Muir Woods National Monument - Golden Gate Tours

Muir Woods

Located on Mount Tamalpais, in the southwestern Marin County of the city, the Muir Woods is a part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.It occupies an area that is located right across the Golden Gate Bridge in the city. The climate in the woods includes cool and moist day time temperatures throughout the year, with rainy winters and dry summers.

The Muir woods have long been standing as the observer of civilization. It has seen many empires rise and fall, but what has remained is the inviolability of this wonder of nature. Right from the Native Americans to the Mexicans, from the years of Maritime to the age of the famous California Gold Rush, the Muir Woods have stood tall and witnessed history taking shape in front of them. Its Redwood trees are over 1000 years old and still continue to dazzle and awe thousands of tourists. Going back inhistory, a lot of sequoia trees had existed in all of America. However, over the course of time, their area shrank to only a narrow, cool belt from Monterey County in the south to Oregon in the north. The Muir woods owe their survival in the modern times to the efforts of the US congressman, William Kent and his wife, Elizabeth Thacher Kent.

Heralded as a National Monument, the Woods comprises over 500 acres of sprawling greenery, almost half of which is a product of the mighty Sequoia forests. The Muir Woods attracts tourists in hundreds everyday, enchantingthem with its splendor. When you visit the woods, you will feel the dense green foliage curtains around you, with the fog dreamily whirling as you reel into the intoxication of your surroundings. The woods have an enchanting quality to them with the sunrays falling on the leaves and branches.The playfully lit upforest creates a riot of colors, all set to dazzle you.

The woods are also perfect for a romantic getaway. You can stroll across the dreamland of Muir Woods and catch various types of fauna as you pass by. A remarkable set of plant lives thrive here including the gigantic Coast Redwood.Other tree species thrive in the understory of the redwood groves. You wouldn’t want to miss out on the opportunity of getting yourself clicked against the backdrop of the oldest living plant life.The area is also renowned for its rearing and spawning of fishes, especially the endangered species like the silver salmon and trout. You can indulge in bird watching to spot a Northern Spotted Owl or a woodpecker in the woods. If you enjoy roughing it out, you can go hiking in its splendid trails. The sprawling and equally magical Muir Woods are full of nature’s gifts and mysteries. The popular annual Dipsea Race passes through Muir Woods in the month of June. Many athletic events and ranger-led activities take place in the woods.

‘The woods are lovely dark and deep’, once remarked Robert frost, and if you do not recall your literature too well, you will believe that these famous lines were said for Muir Woods. Think wild beauty and you will have an image of the dark luscious wilderness like that of this old-growth coastal redwood forest.