In
brief:
4.5 mile loop through Mount Tamalpais State Park and Muir Woods.
Distance, category, and difficulty:
This 4.5 mile loop hike is moderate, with about 1450
feet in elevation change. Trailhead elevation is around 925 feet. The featured
hike's high point is around 1050 feet, and the hike drops to about 200 feet,
then climbs back to the trailhead. The descending/ascending trails are moderately
steep.
Exposure:
Mostly shaded.
Trail traffic:
Moderate-heavy.
Trail surfaces:
Dirt trails and a paved fire road.
Hiking time:
3 hours.
Season:
Good anytime.
Getting there:
From US 101 in Marin County, exit CA 1/Stinson Beach. Drive north on Shoreline
Highway about 1 mile to the junction with Almonte. Turn left to stay on
Shoreline/CA 1 and drive about 2.5 miles to the junction with Panoramic.
Turn right onto Panoramic and drive about 1 mile to the junction with Muir
Woods Road; continue straight (right lane) to stay on Panoramic. Continue
about 1.5 miles more, then turn left into the parking lot across the street
from the Mountain Home Inn.
GPS coordinates* for trailhead:
Latitude 37°54'36.72"N
Longitude 122°34'37.96"W
(* based on Google Earth
data, shown as degrees, minutes, seconds)
Gas, food, and lodging:
Nearest gas is in Mill Valley -- stop on the way to the trailhead at one
of the gas stations at Tam Junction, the intersection of Shoreline/CA 1
and Almonte. Tam Junction also hosts a number of restaurants and a supermarket.
Mountain Home Inn is directly across the street from the trailhead, and
is an option for an after-hike lunch, or an overnight stay. No camping in
Muir Woods; Mt. Tam State Park's Pantoll campground has walk in sites.
Trailhead details:
Parking for 26 cars. Two pits toilets. No entrance or parking
fees. Drinking fountain and pay phone in lot. Maps are available at the
Pantoll Ranger Station, about 3.5 miles further uphill on Panoramic. No
designated handicapped parking, and trails are not wheelchair accessible.
Marin Transit
offers public transportation to this trailhead.
Rules:
Some trails are multi-use, but most are hiking only. Horses are permitted
on some trails. Dogs are not permitted on this hike: they are not allowed
in Muir Woods or in the state park.
The Official Story:
CSP's
Mount Tamalpais page.
NPS's Muir Woods page.
Pantoll Ranger Station 415-388-2070
Muir Woods Visitor Center 415-388-2595/2596
Map/book choices:
This hike is described and mapped in 60 Hikes within 60 Miles: San Francisco,
by Jane Huber (yup, that's me, the creator of this website). Order this book from Amazon.com.
• Map from NPS (download Muir Woods trail map pdf).
• Download the park map pdf from CSP's website.
• Dave Baselt's Muir Woods map is an excellent guide to Muir Woods and surrounding parklands (order from Redwood Hikes). It even includes the numbers of steps on such segments as Lost Trail.
• A Rambler's Guide to the Trails of Mt. Tamalpais and the Marin Headlands,
map from Pease Press (order from Pease Press) is useful.
• Mount Tam Trail Map, published by Tom Harrison Maps (order from Tom Harrison Maps), is fine.
• The map and text in Barry Spitz's Tamalpais Trails (order this book from Amazon.com) is helpful.
• There's a useful map and trail descriptions in Don and Kay Martin's
Hiking Marin (order
this book from Amazon.com).
Troop 80/Bootjack/Lost Trail loop
in a nutshell -- a printable, text-only guide to the featured hike.
Go to Bay Area Hiker Home page