The heart of any Muir Woods visit is the Main Trail, a flat, paved-and-boardwalk path that runs up the canyon floor beside Redwood Creek beneath the giants. You can turn back at Bridge 1, 2, 3, or 4 to make a loop of roughly half a mile to two miles — no hills, no scrambling, just redwoods overhead.
The first grove you reach is Bohemian Grove, where some of the tallest trees in the monument crowd right up to the walkway. Craning your neck here is the moment most people came for: coast redwoods top out near 258 feet in this canyon, and the oldest are well over a thousand years old.
The boardwalk sections of the Main Trail are wheelchair- and stroller-accessible, which makes Muir Woods one of the most accessible old-growth forests anywhere. Wheelchairs are available to borrow at the visitor center on a first-come basis.
Redwoods survive by sharing: their shallow roots interlock with their neighbors for stability, and they resprout from burls and fallen trunks, so a “tree” you see may be a clone thousands of years in the making. Fire scars at the base of the big ones are badges of survival, not wounds.
Pro tip: Walk up the paved Main Trail and come back down the parallel Hillside Trail for a loop that sheds the crowds and gives you the forest from above. Early morning light through the fog and canopy is unreal.
- • The Main Trail is the accessible route; the Hillside, Ben Johnson, and Dipsea trails climb and are not.
- • Stay on the trail and boardwalk — the shallow redwood root systems are easily damaged by foot traffic.
- • Restrooms, a café, and a gift shop are at the entrance; there is no food or water deep in the forest.
- • Drones, smoking, and picnicking inside the monument are prohibited.
- How long is the main trail at Muir Woods?
- The paved Main Trail runs about a mile up the canyon along Redwood Creek, with bridges at four points so you can make a loop of roughly half a mile to two miles. It’s flat and largely wheelchair- and stroller-accessible.
- How tall are the redwoods at Muir Woods?
- The tallest coast redwoods in the canyon reach about 258 feet, and the oldest are more than 1,000 years old. Bohemian Grove, near the start of the Main Trail, has some of the biggest.
