Muir Woods
Every day each place we visited became our new favorite place. Muir Woods was magical! The photos do not even begin to show the size and majestic nature of the trees. Muir Woods National Monument is located about 15 miles north of San Francisco in Marin County. The roads are quite curvy to get there and cell service drops right outside of the park, so be sure to download any maps before your visit. Before visiting, be sure to make your parking reservations HERE.
Lift up your eyes on high and see:
who created these? - Isaiah 40:26
We arrived early so for the first couple of hours it was as if we had the whole place to ourselves!
We marveled at God’s wondrous creation and enjoyed the morning sunlight peeking through the trees. It was so peaceful and quiet in the Cathedral Grove.
“Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!” - Psalm 46:10
It is helpful to wear hiking boots if you venture off the main trail because the roots are large and spread outward 60-80 feet interlacing with other trees. Amazingly their roots only grow 10-13 feet below ground and the trees grow up to 380 feet tall with a base width of 22 feet. Individually, their roots are unable to support themselves, but together they are strong enough to hold each other up.
We asked one of the park rangers to share a couple of the “must-do trails”. He advised the Fern Creek loop and Canopy trail. The Fern Creek trail was lush and beautiful….providing a heavenly aroma.
We did the Canopy Trail clockwise which led us to ascend many, many, many steep stairs. The stairs were in a switchback pattern and I kept thinking we were nearing the end, but they seemed never-ending at times. You can see that Caleb had to patiently wait for me at the top of each set of stairs at times! I would pause to take a photo just to catch my breath! :) It reminded me of why I avoid the StairMaster at the gym! Had we gone counter-clockwise the ascension would have been easier, but I’m not sure the stairs would have been easier on the knees coming down. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful hike and very rewarding. We clocked another day of approximately 20,000-25,000 steps at the end of the day! After visiting the park, we went back into the city to the North Beach area to celebrate Caleb’s 22nd birthday and eat a late lunch.
Continue to visit KDP to see more of our California travels!
