As anyone who read my September Stories post may be aware, I was lucky enough recently to visit the San Francisco Bay area for work. I had one day off while I was there, and I was determined to visit Muir Woods, which I recalled as the absolute stand-out of a family trip to San Francisco in 1995 – so yeah, it’s been a while.
What I was not excited about was the drive – winding narrow roads, steep drop-offs, and lots of traffic. So, I did some investigating and discovered that the there was a shuttle that picks up travellers at Larkspur Landing Ferry Terminal, north of the city (and quite close to the infamous San Quentin prison!). There is plenty of parking, and it was a relatively easy drive on a Saturday morning. I did have to book my tickets both to and from the park in advance, but they provided recommendations on timing, and parking at the park is bookable in advance, too (it is in fact required that you do so).
This option is highly recommended – the coach is very comfortable and was quiet when I arrived. I was told that it was off-season so I could board an earlier bus than I had booked (I am never not early, unless I am really late), and while the nearby restrooms were actually port-a-potties, they were surprisingly clean.
As we started off, I enjoyed just staring out the window and watching the communities pass by as we wound up into the mountains – very quickly I was more than a little relieved not to have to manage the curves. I can do these in Scotland, in my own car, but this was a bit different. Plus it meant I could actually enjoy the drive, and the views. I am always impressed, in California, how housing is constructed absolutely everywhere, no matter how steep the hill. The neighbourhoods we wound through on our way to Muir Woods included some truly spectacular homes with large yards around them, and I saw more than a few enviable tree houses.
After about 30 minutes, we arrived at the park, and I realised that though the shuttle was quiet, the park was not. I know that it was not high season yet there was definitely a good number of people on the paths, and this was one of the reasons I eventually deviated from my original plan to stick to the three bridges. But I get ahead of myself (so unlike me).
The weather as we piled out of the coach was cloudy, with the all-pervasive Bay Area fog sitting at the tree-tops, casting the highest branches with a grey tinge. The coach ticket included entrance to the park, where I received a map of the trails – I took a short moment to peruse before heading through the main gateway.
I had decided, due to the weather, that I would not do the ‘long’ loop, just walk out to Bridge 3 before coming back; the Medium loop goes up one side of the river and down the other, which is what the majority of visitors seemed to be doing, and there are several bridges that you can cross-cross on your way. I intended to take a side-trip up through Cathedral Grove, but then return on the yellow trail.
Trails of Muir Woods, scanned from the leaflet I received upon arrival
I started off by crossing Bridge 1 but soon found myself walking against the main traffic, with almost everyone else coming back towards the entrance. So, at Bridge 2 I crossed back over to join the more socially accepted direction (not something I would normally bother about, but some of the wooden paths were narrow and I was tired of getting annoyed looks).
It is a beautiful walking route, with some fallen trees that show the decades and centuries of rings, glimpses of the river, and a forest floor carpeted in mosses, saplings, and clover.
It took me less time than I had imagined to reach Bridge 3, and enter Cathedral Grove, which the sign stated was set aside as:
A quiet refuge to protect its natural soundscape in an incredibly noisy world. The soundscape is vital to animals for hunting and foraging, courtship and mating, nurturing young, and avoiding predators. By walking quietly, we experience the natural sounds of a living, ancient forest.
I have to admit to finding the other visitors a little less considerate of the soundscape than I would have liked, but it is almost to be expected when visitors were so many. The experience of walking through Cathedral Grove, silent or not, was extraordinary. At every turn I found myself wanting to capture a new view, even if it was often difficult to avoid other visitors. In the video at the end of this post I made an effort not to record other people, which meant many of the clips are shorter than I would have liked.
Within Cathedral Grove is a plaque memorialising the 1945 delegation from around the world that met in San Francisco to establish the United Nations. They visited Muir Woods on 19 May of that year to honour the memory of President Franklin Roosevelt, who had recently passed away. President Roosevelt was a strong supporter of national parks, good forestry practices and the sustainable development of natural resources, as tools to maintain lasting peace around the world, particularly after the destruction wrought by World War II.
Moving out of Cathedral Grove as I approached Bridge 4, it seemed a natural choice not to turn back but to extend my walk by heading up the Hillside trail. The sun was beginning to come out, burning through the fog and filtering down through the branches to create bright patches of green. The Hillside path, which started off with a steep rise away from the river, eventually turned to run parallel the lower path, weaving in and out of the hills with a few gentle ups and downs.
Beyond the first few hundred feet of incline it was not a particularly difficult trail, and was absolutely beautiful. It also allowed me the opporunity to be, on occasion, alone with the trees – a special kind of peace and quiet.
This was absolutely the best way to enjoy the forest, and after in time descending back to the river level, I took a short detour back up through Cathedral grove – to catch it in the sunlight. Finally, I returned to the ‘far’ side of the river to make sure I got the famous Muir Woods picture, inside a redwood. I had tried a few selfies along the way though none worked particularly well, and I finally gave in to request help from a very kind couple, for whom I reciprocated a picture.
There are a few spots along the Hillside trail and other walking paths where you can get a picture inside a redwood, but this was the one that was least busy – at some there were queues of groups waiting for pictures. It was also very close to the Bicentennial tree, which – as it is likely impossible to read the sign – was commemorated in 1976 as having begun its life 200 years before. ‘As this redwood tree began its life, across the continent, a revolution occurred which transformed 13 colonies into the United States of America’.
A tree as old as the country, a tribute to the success of both, really. And quite phenomenally tall…check out the video below to see it in all its glory.
I had walked speedily enough that I reached the café and gift shop a bit ahead of the lunch rush, and was so happy to find a massive turkey sandwich and iced tea to enjoy. As there was no phone service in the park (I think I got a bar or two at the café but nothing useful), I read my book while I ate, then indulged myself in a long – and costly – browse through the gift shop. I particularly enjoyed a set of carved wooden figures of bears and trees, several of which came home with me as gifts. Also some beautiful artistic postcards of the park which I could not bring myself to actually send. The shop here is expectedly over-priced, but for a trip like this I really did not care and was willing to go a bit overboard – who knew if or when I might return?
By the time I had finished lunch and my browsing I decided it was time to head back towards the shuttle, and I was lucky enough to wait only about 10 minutes for the next one. Again, I also managed to get on an earlier shuttle than I had scheduled and so arrived back at my car by about 1pm. It was a glorious sunny day and I hoped to be able to get a view of the Golden Gate Bridge on my drive south, but the car parks were so busy that I had to give up.
As I drove back to my hotel, I could not help but feel envious of the more ‘local’ people who were visiting Muir Woods, clearly there not as tourists but for exercise – there were joggers, more intense distance hikers, fitness groups, and walkers. While there are apparently even more impressive redwood forests furhter up the coast, I was so happy to be able to visit Muir Woods again, putting new memories to those echoed by an old magnet on my mum’s fridge from the 1995 trip. Yes, I could have spent the day exploring the city, but for me, the woods were the right choice. They usually are.
Hence my new laptop sticker:
As a side note, I was sorry to see, upon checking the website while writing this post, that Muir Woods has been closed as of 21 October 2025 due to the lapse in funding caused by the government shutdown. It is a sad thought that people might be missing their once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to explore this beautiful National Monument.
The Wandering Medievalist 