Muir Woods

A visit to the San Francisco Bay Area can be quite a treat, with a long list of amazing attractions from large to small. The city of San Francisco is home to popular tourist spots like Alcatraz, Pier 39, The Palace of Fine Arts, Coit Tower, The Golden Gate Bridge and more, but outside of the city holds even more things to do. Napa Valley Wine Country, Lake Tahoe, Silicon Valley, Yosemite National Park, Pebble Beach and more are all within driving distance. If you don’t have a lot of time in the city, it will be hard to choose between all of the great options.

If you love the outdoors and want to see something naturally spectacular, you’ll definitely want to take the time to visit Muir Woods. Located in Mill Valley, just a little bit North of San Francisco, Muir Woods offers a chance to see the world’s tallest living thing, the Coast Redwood. These massive trees can grow to over 380 feet tall. The Guinness Book of World Records lists a Coast Redwood, nicknamed Hyperion, in the Redwood National Park of California as the tallest living tree in the World, measuring 380 ft. 9.7 in as of late 2019. While you won’t see any Redwoods that reach such a great height in Muir Woods, you will see hundreds of trees that are well over 200 feet tall, with the largest one measuring in at 258 ft.

While Muir Woods is known for the giant Redwood Trees, it is also home to a large amount of plant and animal life. Is is estimated that over 380 different plants and animals live in the protected National Monument, including 50 bird species, 27 species of mammals, 12 different reptile species and 5 species of amphibians so you never know what interesting things you may see when you visit.

Visiting Muir Woods

Because of the strong interest in visiting Muir Woods, especially during the busy season, you need to plan ahead if you want to walk amongst the redwoods. If you plan on driving and parking, you will need to make a reservation in advance. If you drive to the park without a reservation, you will be turned away. Another way to visit the park is to take one of the Muir Woods Shuttles, which pick up in Mill Valley and Sausalito and also require advance registration. The other option is to book a city tour. This is a great option because a lot of the tours include other popular attractions so you can do a few activities with transportation included. CLICK HERE to see the upcoming Muir Woods Tours.