Today we are headed to Muir Woods National Monument near San Francisco, California. Becky and I are with our daughter in San Francisco, and we want to see the giant redwood trees. So, we’re taking a drive to explore Muir Woods and the area!
To see things to do and see while in San Francisco, check out our separate post here.
Planning Muir Woods
Muir Woods National Monument has protected the old growth coastal redwood forest here since 1908. Redwood trees are the largest of all living things on the planet, with the tallest here about 258 feet! And the magnificent trees here average 600-800 years old, with the oldest one being at least 1,200 years old. Read more at Muir Woods National Monument (nps.gov).
Muir Woods is just a 45 minute drive from San Francisco, but you can’t just show up. Visitation has significantly increased in this popular park over the years, and they have implemented a reservation system. So, you have to book a parking or shuttle reservation in advance at Muir Woods Reservations (gomuirwoods.com). Or you can book through a tour company. But we plan to explore other places in the area. So a few weeks in advance, we make a $9.50 parking reservation for a standard vehicle between 8:30AM-9:00AM. You have to pick a 30-minute time slot when booking, and we hope the early arrival time will beat the crowds. This should also give us plenty of time to explore other areas in the afternoon.
The main thing to do at Muir Woods is to take a hike. And the main trail is paved, wheelchair accessible, and is really just a walk through the woods. You can also choose how long you want to hike. We plan to walk to Bridge 4 and return on the Hillside Trail before connecting back to the main trail. It’s about a 2-hour loop and should take less than 2 hours. Afterwards we’ll check out the park store and cafe, before driving to Muir Beach and beyond. In the afternoon, we have plans in Point Reyes National Seashore that we’ll talk about in our next post!
Driving to and Parking at Muir Woods
We leave our hotel in downtown San Francisco by 7:45AM. It takes a little while to get out of town, before I get to drive over the Golden Gate Bridge for the 1st time. But when we start up the bridge, we realize we are surrounded by fog. In fact it is so foggy, we can’t see the bay at all. Now we know why San Francisco is also known as Fog City.
Once over the bridge, we stay on Highway 101 past Sausalito. The exit for Muir Woods is clearly marked, and a sign even asks if you have parking reservations? We exit onto California State Route 1 where the fog starts to clear. Though we pass many cyclists around curvy turns for about 15 minutes until we get there. Once at Muir Woods, parking attendants direct us down the street to the 1st overflow parking lot. Though we arrived early at 8:25AM, we still have to go to the overflow lot. But we’re one of the 1st cars here, and find a spot upfront by the walkway.
We park next to a couple of signs. One is a safety alert, warning about leaving valuables in our car. So we take our valuables and put everything else in the trunk just in case. Another sign points to the visitor center just 0.2 miles away. There’s a nice paved walkway and shaded path that goes past the 1st parking lot. And it continues past some restrooms and across the shuttle parking lot before we see the entrance.
Muir Woods Entrance and Visitor Center
The walk from the parking lot takes us about 5 minutes to the entrance and visitor center. Once we arrive, we walk up to the entrance window to pay. Our annual pass ran out, so we’re trying to determine if we should get another one or not. But all the other places we plan to visit in the area, including Point Reyes, don’t have an entrance fee. So, we decide to pay the $15 entrance per adult. Kids 15 and under are free.
Once we pay, we head into the small visitor center to get passport stamps. But we don’t waste much time, because we want to get on the trail early. Just behind the visitor center is the only entrance to the park, and the start of the walking trail. And it’s also the exit, so we’ll stop at the visitor center again on the way out.
The entrance has a beautiful wood sign that we have to stop at. We take a couple selfies, but it’s hard to get one without other people in it. But once past the sign, we are ready to start our walk through the redwoods.
Start of Main Trail from Bridge 1 to Bridge 2
From the start of the main trail to Bridge 1 only takes a couple minutes. The bridge goes over Redwood Creek and is a continuation of the trail to the other side. In fact, the trail continues on both sides of the stream. But we don’t want to cross just yet, so we continue forward. So far, the weather is perfect, in the 60s and no more fog. A light jacket is all I need.
On the other side of the bridge, we can see the walkway to the gift shop and cafe. But we continue on the path to the area named Founders Grove. And this is where we start to see the large trees.
At Founders Grove, the trail expands to an open area with benches. This is a perfect place to just sit and admire the trees. A sign here explains how the park was established as a national monument to save these woods. And just past Founders Grove is a side trail named Canopy View Trail.
The steps through the woods look inviting, but this side trail is about 3 miles. It does loop back to the main trail, but it’s more than what we want to do today. So, we continue on the trail to Bridge 2.
The area around Bridge 2 has more open space to view the creek. A sign here explains how salmon come up this creek to spawn from the sea at Muir Beach. The creek waters are very low at this time, and hard to see if there’s anything in the water. But it’s fascinating to think about how the salmon make the trip into these woods every year.
From Bridge 2 to Bridge 4
The walk from Bridge 2 to 3 is short taking only a few minutes. But once past the 3rd bridge is area named Cathedral Grove. We see a sign that says to enter quietly as the path continues straight through the grove of redwood trees.
We have no problem staying quiet while walking and looking up at the large trees. Cathedral Grove is a great area to just take it all in. The scent of the forest and the clean air make this one of Becky’s favorite places.
Becky came here about 15 years ago with her dear friend Meghan. And she’s always talked so fondly of it. Which is part of the reason I wanted to visit, too. After Cathedral Grove, it opens up to more views by the creek before heading back into more trees.
We pass a sign for the Fern Creek Trail. If we would have taken the Canopy View Trail earlier, this is where we would have returned to the main trail. And not far past it, we see Bridge 4.
Even at a leisurely pace, it only took us 45 minutes to get to the last bridge. Many people turnaround here and head back the same way they came. But we’re crossing the bridge to return on the Hillside Trail.
Returning on Hillside Trail
Once over the bridge, the paved trail ends and becomes dirt as we start heading up. And it’s only a couple minutes before we see a sign for the start of the Hillside Trail. It starts up some stairs and is a mile back to the beginning and exit to the park.
The great thing about this trail is you get to see the redwoods from a different vantage point. In fact, the trail starts above Cathedral Grove we walked through on the other side. And though we are a lot higher than we were, the trees are still way over our heads.
This trail has some elevation and is narrower, but is also fun. We get to walk between large trees while overlooking the creek. And unlike the main trail below, there’s hardly anyone on this trail.
We also can get more up-close and personal with to the redwoods on this trail. There are spots to climb the roots or even a great spot to just a hug a tree. Eventually the trail starts to head down and connects back to the main trail at Bridge 2.
The Main Trail to the End
We come down to the main trail, but are still on the other side of the creek. The main trail actually follows the creek on both sides between Bridge 1 and 2. And we are right in the middle at a junction. Our daughter takes a seat on a bench while we wait a few minutes for Becky to make it back to us.
Rather than take Bridge 2 to the other side, we continue on the side toward Bridge 1. And it’s on this side we get to walk through Bohemian Grove.
A great spot to stop here is an open area that has a large tree you can walk inside. The opening is at least 10 feet high, and gives you a great perspective of just how large these trees can get.
We leave the grove as we continue to Bridge 1. At the bridge is the end of the trail on this side, so we have to cross it here. Just across it, the main trail is already more packed than when we started. It’s just past 10:00AM, and the whole walk through the woods took us just over 1.5 hours.
Muir Woods Trading Company Cafe and Gift Shop
Right at Bridge 1 is the path up to the Muir Woods Trading Company Cafe and Gift Shop. But more importantly are the restrooms next door. After a quick break, we head into the gift shop. On the other side is the cafe.
It’s not even lunch time and the cafe is packed. Luckily we’re not hungry yet, so we browse around the store instead. This gift shop is much larger than the visitor center store and has a large selection of t-shirts, hat and more. We get some stickers and a fridge magnet like we do at all the parks. Though the gift shop is also crowded, and there’s a long line to pay. So, Becky waits in line while I take our daughter outside.
There’s a large deck here with plenty of picnic tables. But she’s more interesting in the bear statue by the door. After checking out, we head back to the visitor center for a few minutes to look around. And then we exit the park a little more than 2 hours after we arrived. When we get back to our car, we notice the overflow parking lot is now full. It got really crowded quick.
Muir Beach
Though we are leaving Muir Woods, there are some other great spots nearby. The first is Muir Beach just a few miles down the road. There’s a large parking lot where we easily get a spot. And a sign here says there’s a 0.2 mile trail to the beach.
The trail starts off on a boardwalk trail through the woods. Redwood Creek flows under the boardwalk here out to a lagoon. And in the winter, the storms rush over the beach to the lagoon allowing the salmon to swim upstream. At the end of the boardwalk is a tree tunnel where the trees have grown together over our heads.
Once through the tunnel, we come to a sand trail that takes us down to the beach. Down on the beach, there’s plenty of people here too. Though it is fairly large with plenty of space to spread out. Some people are bringing grills and having picnics for lunch even though it’s cloudy here. In fact, the fog appears to be back behind us up the hillside. We spend about 5 minutes on the beach before we head back and toward our next stop.
Muir Beach Overlook
The Muir Beach Overlook is about 1.5 miles away on the other side from Muir Beach. It’s just a 5 minute drive to another parking lot, where there’s only a few cars when we arrive. Though we are at a higher elevation here and it is definitely foggier.
From the parking lot, there is a path with steps down to the overlook. On a clear day they say you can spot whales here. But today, is not a clear day.
The overlook is basically hanging off the cliff over the Pacific Ocean. But if we didn’t hear waves crashing below, we wouldn’t even know it was there. Unfortunately, today is not a good day to see the ocean here.
One thing that is interesting here are the base end stations from World War II. During the war, soldiers were stationed in these “gopher holes” as they called them. Their main duty was to look for enemy ships and report them to nearby batteries. Two soldiers would be stationed in each of the 4 stations at the overlook. Furnished with two narrow bunks and a stove was all they had.
Driving CR 1 to Stinson Beach
Though we can’t see the ocean, California Route 1 hugs the shoreline all the way to Stinson Beach. The reason we are headed this way is for lunch and later to Point Reyes National Seashore. We thought this would be a nice drive, and on a clear day I’m sure it would be. But we did find one interesting place to stop on the way.
There is a large turnout here called Red Rock Spring, where cold spring water comes out from deep within Mt. Tamalpais. And while here, we some locals filling up 5 gallon jugs of it. I fill up my water bottle to try it. It tastes like clean mountain spring water! Apparently the water is tested here a few times a year, but I have no issues with it.
Back in the car, we get our 1st glimpse of Stinson Beach below. And once in town, we turn toward the beach. We arrive at Parkside Cafe a few minutes before noon and we are hungry.
Lunch at Parkside Snack Bar
We are lucky to find a parking spot just a few steps from the cafe. Originally we were thinking of eating inside the cafe, but we looked at the menu and it’s expensive. It looks like it has great options, but I’ve been walking through the woods and just want a hamburger. And the Parkside Snack Bar attached has them and more.
In between the cafe and snack bar is a little bakery serving coffee, pastries and sourdough pizza by the slice. We divide and conquer. Becky waits with our daughter because she wants some pizza. While, I order 2 cheeseburgers and an order of firecracker fries to share. A double cheeseburger is much more reasonable at $10.95 making this a popular place.
After I place my order at the counter, I wait on a bench near the pickup window. Becky and our daughter meet me here with some cheese pizza and a peach tart that looks amazing. And our daughter finishes a slice of pizza while we’re waiting.
After I get our food, we head across the street to a playground. It looks brand new and there are kids playing on it. We find a bench inside the playground area and eat our food while our daughter plays. Our burgers and fries are good, and the peach tart is excellent. What a day so far, but we have more planned in Point Reyes National Seashore. But you’ll have to wait until our next post to read all about it!
Summary of Muir Woods and More
Muir Woods National Monument is one of Becky’s favorite places for a reason. It’s a lovely walk through magnificent redwoods. And you have to experience breathing the fresh air while looking up at these huge trees. We really loved our time here and would have spent more time if we could. The only drawback was the crowds, and we were glad we came early. Though getting off the main trail seems to be the best way to get away from others.
We would definitely do some longer hikes next time. But our next adventure is just 45 minutes up the coast. Click here to continue reading our journey into The Amazing Point Reyes National Seashore!
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