Muir Woods: Mill Valley, CA
After a whirlwind visit to San Francisco, we woke up early and headed back to the airport to collect our rental car before heading out on our road trip adventure. We had a lot of ground to cover and fortunately, we were starting off with one of the best spots on the trip: Muir Woods National Monument.
After navigating the traffic in the city, we finally crossed over the Golden Gate Bridge (which was shrouded in fog) and were on our way! The drive itself was really easy - I think it took us about an hour and a half to get from the airport to the parking lot at Muir Woods. The scenery leading to the area was lovely as well so I can definitely see why this is a popular day trip from San Francisco.
Arriving at the parking area, we were met with a bit of a shock: parking has to be booked in advance! I think this is a relatively new rule as they seem to be doing some work on the parking areas. Fortunately, it was a pretty easy fix: you just have to go online (website info below) and book an arrival time. Unfortunately, while this can be done from your smartphone... there's no signal at the entrance so you have to drive back up the hill until you find cell service! Luckily, the winding road from the top of the hill makes for a fun drive and, once we got to the top, we were able to book in for the very next slot so we were all set by the time we got back down! I highly recommend doing this in advance though as on a busier day you might find yourself out of luck...
Once we were all settled with the parking, we hopped out of the car and found ourselves in another world. The monument is made up of 554 acres of protected forest, which includes an incredible 240 acres of old growth coastal redwood forest. This area has been a federally protected space since 1908 and is one of the last remaining examples of primeval forests in the country.
From the parking area, paved walking trails lead you to the main entrance where you pay the park fee and enter through the archway pictured at the start of this post. There is also a little shop attached to the office that has some higher quality souvenirs and artwork for sale (a second, more touristy souvenir shop is located inside the monument). I had a little nose around but was mainly focused on getting started on the trails!
There are three options on the main trail to choose from that offer a variety of timelines for your visit. Since we needed to be at our hotel in Yosemite that night, we unfortunately had to go with the shortest trail (approx. half an hour). However, if I could go back, I would spend several hours at least in order to fully take in this beautiful forest. The main trail is very well maintained and is therefore suitable for all types of visitors. It is laid out in a series of loops where you have the option to cross over at designated points and head back to the exit. This is such a great idea and really allows visitors to customize their visit. While the shorter loop of the main trail is suitable for families with strollers and wheelchair users, we did see signs for more complicated trails that would offer more of a hike if you prefer.
I am so glad we took this little detour! Ever since I started researching for this trip, I had been fixated on seeing Coastal Redwoods but wasn't entirely sure how I could accomplish this given our strict itinerary. Originally, I had thought we could take two days to detour up to Redwoods National Park (5 and a half hours drive north of San Francisco) but ultimately rejected that idea as being too far out of the way. So when I stumbled onto Muir Woods, I really couldn't believe my luck!
Honestly, I'm not sure these photos and any description I can give will really be able to do justice to the incredible scenery and general feel of this forest - the way the light trickles through the trees, the cool, damp air, the hush that falls over each group of visitors, and the overwhelming sense of peace is really one of a kind. It was amazing to sit and imagine how things might have looked when these forests covered more of the country. It really feels like you've gone back in time - if a dinosaur had crashed through the trees, I genuinely would not have been surprised.
The sheer scale of these trees was truly mind blowing. Coastal Redwoods can live to be 1,800 years old (or even older) and are famous as being the tallest trees on Earth. Each tree can reach up to 379 feet high and be 30 feet in diameter, which is just astounding. Further, the trees are incredibly adaptable - if the tree is damaged by fire (such as from a lightening strike) or disease, the roots generate new trees, which form a family circle. Therefore, if you see a group of closely set Redwoods, you can usually see the remnants of a damaged tree as well. If you see a Redwood on its own, then you know that tree germinated from a seed instead. Fascinating!
We really appreciated how nicely signposted with information the trails are - there is a real sense of pride in the maintenance of this beautiful space. In particular, we were amazed by the timeline displayed above. From the time this particular tree was born (909 AD) to the time it fell (1930), the world as we now know it was formed. This tree is not only older than Columbus, but had even quietly lived through the construction of societies and cities thousands of miles away.
Sadly, we ultimately had to drag ourselves away in order to make it to Yosemite before dark. However, we were of course not leaving without a quick gift shop visit! When I had popped into the little gift shop at the entrance, I had asked if they had any Christmas ornaments and was told to try the gift shop in the park. The attendant was quick to stress that I might be out of luck though since May isn't really the season for ornaments.... now, I'm not sure if he was joking or not because upon entering the second gift shop, I can honestly say I have never seen so many ornaments in my life! Since Matt and I have a tradition of collecting an ornament from everywhere we travel together, I was very, very happy. This shop has literally every Redwood (or Giant Sequoia) item you could possibly think of - including seedlings and canned germination kits!
I highly, highly recommend making a point to stop into this lovely forest! It will definitely be somewhere I'd like to return to someday and I sincerely hope that day isn't too far in the future!
Full Details:
Address: 1 Muir Woods Rd, Mill Valley, California, 94941
Website: https://www.nps.gov/muwo/index.htm
Fees: £8 parking, $10 per adult (children under 15 are free)
