For years Minoo has been asking why we never take advantage of all the great hiking we have in the Bay Area. “Why don’t we head out one Sunday morning and go for a hike?” Well, we finally did it!
Last Sunday, we got ourselves up early, drove over the San Rafael Bridge, through the charming town of Larkspur, and onward to Muir Woods National Monument.
You’ve probably heard of that “big tree” national park that so many head to when visiting the Bay Area. But just how big are those trees?
From the Muir Woods National Park Website…
The large trees in Muir Woods are the coastal redwoods, the tallest of all living things, and some scattered Douglas firs. The tallest coastal redwood at Muir Woods is about 258 feet, approximately the height of a six-foot person stacked head to toe 45 times. Further north, these trees can reach heights up to 379 feet, 74 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty. The average age of the coastal redwoods at Muir Woods is between 600 to 800 years, with the oldest being at least 1,200 years old. This is still young for redwoods as they can live up to 2,200 years. Being long-lived and large in size, they play a significant role in carbon, nutrient, and water cycling in the forest, helping to support an abundance of plant and animal life.
They’re not just big, they’re old!
Canopy View Trail
We hadn’t visited Muir Woods since 2012, when Roya was only 2. At that time, we stuck to the “easy stroll” Redwood Creek Trail. That’s the “main street” taking you through some of the largest redwoods in the park. And I thought we might just do the same this time.
Making our way up the Canopy View Trailhead.
But shortly into the park, the girls were drawn to the enticing stairs of the Canopy View Trail. I’m not sure we really knew what we were in for, but the 3.5 mile, 842 foot elevation gain trail was quite a revelation.
For one, the Canopy Trail got us away from the hustle and bustle of the main thoroughfare of the park. And second, the winding and narrow paths led to some breathtaking “enchanted forest” landscapes. While this part of the park may not offer the wide giants, it revealed a dense and diverse younger grove of redwoods.
One can easily and quickly feel away from it all. It was hard to believe that just an hour earlier we were at home eating waffles. And that made us appreciate just how lucky we were to live so close to so much beauty.
Despite not having been fully prepared for a long hike, we all did pretty well navigating the ups, downs, and slippery slopes. And at the end of the Canopy View Trail, we were able to circle back to the Redwood Creek Trail to walk amongst the giants.
Did we have a good time? So much so that we purchased the annual pass ($45 for 4 people, children 15 and under free. Visit more than once in a year and it pays for itself!)
We’ll definitely be heading back to hike the many other trails of the park.
See Our Journey
These photos below capture the best of our hike. You can see even more photos in the Lightroom album.
Want to get an even more intimate feel of what it was like? Stay tuned for video from the hike in a subsequent post.
