ago

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3 years ago

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10 years ago

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6 years ago

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9 years ago

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8 years ago

Nice bike trail, great views! Nice that there are multiple public restrooms on the trail too

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10 years ago

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Ask the Community - Hamilton Field Bay Trail

How long of a walk is it? Is it a loop?

Unfortunately, it's not a loop due to protected areas. It's hard to say how long it is since it depends on which way you go and where you start from. I can get 2-4 miles on average.

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Review Highlights - Hamilton Field Bay Trail

A great flat trail with an occasionally awesome view of a murmuration.

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McInnis County Park Skatepark - Payphone and helmets

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3.7(6 reviews)
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The only bad part about this skate park was finding it. Google took me to a ground level parking…read morelot near the water and Yelp was also showing me that it was down the hill from where it actually was. If you need help, you can always ask where the tennis courts are--it was just beyond there, not far from the entrance to the park, but you must go up the hill. There is a lot to ride. There is a street section near the parking lot with stairs and rails with a flatter sort of bowl to ride. At the far end, there is a huge bean bowl that is quite deep. You'll find a variety of just about anything else in-between with one section marked "Beginner". There is also a covered area with picnic tables, restrooms, a broken water fountain, and what looked like bleachers up the hill a bit. It is an impressive skate park, and it would be in any part of the state.

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This is a great community park located near the town's community center, a school, along a lagoon…read moreand canals, and near the fwy, neighborhoods, and shops. Really an ideal location for a park! Plenty of parking whether you park in the lot or along the road. It gets quite busy as a number of kids extracurricular activities happen here on evenings and over the weekend. I like coming here to walk with our pup, as there's plenty of grass and space to sniff. Some other dogs we see are off leash, but most people we see are good about keeping their dogs on leash. There are plenty of trees along the park, and a cute path that leads to the neighborhood further up the street. Also, the grounds are kept quite clean, and I seldom see any litter on the ground. Definitely appreciate people keeping our local park clean!

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These negative reviews are totally unfounded, either that, or the business has evolved and…read morefunctions very, very well. These reviews completely scared us a year ago, and a year of trying Park & Rec classes and skateboarding camps where our child really didn't make progress, we enrolled here after a word-of-mouth recommendation. Our child has enjoyed and learned so much through his trainers (extraordinaire!), he has gone from wanting to master a skill, to being held back by fear, and then amazing confidence on the skateboard, and not just that, the summer camp is legit one of the few camps in the city where children actually learn new skills, and bond and have great fun - and have good restrooms to use and sinks to wash hands! Private lessons are not cheap, but thankfully last minute cancellations can be 'bought back' with a small fee.

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Hamilton Field Bay Trail - hiking - Updated May 2026

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