A pleasant hike in the southern section of Mt Tamalpais State Park. Great views of the Pacific on a clear day. About half the trail is shaded.

Location: Muir Woods National Monument — Mount Tamalpais State Park

» Official Trail Map: Decent map showing various trails. However, mileage and elevation profile of various trail sections is missing. RedwoodHikes Map is far superior.

» RedwoodHikes Trail Map: Annotated trail map of Muir Woods National Monument and most of Mt Tamalpais State Park. An excellent quality trail map ($6.95 in Jan 2012) that is recommended for avid hikers. Mt Tamalpais has plenty of trails and trail intersections. This map shows them very clearly. Much better than official state parks map or GGNRA map.

From Muir Woods Visitor Center, walk to the overflow parking lot on Muir Woods Road along a n unnamed trail (0.2 miles). Then follow Dipsea Trail (0.3 miles) to reach an intersection with Deer Park Fire Road. Continue along Dipsea Trail (1.8 miles) to reach a junction with Coastal View Trail. Follow Coastal View Trail (2.4 miles) to a junction with Heather Cutoff. Turn left onto Heather Cutoff, a single track hiking trail (1.2 miles) to emerge into a grassy field. Cross the field by walking towards the stop sign on Muir Woods Road that is quite prominent (0.2 miles). A few yards to the south of the stop sign, look for a wooden sign. Follow "Frank Valley Horse Camp Spur" (0.1 miles). Turn left on Redwood Creek Trail (0.4 miles) to reach a trailhead along Muir Woods Toad. There is space to park about two cars at this trailhead. Continue along Redwood Creek Trail (0.8 miles) to emerge once again on Muir Woods Road. Cross the road and follow Deer Park Fire Road (0.5 miles). Then turn right onto Dipsea Trail (0.3 miles) to reach the overflow parking lot for Muir Woods. Follow an unnamed trail (0.2 miles) to reach Muir Woods Visitor Center.

Location: Muir Woods National Monument, Muir Woods Road, Mill Valley, CA 94941 . No street address. Parking area is visible in Google Maps if you zoom in sufficiently.

Directions: From San Francisco, drive along US-101 North, cross Golden Gate Bridge. Then exit 445B to merge onto CA-1 toward Mill Valley / Stinson Beach. Watch for signs for CA-1, continue along CA-1 for 2.6 miles. Then follow signs for Muir Woods, which is reached after driving for an additional 2.3 miles.

Google Maps:

Parking Fees: None (last visited: July 2012)

Capacity: Dozens of cars may be parked here. However, Muir Woods is super popular. On weekends, parking is really tight after 9am. See shuttle services.

Latitude: 37.892036     Longitude: -122.570402