Finding a cool hiking trail on a hot day is always a challenge in the bay area. Most folks head for forested parks, and that's fine, but when I crave sunshine and ocean breezes, I drive to the coast. If you get an early start, Muir Beach Trailhead can be a perfect destination. Unlike the Tennessee Valley Trailhead, you probably won't have a lot of company, since at Muir Beach most visitors head straight for the beach, and the trails are empty. From this trailhead you can hike south into Tennessee Valley, or north into Muir Woods or Mount Tam. The trailhead's low elevation means a bit of climbing no matter which direction you choose, but then you get to walk downhill to finish your hike. One great long (over 6.5 miles) but pretty easy loop strings together Redwood Trail, Miwok Trail, Coyote Ridge Trail, and Coastal Fire Road. To shorten it a bit, substitute Dias Ridge Fire Road for Redwood and the first stretch of Miwok Trail. You can extend the featured hike by adding Fox Trail, Tennessee Valley and Pirate's Cove Trails, for a trek with plenty of elevation change.
     For the featured hike, start at the south end of the parking lot (near the picnic area and portable toilets). Turn right toward the ocean, and after a few steps, an elevated causeway crosses a damp area and a stream, then ends in a pile of loose sand (hey, it's the beach, right?). Turn left.
     After about 300 feet, you'll reach an undersigned junction. The trail to the left heads north; bear right onto Coastal Fire Road (or Coastal Trail). Poison hemlock, horsetail, and wild radish line the wide multi-use trail. Just before Coastal turns to head uphill at 0.14 mile, Green Gulch Trail (signed Middle Green Gulch Trail) starts on the left side of the trail. Turn left onto Green Gulch Trail.
      Green Gulch Trail, open to cyclists, equestrians, and hikers, levelly winds east into Green Gulch. On the sides of the trail you may see both yellow seep and sticky monkeyflower, bush lupines, Ithuriel's spear, yarrow, thimbleberry, and plenty of coyote brush. After skirting a horse corral, the trail splits at 0.34 mile. Turn left to stay on Green Gulch Trail (there's a sign, but it is low to the ground and may be obscured by vegetation).
     After a short stretch running between a tall fence and the horse pasture, just before the end of that fence, turn right and go through the gate (this junction is unsigned), at 0.40 mile. Close the gate behind you.
     You'll be walking through Green Gulch Farms, a nonprofit enterprise supplying vegetables to many San Francisco restaurants, such as Greens. Workers tend the crops and lovely flower gardens (you can even buy plants here, if you've got any room to carry them!). At 0.75 mile, Middle Green Gulch Trail sets out uphill at a signed junction to the right. Continue straight on the wide farm road.
     The trail reaches some Zen Center buildings. Follow the road as it sweeps to the right and seems to end at a paved parking lot. Walk straight through the lot and then to the left along the paved road, which is lined with tall eucalyptus trees. At 1.08 miles, Green Gulch Trail leaves the road behind, doubling back to the right from a signed junction. Turn right.
     The broad trail is open to hikers and equestrians only. Blackberry, poison oak, creambush, and thimbleberry choke the hillside on the left. At 1.13 miles, stay to the left at a junction with a private road.
     Another small trail sign is easy to miss as the trail climbs steeply through a few redwood and Douglas fir. You'll pass a house, and then a water tank. The grades eases as Green Gulch Trail ascends through a mixture of coyote brush, poison oak, poison hemlock, cow parsnip, and California sagebrush. You may also see red elderberry, ceanothus, and twinberry. Traffic noise filters across the valley from Shoreline Highway as you ascend, and views north to Mount Tamalpais increasingly unfold. In spring look for California poppy, chickweed, birdsfoot lotus, sunflowers, bindweed, Indian paintbrush, and columbine along the trail. Late May and early June bring an explosion of California delphinium on both sides of the trail -- some of these plants reach heights of about 4 feet. Green Gulch Trail curves to the right as it continues to climb, passing a rundown shack that has been aggressively occupied by poison oak and poison hemlock. With the increase in elevation comes outstanding views of Green Gulch, Dias Ridge, Mount Tam, and the ocean. The path, by now somewhat diminished in stature and quality, sweeps uphill to the left, revealing a small building on a bluff off the right side of the trail. This is Hope Cottage, owned by Green Gulch Farms/Zen Center, and retreats are often held here. Shortly after passing Hope Cottage, an unmarked and overgrown trail departs off the left side of the trail, at 1.81 miles. This path, which appears on the Olmsted map, is apparently no longer maintained by the GGNRA, and is not shown on their maps. Continue uphill on Green Gulch Trail, which ends at a signed junction at 2.42 miles. Turn right onto Coyote Ridge Trail.
     Tennessee Valley sprawls to the south, and beyond the rolling hills of the Headlands a piece of the Golden Gate Bridge and downtown San Francisco are visible. Mount Diablo can be glimpsed to the east. On a late May hike I enjoyed watching a bank of fog roll up to the top of Angel Island, and then drop into the bay. Heading west, at 2.46 miles Middle Green Gulch Trail breaks off on the right side of the trail from a signed junction. Continue straight on Coyote Ridge Trail.
     The multi-use trail is heavily-travelled by hikers, cyclists, and equestrians. With only a few dimuntive shrubs of coyote brush to block breezes, it's often windy along the trail. At 2.61 miles, Coyote Ridge Trail ends at a signed T junction. Coastal Fire Road sets out downhill to the left, on the way to Tennessee Valley. A faint path continues straight toward the ocean. To the right, Coastal Fire Road heads towards our trailhead, Muir Beach. Turn right. Take the faint path straight toward the ocean, marked by generic signs advising that only hikers are welcome.
     The narrow path reaches a viewpoint at 2.66 miles, a good place for a lunch break. A barely descernable path continues toward the ocean, but it's a long "shortcut" to Pirate's Cove Trail. Retrace your steps back to the previous junction, then turn left onto Coastal Fire Road.
     Thistles and coyote brush dominate the landscape. The fire road, open to cyclists, equestrians, and hikers, starts a long steep descent almost right away. Sharp dramatic rocky cliffs on the coastline are often visible to the left. Quaking grass, which you may have seen in dried floral arrangements, lines the trail in sections. You also may see blue-eyed grass, yarrow, and checkerbloom in the spring. Coastal Fire Road is sometimes rutted, and a few stretches are pretty steep. At 3.57 miles, Coastal Fire Road meets Pirate's Cove Trail at a signed junction. (GGNRA's maps show Pirate's Cove Trail as Coastal Trail, which seems to me a confusing label. The Olmsted map and Hiking Marin name the trail Pirate's Cove, and I concur.) Continue downhill to the right on Coastal Fire Road.
     An unmarked path visits a viewpoint off the left side of the trail You can walk up this steep path and meet Coastal Fire Road on the other side, if you wish. You may see (and/or hear) quail and redwing blackbirds as you descend toward Muir Beach. Along one last sharp grade, beeplant, manroot, poison hemlock, cow parsnip, and thimbleberry tangle together on the right side of the trail. Coastal Fire Road meets Green Gulch Trail at a previously encountered junction at 4.11 miles. Retrace your steps back to the trailhead.

Total distance: 4.25 miles
Last hiked: Thursday, May 30, 2002


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