Muir Woods

Activity Overview

Muir Woods National Monument is a scenic, forested park featuring giant redwood trees, long hiking trails, a visitor center & more. Muir Woods is a unit of the National Park Service on the Pacific coast of southwestern Marin County, California, 12 miles north of San Francisco.

Things to See & Do

• Rangers and volunteers present 15-minute talks and guided one-hour tours when staffing permits. Check the program board at the park entrance for times and locations of talks and tours. No reservations necessary.
• Besides taking in a talk or tour, there are other ways to enhance your experience at the park. Muir Woods offers two self-guided programs that may be purchased for $1 each at the Visitor Center or the self-serve map box at Bridge 2.
• The Muir Woods Historic Walking Tour map takes you from the Visitor Center to Bridge 4 and back. There are no numbered posts to follow. The historic walking tour highlights the ancient redwoods, scenic trails, gathering places, rustic structures, and memorials that weave stories of people and nature.
• Linger at the beautiful wayside signs throughout the park and learn about redwood ecology and cultural history of Muir Woods. Families with children enjoy participating in the Junior Ranger or Redwood Discovery.
• Got a few more hours afterwards? Continue over to Stinson beach along HWY 1 to add beach to your day trip.

Muir Woods Insider Tips

• On weekends and holidays only, you can ride the Muir Woods Shuttle, Marin Transit Route 66. (There are no public transportation to Muir Woods on weekdays). Click here for a link to marintransit.org for schedules and stops.
• Muir Woods is about a 35 minute drive from San Francisco. Parking gets crowded on weekends so unledss you get there early of luck out - you will have to park along the road and hike over to the visitor center.
• Bring your camera with full battery and lots of memory space, some water and a somewhat warm jacket, sweater or sweatshirt. The tall trees only allow 5% of the sun to get to land level and it gets a bit chilly even during summer.
• Kids will enjoy completing Redwood Discovery: A Quest at Muir Woods - which is sort of a scavenger hunt created by park rangers especially for children.
• Plan to stay for 2-3 hours or more if you want to hike some of the longer trails.
• Cool Fact: Coastal redwood trees have indeterminate growth. The tallest recorded to date is 379.1 feet tall or 115.5 meters. This is the same height as a 37 story building.