Muir Woods in San Francisco

I believe the advance arrangements needed are a reservation for a parking spot. It may not apply if arriving by public transport. Muir Woods is indeed in Marin County, across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. We actually walked there from San Francisco (over several days) but I believe there is a bus that will take you there. I will research a bit and be back.

Don't know if you've seen this website yet but it should be helpful. It's from the Nat'l Park service.

OK, so far I have found this:

https://marintransit.org/routes/66

Ferry across to Sausalito, then Shuttle 66 to Muir Woods (1 hour on the bus). Check the running times carefully; it is weekends only for part of the year; daily in summer.

I’ll just throw in that the Ferry Building, from which you get the ferry to Marin, is an attraction in itself.
. Also, the ride is lots of fun.

Take Uber or Lyft. In SF it will take you about 2 minutes to get a ride so be ready when you push the button.

We have done this! Get thee to Lombard Street!

We took a Marin Transit bus from Lombard Street by the Cow Hollow Motor Inn to the Pantoll Ranger station - we might have changed buses/transit companies in Marin City. Tell the driver you want off at the Pantoll Ranger Station. Take the Bootjack trail to the bitter end (it's all downhill), and you will walk into the back end of Muir Woods. Find the Panorama Trail and take it to the Mountain Home Inn. You can catch the bus across the street from the Mountain Home Inn back to Lombard Street - after you have lunch there of course.

We did this in 2010 when I was working for a company in the Bay Area and had lots of time to explore public transportation.

I recently spent a day in SF and Muir Woods was one of the options I considered for the day I had. I ended up spending my day in Golden Gate park instead, but as I was staying at an airport hotel I used Uber to get to the park. I was so impressed at how quick and cheap it was!!

Although I live close by, we drive our car so I don’t know public transportation there but the Ferry Bldg (very fun as Roslyn said), then a ferry to Sausalito (very fun town) and a shuttle from there would be the most enjoyable way to go imo.

I hope that you enjoy enjoy enjoy Muir Woods.

I have so many fabulous memories of Muir Woods, including encouraging my then fairly new wife to climb out to a rock in the middle of a stream and stand there while I took pictures.

Many years later we still recall that day with gales of laughter - it has been a standing joke for 3 dozen years or more.

Who knew when we started visiting National Trust properties here we would find all sorts of redwoods - Dawn, Giant, and lots of Coast - here in the UK? Every time we do find another (yesterday was the most recent) we think of our visits over the years to Muir Woods.

Thanks for bringing back special memories.... ;-)

Nigel, what a wonderful memory.

Yes, there are three trees called redwoods. The Dawn Redwood is ancient and loses its leaves in winter. Beautiful tree in all seasons. The Coast Redwood ( Sequoia sempervirens) ) and giant Sequoia ( Sequoia gigantia) are native California trees. But these trees have been planted all over, including England. The giant Sequoia and Dawn Redwood fare much better than the coast Redwood outside its home environment.

Thank you to everyone for your encouragement and great replies!

We won't have a car while we're in San Francisco, and we'll be relying a lot on public transportation. The page on the National Park's website was what prompted my question here in the first place. Clearly I have to get from point A to point B, and since my public transportation skills only get used when we travel I always like to see if anyone has a shortcut or easy solution that I'm just overlooking.

We're really looking forward to visiting Muir Woods. Thanks again for all of the help! :-)

Yes, you can do it on your own which will cost you the price of public transportation plus the $10 entrance fee to the park. But if you want to spend more and do a really nice hike with a Sierra Club guide, check out Tom Martell (muirwoodstour.com). For about $75, he'll pick you up in San Francisco in the morning and drive you over the bridge to Muir Woods - cost of the tour includes your entrance fee. He does really small group hikes inside the park - he won't take more than 6 people max. When I went with him, it was just me and 2 other people.

He takes you on a good off-the-beaten path hike that gets you away from the tour bus crowds that come in to just snap photos and stick to the walkways. As long as you don't have any mobility issues and you are wearing some semblance of decent footwear (sneakers, trail shoes), it's not a difficult hike at all and Tom provides plenty of time to stop along the way for photos, to talk about what you are seeing and also to sit down and have some snacks and beverages.

You'll spend several hours in the park and when the hike is over, he will drive you back but he stops in Sausalito so you can explore the town and then easily catch the ferry back to San Francisco on your own (great views of the city and bridge from the water and you end at the Ferry Building which is a great place to stop for another snack or a late lunch if you don't want to linger in Sausalito.

What a lovely tour idea! That sounds fabulous. Thanks for the recommendation! :-)

That tour really sounds great. I wish that they had had something like that when I lived there. $10 to get in? I'm pretty sure we just drove in and parked and walked around for no charge.

Oh well, I guess there's a charge for everything now...

On the admission fee . . . I’m pretty sure that It’s covered by the national parks pass; so if you have one, bring it. If you don’t have one, you can buy one there. I think the terms have changed since we got ours; however, they don’t expire. If you think you’ll ever visit another national park or monument, it’s a good deal.

@Rosalyn: To clarify on the National Park passes - they do expire unless you are a senior citizen and you have purchased the $80 "lifetime" pass which is only available to senior citizens. Otherwise, if a senior citizen plans to visit more National Parks in the same calendar year, it's $20 for an annual pass which expires. It's $80 for an annual pass for anyone who isn't a senior - no lifetime pass available for anyone who isn't a senior.

The only people who get in free are U.S. Military or people who have permanent disabilities who filled out an application in advance of their visit.