Located just north of San Francisco is Muir Woods National Monument. It was protected as a monument in 1908 because of the large number of old-growth coastal redwoods in the Redwood Creek Valley. Today, it is a very popular day trip out of SF, so be sure to go early to avoid the crowds. Muir Woods actually requires timed parking reservations (they had a huge problem with parking a few years ago), so make sure you reserve one before your visit. We arrived shortly after the park opened and we felt like we had it all to ourselves.
The average age of the Redwood trees in Muir Woods is between 500-800 years, although the oldest one is over 1,200 years old. The trees seem to stretch endlessly to the sky as they tower above the valley at an impressive 200-300 feet. The forest has an unusually wet environment due to the fog that comes off of the Pacific Ocean. This is vital to the redwood trees and also contributes to the fast growth of other plants in the forest.
Muir Woods contains 6 miles of hiking trails, including three loops of various lengths. The first smaller loop is paved or boardwalk, making it very easy accessible. The park sits right against Mt. Tamalpais State Park, which offers many more miles of hiking. We walked to the end of the longest loop and then started the Bootjack trail up the mountain. We hiked a mile and a half up before turning around to come back down into the park and finish the original loop. It was a nice trail with no crowds and lots of beautiful waterfalls.
These little seeds are what those giant towering trees come from - so cool!
Muir Woods had an abundance of banana slugs... which we found both neat and kinda slimy!
Mike looking tiny next to giant redwoods.
Muir Woods is a great spot to spend a morning in the greater Bay Area. It's only about twelve miles north of San Francisco, but it feels like a whole different place. We loved our visit and our only regret was not planning more time to spend hiking in Mt. Tamalpais State Park. Because it feels fitting to leave a Muir quote to end this..
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."
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