By 8:15 on a Saturday morning, the small lot at the end of Lagunitas Road is already full, and the cars that didn't make it in are parked along the shoulder with their engines off, waiting for someone to leave. Nobody explains this to newcomers. You just learn it, usually after circling once, that the etiquette here is to get in line and shut your car off rather than idle behind the wheel hoping for a spot to open. That's Phoenix Lake on a summer weekend.
Ross's summer brings visitors to Phoenix Lake and the Marin Art and Garden Center's Summer Concert Series. This guide covers both, from trailhead parking and hiking options to the concert series' schedule and venues.
Phoenix Lake Trailhead and Parking
The trailhead itself, Natalie Coffin-Greene Park at the end of Lagunitas Road, holds parking for about two dozen vehicles, plus a few handicapped spots. There is no overflow lot or shuttle. Arrive before 8 a.m. or plan to wait, and if you're waiting, the local move is to park across from the Ross Post Office and walk in, which adds distance but skips the standoff entirely. Some regulars go the other direction and start from Lake Lagunitas instead, especially on weekends when the Phoenix lot can be full by mid-morning.
None of this costs anything. There's no parking fee and no entrance fee, and the lot is open from sunrise to sunset, which means the only real currency here is timing. You're not paying to get in, you're paying in how early you're willing to show up.
What You Get Once You're Actually On the Trail
Once you're past the lot, the lake delivers exactly what it promises. The standard loop, combining the Gertrude-Ord Trail with the fire road around the water, runs 2.9 miles with about 219 feet of elevation gain, roughly an hour to an hour and a half depending on how often you stop. If that feels short, the Yolanda Trail extension turns it into a 4.8-mile loop with 646 feet of gain, closer to two to two and a half hours, and it climbs high enough to give you a real view back toward Mount Tamalpais.
Along the way you'll pass a small stone shelter that the town of Ross itself still maintains, its roof gone soft with moss and ferns, and further around the loop a log cabin built in 1894 for the old Hyppolite Ranch. Dogs are welcome on leash, but they can't go in the water, and neither can you. Phoenix Lake is a working reservoir, not a swimming hole. And if you take the narrower southern route past the lake, watch your footing and your sleeves: the trail there runs close enough to brush that regulars specifically warn newcomers to watch out for poison oak along that stretch.
The lake itself never closes for the season. That's worth knowing precisely because the other half of a Ross summer does have a clock running on it.
The Concert Series Changes Format in August
The Marin Art and Garden Center, tucked on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, runs the town's Summer Concert Series every Thursday evening from July 9 through August 27. The series uses two formats over its eight weeks, with a change in venue, time and seating in August.
| Stretch | Dates | Time | Venue | Seating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Early summer | July 9 – August 6 | 5:00–7:00 p.m. | Gazebo Lawn | Bring your own chair or blanket |
| Late summer | August 13 – 27 | 5:30–6:30 p.m. | Redwood Amphitheater | Fixed wooden benches |
The July run happens on the Gazebo Lawn, a full two-hour window where you spread out on the grass with a picnic and low-back chairs. Come August, the series moves to the smaller Redwood Amphitheater, the window shrinks to a single hour, and the seating switches to rustic wooden benches instead of open lawn. Bring a cushion if you're going in August. The benches are exactly as rustic as advertised.
The lineup has ranged from Hawaiian guitar and ukulele group Haopinaka, who played the Gazebo Lawn on July 16, to Bay Area pop artist Michelle Lambert, fresh off a 40-date Western states tour and a spot in the San Francisco Giants' City Connect campaign, who performs at the amphitheater on August 20. Food comes from Ray's Catering, Fiorello Gelato, and Babaloo Bakes, with beer and wine available for purchase on site. No outside alcohol is allowed, which is one of the few rules the series enforces strictly. Tickets run $20 in advance or $25 at the gate, kids 17 and under get in free, and parking is $10 in advance or $15 at the gate if you'd rather not walk.
What's Left on the Calendar This Month
As of today, the Gazebo Lawn portion of the series is done for the year. What remains is entirely at the Redwood Amphitheater, two Thursdays, five-thirty to six-thirty each time:
- August 20 — Michelle Lambert
- August 27 — the closing night of the 2026 series
If you've been meaning to go and haven't yet, this is the shorter, more contained version of the series, not the sprawling lawn picnic from July. Pack accordingly.
The Same Town, Both Ends of the Day
Phoenix Lake has a small trailhead lot, while the concert series uses the Gazebo Lawn in July and the Redwood Amphitheater in August. The August schedule has a shorter concert window and fixed wooden benches. These are practical details to keep in mind when planning a summer visit.
If you already live here, this may not change what you do this week. Knowing the parking options and concert schedule can help you plan a visit. Phoenix Lake and the Garden Center offer different summer outings in Ross.
If you're weighing a move within Ross, thinking about what a property here is actually worth, or just curious how a town this small holds its value the way it does, Marc Machado knows this stretch of Marin from the inside. Reach out today.
