Feels Like Jurassic Park - Muir Woods

Surrounding myself in lush green goodness was a great way to spend my Saturday morning. Located on Mt Tam in CA's Marin County, Muir Woods National Monument is a mile long stretch of paved road and boardwalks alongside tall Redwood trees.

We arrived close to 9:30am on a Saturday morning, and the parking lots already full so we resorted to parking a mile-ish down from the entrance.

Some things to keep in mind:

Muir Woods is undoubtedly crowded. Try to plan a visit on a weekday if possible, or either very early/ very late on the weekends. Parking fills up fast.
Take a shuttle if to skip parking struggles, 5 dollars round trip.
Entrance fee is $10 per person
There is no cell reception (my friend wanted to play Pokemon Go -- that didn't work out)
No eating allowed on the main trail. Saw groups with bags of food only to be told to sit outside the entrance to eat it.

Muir Woods National Monument isn't very big -- the entire loop can take less than 2 hours to complete. It features 4 bridges for guests to cross from one side of the loop to another. Sadly the CA drought is in full effect:

The roads are all nicely maintained and paved, so it is pretty easy for families or the elderly to get around with strollers and wheelchairs:

Though I've heard that these particular redwoods aren't very tall (compared to the ones in Sequoia NP), it was a quick and easy weekend escape, like I was transported onto the set of Jurassic Park.

My friend and I finished the first half of the loop quickly and agreed we needed more of a hike out of our day, so we set off on a loop going through these trails from Bridge 4:

Alice Eastwood Trail, Fern Creek, Lost Trail, Panoramic Trail, Alice Eastwood Road

The original route we decided on would've had us go from Lost Trail to Canopy View trail and back down Bridge 1 in the Muir woods Monument, but we had a wrong turn that took us further up to the Panoramic Highway. Oops.

The first half was fairly easy slight incline with a cool bridge built over old logs.

Then we hit stairs for the ascent, and I stopped taking pictures because stairs are brutal and I'm reminded once again that I need to do cardio more often.

Some time an hour or so later, we made it to Panoramic Highway, and it was hot:

So quickly back down into the shade we went. The Alice Eastwood road was an easy walk down (we were walking alongside a couple families with toddlers in strollers):

Cut through a campsite where we took a break, and then back to being immersed by green:

We estimated that it was around a 3, 4 mile hike. Felt harder because of the stairs, but overall it was a pleasant walk.

We made it back down, where we finished other half of the National Monument loop and made our way out:

Total time spent in the area: 4 hours

I was three years old last time I was here. It's been quite a while since, though I'm pretty sure I enjoyed it then too!

Featured Photo: Walking through Muir Woods National Monument Hours: 8am-8pm in the Summer Entrance Fee: Parking is free, entrance is $10 per person

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Feels Like Jurassic Park - Muir Woods