Only 12 miles north of San Francisco, the Muir Woods National Monument lies on Mount Tamalpais in a hidden canyon near the Pacific coast and is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. It was established in 1908 to protect an old-growth coastal redwood forest. This spectacularly beautiful, shady, and moist park with fog permanently hiding the sky-high treetops is a magical place where one can imagine what the world looked like thousands of years ago.

If you come early in the morning, you will find serenity and solitude among the wide boardwalks and trails surrounded by majestic trees and other rare plants and trees that survive in the permanent shade. However, once the tour busses arrive, the forest looks more like an amusement park than a temple to nature. The tallest tree in the park towers 258 feet and the oldest tree is 1,200 years old.

Address: 1 Muir Woods Rd, Mill Valley, CA 94941-4205, Phone: 415-388-2595

Big Sur Yosemite National Park Santa Cruz San Jose Oakland Mendocino National Forest Redwood National Park Sonoma, Northern California Modoc National Forest Calaveras County Point Lobos State Reserve Muir Woods National Monument Marin Headlands, Northern California Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park Yosemite Falls Pfeiffer Beach Lava Beds National Monument Napa Valley Humboldt Redwoods State Park Mendocino, Northern California Sacramento San Francisco Six Rivers National Forest Klamath National Forest

Explore more: Northern California > Places to Visit in Northern California

Plan Your Trip

Get Ready to Go!

Need some more help?


Go to travel reservations.