Muir Woods is a monument famous for its old gigantic redwood trees. Most of the redwoods in the monument are between 500 and 800 years old. The oldest is at least 1,200 years old, and the tallest is 79 m (258 feet).
If you want to visit Muir Woods, here is what you need to know:
- If you are visiting with your own car, you need to book a parking spot in advance. They do not sell parking tickets on-site. When we visited in 2018, it cost us US$8. As of 2020, it costs US$8.50. You can find all the information for parking and booking it here.
- If you don't want to take your own car, there are several shuttle buses you can take from nearby towns. If you choose to take one of these shuttle buses, you do not need to book anything in advance. You may find the bus information here.
- There is no cellphone reception or wifi. When visiting this beautiful area, you will not be able to have any network bars on your phone. I guess that is why they keep a payphone around.
It takes about 25 minutes to reach the park from Sausalito. A regular entrance fee, per adult, is US$15. Since we had our America the Beautiful Pass, we did not have to pay anything to get in.
The America the Beautiful Pass costs US$80 and is valid for one vehicle for one year. If you plan to visit at least three National Parks in the Southwest, it is worth getting this pass.
You will have the option to take one of three different walking loops. There is a 30 minutes (Bridge 2), a 1 hour (Bridge 3), and a 2 hour loop (Bridge 4). We decided to take the 1 hour loop. We walked across wooden bridges, heard beards singing, and had some fun trying to take pictures of such tall trees. Truth is: you can't really capture the magnitude of these trees on camera. You have to be there to experience them for yourself.
It was amazing to see so many tall trees, to breathe fresh air, and to be disconnected from the world. It's crazy how this peaceful oasis is so close to a busy city like San Francisco.
After our relaxing walk, we headed back to San Francisco. The drive back took us around an hour.
If you are heading towards San Francisco, remember that you have to pay a toll for crossing the Golden Gate Bridge. You can find all the information you need regarding paying for this toll in my article: 'Cross the Golden Gate Bridge with Your Campervan'.
