Upper Oat Hill Mine Trail

Dogs Leashed

Features Birding · Fall Colors · Views · Wildlife

Wide trails and some spots with scrambling. Watch out for mountain bikers.

The Upper Oat Hill Mine Trail follows over the former Oat Hill Mine Road. This road was an important means of transportation between the local town of Calistoga and the Oat Hill Mine, the third largest quicksilver or mercury mine. The mine operated from the early 1870's to the late 1960's. Today, the 8.3-mile road connects Aetna Springs Road and Calistoga. The trail can prove difficult with rocky terrain, but it is open to runners, mountain bicyclists, and equestrians.

The trailhead for the Upper Oat Hill Mine Trail is along Aetna Springs Road, with limited parking. The entire trail is well-maintained and well-marked, with posts marking every mile. The trail follows along the ridge, with well shaded areas allowing you to meander through the oak and cypress trees above the Napa Valley. The Upper Oat Hill Mine Trail ends at Holm's Place, an old homestead property of Karl Gustov Holm who built a log cabin in 1893. Parts of the stone wall from the barn remain in the area. At this point, the trail meets with the Palisades Trail and the Lower Oat Hill Mine Trail. The Palisades Trail goes north to Table Rock.

There is an abundance of flora and fauna in the area, including lizards, salamanders, chipmunks, snakes, mountain lions, oak, douglas fir, gray pine, cypress, chaparral, and grasslands.