At the foot of the San Andreas Fire Road, which is gated and locked, head east on a dirt path and, in about 50 feet, go through a gate and then turn sharply left. After 100 feet or so, you merge with the San Andreas Fire Road, which climbs on a gentle grade. About 75 feet ahead, you pass the Big Tank Fire Road, signed BIG TANK FIRE TRAIL, which you will use on your return. Your route here is part of the Bay Area Ridge Trail, and it is popular with local residents, their horses, and their dogs.

      Soon you pass a single-track trail heading left through an opening in a barbed-wire fence. The area behind the fence, also part of Mt. Burdell Open Space Preserve, is designated a Sensitive Wildlife Area, where dogs are not allowed. Now climbing on a moderate grade, you pass another trail, left, signed TO LITTLE TANK FIRE ROAD. About 75 feet farther, you pass through an opening in a fence.

      Passing a concrete wall, right, you come to a clearing that affords a view of Burdell Mountain’s summit ridge and the communication tower perched just below it. The middle ground of this beautiful scene is composed of rolling hills studded with oaks. The foreground, in spring, may be carpeted with California buttercup and owl’s-clover.

      Soon you meet a junction, left, with the Dwarf Oak Trail. During and just after the rainy season, the open ground surrounding the junction is a marshy area, home to red-winged blackbirds, western bluebirds, and a wildflower called Douglas meadowfoam, which sports five yellow petals tipped with white. A few hundred feet farther, you pass two unofficial trails, right.

      As you continue walking on a gentle downhill course, you are surrounded by open, grassy fields, and rising, rolling hills. The main ridge of Burdell Mountain trends east–west, and is topped with many rounded summits.