Muir Woods, located just 12 miles from San Francisco, is a United States National Monument and with good reason. With its majestic redwoods, Muir Woods is a must-see for those who have never had the opportunity to appreciate the enormity of these unique trees.

The fog that often envelopes the forest gives one the impression of walking in a magical place. Some of the wildlife you may encounter include black-tailed deer, foxes, mountain lions, and chipmunks. Over 50 species of birds make their home in Muir Woods.

This popular nature area is conveniently located just north of San Francisco. There are gobs of tour operators that offer visitors the opportunity to explore the woods, in combination with other activities, or just the woods alone.

Best Muir Woods Tours

	Muir Woods Redwood Forest, Sausalito and Bay Cruise From San Francisco	Private Muir Woods and Sausalito Tour From San Francisco	Muir Woods National Monument Guided Tour
	Best Combination Tour	Best Private Tour	Best Guided Tour
Departure:	478 Post Street or 2805 Leavenworth Street	Hotel pickup and drop off included	288 Beach Street, (hotel pick-up available)
Start:	7:30 AM	8:30 AM or 1:30 PM	8:30 AM., 1:30 PM
Duration:	6 hours	4 hours	3 hours 30 minutes (approx.)
Includes:	Narrated tour to Muir Woods & Sausalito, admission to Muir Woods w/ free time to explore, SF bay cruise	Private transportation, guided tour of Muir Woods and Sausalito, bottled water	Experienced Guide, Entry fee to Muir Woods, transport via luxury coach, 45-minute stop in seaside Sausalito
	Tour Information & Booking	Tour Information & Booking	Tour Information & Booking

Be sure to see our reviews of wine tours to Napa & Sonoma Valley, Yosemite tours and Alacatraz tours.

Quick Answer: The 5 Best Muir Woods Tours From San Francisco

1. Best Combination Tour: Muir Woods, Sausalito and San Francisco Bay Cruise
2. Best Private Tour: Private Muir Woods and Sausalito Tour From San Francisco
3. Best Budget Tour: Muir Woods National Monument Tour
4. Best Small Group Tour: San Francisco, Sausalito and Muir Woods Small Group Tour
5. Best Full Day Tour: Muir Woods Wine Tour with Napa & Sonoma From San Francisco

We have reviewed the top rated Muir Woods tours, providing overviews and highlighting the details of each. We also make recommendations on staying in San Francisco in our guide section.

Muir Woods Tour Reviews

1. Best Combination Tour: Muir Woods Forest, Sausalito & Bay Cruise From San Francisco

We recommend this tour for those who want the convenience of a coordinated Muir Woods day trip and boating adventure in San Francisco Bay. Viewing the San Francisco waterfront from the Bay provides allows voyagers to appreciate a different perspective of the area.

This well-organized tour includes a visit to the Muir Woods National Monument, a stop in the inviting town of Sausalito, and a boat cruise through San Francisco Bay. The unique vantage point from the Bay affords great photo ops of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Your enthusiastic and entertaining guide/driver takes advantage of the travel to Muir Woods to provide interesting information and to answer your questions about the San Francisco and Marin County. While in the woods, you’ll have time to explore some of the trails on your own.

There are plenty of options and levels of difficulty, so those who aren’t able to manage hillly trails will find one that suits them.

While in Sausalito, you’ll have about an hour to enjoy lunch on your own (or go shopping, if you prefer). Your tour guide will give you insider information about the best places in town to shop and eat.

After your trip to Muir Woods and Sausalito, you’ll return to the pier where you’ll board the cruise ship. Make sure to bring a windbreaker, as it can get chilly on the water. We love this addition to the tour. Getting out on the water isn’t only fun, but it offers unparalleled views of the bridge and coast.

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Other San Francisco Activities You May Enjoy

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2. Best Private Tour: Muir Woods and Sausalito Private Tour From San Francisco

We recommend this tour for those who want to squeeze in the sights of Saulsalito and experience Muir Woods in a half day. This is a private tour so it’s just the people you want to be with.

You will start your 4 hour tour with a short 30 minute ride to Muir Woods where your driver / guide will give you a private tour of the redwoods forest.

You will be stunned by the size and beauty of the trees, we can guarantee that! You will have about an hour and a half to wander around and soak in the splendor of the park through the network of trails.

Now it’s on to the quaint seaside town of Sausalito. Here you will have an hour to explore the town with your guide or just go off to wander the town and enjoy nice lunch or a drink while you soak in the best views of San Francisco.

Be sure to take lots of photos and your private guide will be happy to stop on the way home for some photos of the Golden Gate bridge or anywhere else you want.

After your private tour is over, your guide will drop you off anywhere in the city you want.

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3. Best Budget Tour: Muir Woods National Monument Guided Tour

We recommend this tour for those who want to focus exclusively on beautiful Muir Woods, but don’t want the hassle of driving on their own. It’s an excellent option for those who want to catch a glimpse of the redwood forest near San Francisco while reserving a portion of the day for other activities.

A large comfortable motor coach or van will transport you to the woods. This 3 ½ hour trip offers a relaxing and peaceful break from the more hectic vibe of the city.

Your friendly, fun driver/guide will entertain you during your trip to provide interesting information about the woods and the area in general. En route to Muir Woods, you’ll stop to get an amazing view of the Golden Gate Bridge where you can take advantage of getting some great shots.

The drive out is beautiful in its own right, with expansive views of the Bay and the green, hilly landscape that lies north of San Francisco.

Once you arrive at Muir Woods, you will have a good 1 ½ hours to explore on your own. There are plenty of areas where you can break from the group to enjoy some solitude under the impressive redwoods.

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Other Experiences You May Enjoy:

4. Best Small Group Tour: San Francisco, Sausalito and Muir Woods Small Group Tour

 

 

We recommend this tour for those who want have a closer look at the city, combined with an outing to Muir Woods. Because this tour is geared toward small groups, it’s a good option for those looking for a more intimate and personalized experience.

Your Ultimate Day in the Bay tour is a great way to start your stay in San Francisco for getting oriented with the city. You start off at Fisherman’s Wharf, where you’ll board an air-conditioned minibus to explore the diverse neighborhoods and must-see attractions in San Francisco.

A few neighborhoods you’ll discover include Chinatown, Little Italy, and The Castro. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to snap photos of some of the Bay area’s most famous landmarks like the Golden Gate Bridge and Twin Peaks.

Enjoy engaging commentary throughout the trip from your informed driver/guide, who will share interesting facts and stories about the area, including its history, architecture, and culture. Take advantage of his insider perspective to discover locals’ favorites that are worth checking out on your own.

After arriving at Muir Woods, you’ll have about an hour to explore. The park has a slew of trails with varying levels of difficulty, so any visitor should be able to enjoy a walk among its awe-inspiring redwoods.

On your trip between San Francisco and Muir Woods you’ll stop in picturesque Sausalito for lunch on your own.

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5. Best Full Day Tour: Muir Woods Wine Tour with Napa & Sonoma From San Francisco

 

 

We recommend this tour for those who want a full day experience. Wine and nature-lovers alike will find this tour satisfying and comprehensive. A gourmet three-course meal is offered as an upgrade.

The bus that transports you to the redwoods near San Francisco and the wineries offers pickup and dropoff for most area hotels, so be sure to check with the operator to see if your hotel is eligible.

This tour packs in a lot of ground in a short period of time, but you won’t feel rushed. Someone else will do the driving while you relax and travel from San Francisco to wine country and Muir Woods. All you need to do is show up and enjoy the ride while taking in the Northern California countryside.

The first leg of your trip will take you to Muir Woods, where a guide will provide commentary about its world-renowned redwoods. You’ll have time to explore the parks nature trail where you may catch a glimpse of its abundant wildlife.

The wine-tasting portion of your tour will take you to both Napa and Sonoma valleys. You’ll visit three charming wineries selected by the tour operator where you’ll learn about winemaking and will have ample opportunity to try several varieties of wine.

On this tour, you choose your own lunch experience – either on your own (make sure to ask your tour guide for recommendations) or accompany the group for a sumptuous sit-down lunch. Choosing the gourmet lunch option is an upgrade, so is not included in the basic tour fee.

If you decide to enjoy the gourmet lunch, you’ll be treated to a delicious three-dish meal. We can vouch for this- the restaurant serving your three-course meal offers options for both vegetarians, pescatarians, and carnivores. Wine pairing is included, of course!

On this full day tour you won’t miss the opportunity to take amazing shots of the impressive Golden Gate Bridge. Your coach will make a quick stop, giving you to time to snap some photos.

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Muir Woods Tours from San Francisco: What You Actually Need to Know

The first redwood past the entrance gate stops most people mid-sentence. It is 250 feet up before the canopy even starts.

You are twelve miles from the Golden Gate Bridge and it feels like a different state entirely. That is the whole draw, and it is also why the parking lot fills by 9 a.m. most Saturdays.

Why Go

Muir Woods is one of the last stands of old growth coast redwood left this close to a major city. Some of the trees along the main loop are 600 to 800 years old and were already tall when Columbus showed up.

The park exists because a congressman named William Kent and his wife Elizabeth Thacher Kent bought the land in 1905 to keep a water company from logging it, then handed it to the federal government in 1908. Teddy Roosevelt named the monument after John Muir, who did not ask for the honor and reportedly found it a little much.

This trip is for you if you want a couple of hours in genuinely old forest without a long drive. It is not for you if you want solitude in July or a workout. The main trail is flat, paved in sections, and shared with a lot of other people on any nice day.

When to Go

Weekday mornings are the move, ideally the first entry slot of the day. The fog usually burns off by midmorning in summer, but the crowds show up right behind it.

Fall and winter are quieter and the creek actually has water in it, which matters more than people expect. Redwoods depend on coastal fog drip to survive the dry months, so the woods look different depending on when you show up.

Rain happens most winters and the park does close occasionally for storms or fallen trees. Check the alert on the park’s own site the morning you go, not three days before.

Getting There: Reservations, Shuttle, and Tours

Muir Woods runs on a timed entry system now, and it applies to everyone, driver or shuttle rider. You book a slot in advance at gomuirwoods.com and you will get turned away at the gate without one. This started because Muir Woods Road is one narrow lane each way and there is nowhere to put an overflow lot.

Driving Yourself

You will need a parking reservation, which is separate from the park entrance fee. Standard vehicles under 17 feet run $10 online. Anything from 17 to 22 feet is $30, and 22 to 35 feet is $45. EV parking spots are $13.

The drive itself is the good part and the annoying part at once. It is Highway 101 north across the Golden Gate Bridge, then a turn onto Highway 1 and the Panoramic Highway, which switchbacks through eucalyptus and open ridge with real ocean views. It is also about 20 minutes of a road built for cars from 1962, so give yourself more time than the map says.

Taking the Shuttle

The Marin Transit shuttle runs seasonally from park and ride lots in Sausalito and Marin City. It costs $4 per person for anyone 16 or older, and you still need a free reservation for younger kids to hold a seat. This is the easier option if you do not want to deal with the parking reservation system or the narrow road, and it drops you closer to the entrance than some of the parking lots do.

One thing worth knowing. There is no shuttle connecting the parking lots to the entrance gate itself. If you book parking, you park and walk in. The shuttle is its own separate trip that starts somewhere else entirely, so pick one or the other, not both.

Booking a Guided Tour

This is the path most visitors from San Francisco actually take, and it solves every logistics problem above in one booking. A guide drives, someone else deals with the reservation system, and you get dropped at the door.

Expect $80 to $100 per person for a half day tour that pairs Muir Woods with a stop in Sausalito, which is the standard combo and a good one since Sausalito is 15 minutes away and has real coffee and lunch options that the park does not. Prices run higher, up to $150 or so, for tours that add wine country or a longer Marin loop. Private tours start around $400 and go up fast depending on group size.

Dylan’s Tours runs direct shuttles from Fisherman’s Wharf and is a solid pick if you are staying downtown. Extranomical Tours pairs Muir Woods with wine country if you want to make a full day of it. Gray Line San Francisco runs the classic big motorcoach version, which is fine but less personal. Tour Transport Inc. runs set departures at 9 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. if you want to lock in a time and not think about it further.

Book directly through the operator’s own site when you can. Third party platforms like Viator and GetYourGuide often mark the same tour up, and you are buying the identical bus seat either way.

The Trails and Nearby Stops

The Main Trail is the one almost everyone walks, and for good reason. It is about a mile of boardwalk and paved path along Redwood Creek, mostly flat, and it is where the biggest and oldest trees are.

A few other options if you have more time or want to lose the crowd faster than the main loop allows.

• Fern Creek Trail loops back through denser understory and picks up noticeably fewer people once you are ten minutes past the main junction.
• Ben Johnson Trail climbs out of the redwoods into open hillside, a real workout, and connects into longer Mount Tamalpais routes if you brought boots.
• Bootjack Trail runs up toward Mount Tam and is the one to take if you want elevation and a view over the whole watershed.
• Dipsea Trail connects Muir Woods to Muir Beach and then on toward Stinson Beach, roughly six miles one way and genuinely steep in places.

Muir Beach itself is ten minutes past the park entrance and worth the stop if your tour or rental car allows it, a small cove with a decent trail out to the headlands. Sausalito, as mentioned, is the more common pairing and makes sense for lunch since Muir Woods only has a small snack window inside the visitor center, nothing close to a real meal.

What It Costs and How to Plan

Budget for these pieces separately, since the park breaks them out on purpose.

• Entrance fee: $15, ages 16 and up, kids 15 and under free
• Parking reservation: $10 standard, $30 medium, $45 large, plus $13 for EV spots
• Shuttle reservation: $4 per person 16 and up
• Guided half day tour from San Francisco: $80 to $150
• Private tour: starting around $400

Bring cash or a card for the small cafe, layers no matter the season since the redwoods run 15 to 20 degrees cooler and foggier than downtown San Francisco, and comfortable shoes even for the flat main loop since the boardwalk gets slick when it is wet, which in Marin is often.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a reservation even if I am taking a guided tour?

No. The tour operator handles the park reservation as part of your booking. You only need to book your own slot if you are driving yourself or riding the public shuttle.

How long should I plan to spend in the park itself?

An hour and a half covers the Main Trail loop at an unhurried pace with time to stop and actually look up. Guided half day tours usually build in about that much time before heading back or on to Sausalito.

Is Muir Woods worth it if I have already seen redwoods somewhere else, like Sequoia or Redwood National Park?

If you have seen truly massive old growth further north, Muir Woods will feel smaller and more crowded by comparison, and that is a fair trade off. It is still worth an afternoon for the convenience alone, twelve miles from downtown San Francisco instead of a five hour drive.

Can I bring my dog?

No. Dogs are not allowed anywhere in Muir Woods, including the parking areas, and this gets enforced.

What happens if it rains?

The park usually stays open in normal rain, and honestly the woods look better wet since that is closer to their natural state. Heavy storms can close it entirely for fallen trees or road hazards, so check the park’s site the morning of your visit.

Is this a good trip for someone who cannot do a lot of walking?

Yes, more than most redwood parks. Sections of the Main Trail boardwalk are wheelchair accessible, and it is the flattest old growth grove within an hour of San Francisco. Skip the Ben Johnson or Dipsea trails if steep grades are a problem, and stick to the loop near the entrance.