Hiking the Dipsea Trail: Muir Woods to Stinson Beach
We were late. No surprise there. What may be a bit surprising is that it wasn’t entirely my fault.
Before I unfurl my list of excuses for arriving thirty-minutes after the agreed-upon time, I’ll cover the basics of this hike.
What to know about hiking the Dispea Trail from Muir Woods
Trailhead Parking:
If you start at Muir Woods (what we did), you’ll want to reserve parking ahead of time.
We reserved parking a couple of days in advance
Make your reservation on the Muir Woods website
Parking is $10 per vehicle
The trailhead is located outside of the park, so you don’t need to have a park pass or pay an entrance fee (though I always support money going to our parks)
Hike Level:
Intermediate (mainly because of time on feet versus intense inclines)
In total, we tracked our distance as 13.2 miles. This included a walk down to the beach for lunch.
What to pack:
Water. This is a no-brainer, but it’s a full-day hike, and you’re going to get thirsty. Luckily, there are refill stations at the top of the mountain and down at the beach.
Layers. You’ll be shaded by trees (which can get chilly, especially after you’ve been sweating), and you’ll also be out in the sun (hot, hot, hot as you hike).
Gossip. It’s a long hike. Make sure you have something to talk about with your friends, family, or yourself.
Why we were late to the hike (Skip this section to get directly to the hike description)
I’d ordered three breakfast sandwiches that morning from the little cafe close to my apartment in Nob Hill. I should have realized the barista misheard me when she only asked for two types of cheese. My boyfriend and I ended up waiting quite a while before realizing the third sandwich wasn’t coming.
The third sandwich was for a friend we were swooping from Russian Hill. We couldn’t leave him hungry before the hike! So I reordered the third sandwich, and we started the day about twenty minutes later than expected.
We picked up our other friend, then drove to the Sunset District (where my boyfriend lives) to refill gas, try to add air to his tires (only to discover that his personal air pump was broken after an extra five minutes, so we had to use the gas station’s pump), and to feed his cats for the morning.
Oh, but of course, the cats had knocked over a glass propagation jar, and so there was a ton of glass shards to clean up.
When we finally hit the road, we were way off schedule.
Here’s something else to be aware of: you may not have cell service in Muir Woods.
This is lovely for unplugging and being one with nature. Not so great when you’re trying to keep all hiking friends abreast of your ever-changing schedule…
All that is to say, we arrived about thirty minutes later than planned, but no one seemed annoyed as we raced up to the group of friends waiting at the park’s entrance.
Starting the Dipsea Trail hike
The path we took started outside of the Muir Woods National Monument. As you have probably guessed, by the time we had finally arrived, I had to pee. Luckily, there’s a bathroom outside the park, which a few of us used before turning around and walking back the way we’d come, toward the parking areas.
At the start of the hike, you walk on a path right next to the road. At a certain point, you either cross to the other side or walk along the road itself. This doesn’t last for long, but it’s something to be aware of, especially if you’re hiking with small children. There aren’t many cars driving on this road, but it is still important to keep your wits about you.
After a short walk on the road, we turned off to the right where the trailhead began.
The trail was wide and clear. Gray gravel stones crunched under our boots as we made our ascent. My personal preference is to begin hikes going uphill because it often means we’ll get to descend on the way back. We ended up taking another trail back to our cars, but this still turned out to be the case.
After a while, the wide gravel path turned into a dirt trail, and we continued up beneath the dappled shade provided by Douglas Firs. I stopped when I spotted some large mushrooms, and we turned one over, pressing down on the gills beneath its cap.
It was a continuous ascent up the dirt path, and after a while, we emerged from beneath the Douglas Firs near the top of the peak, where mostly shrubbery poked from the red earth.
Sweat made my shirt cling to my back, pressed and made sweatier by the small red backpack I’d worn. I was too afraid to remove my hat, given the hat hair I was sure to have, so I flipped it around a few times based on when we were in the sun (brim forward) and when we were walking beneath the trees.
We re-entered another woodland zone and hiked past trees that had fallen and were now velvet with moss. Ivy crawled up trunks on those that stood tall, and the giant roots of other fallen friends marked the side of the path we climbed.
Break time at the top of the mountain
When we once again found ourselves out of the woods and into open air, we were at the top of one of the peaks. There was a clear view of the ocean from this point, and we were happy to see a water refill station.
We took turns refilling our water bottles and pulled out some trail mix for a quick snack break. After gazing down toward the sea, green hillsides carved into the watery vista and blue edges of land in the distance, we were ready to set out once more toward the ocean on the other side of us. One that we could not see.
We were about three miles in at this point and had another four or so until we reached the beach.
We spent the next few hours winding our way past redwoods and birch, staring up as ivy danced around trunks, and catching glimpses of the ocean now and again.
Finally, we emerged from the trees once more to trek across a narrow, dun-colored dirt trail that provided views of Stinson Beach.
Lunch at Stinson Beach
It takes a while to traverse that dun-colored path and then descend into the small town that surrounds Stinson Beach. At this point, I was tired, hungry, and over-caffeinated after coffee and too much pre-workout.
We stopped for a bit to provide two other hikers some sunscreen, then skedaddled toward the food.
There is a restaurant, a bakery window, and a snack bar window that you can order from once you’ve arrived in town. It all reminded me of my childhood, summers spent near the beach in Hawaii and San Diego, hungry and sweaty and ready to devour something salty and fatty.
I saw a slice of pesto pizza that looked like everything I could have ever dreamed of in the window of the bakery, so I got in line while a group got in line at the snack bar.
Biggest mistake of my life.
I almost cried when the person in front of me ordered the last three slices… they were not going to be making any more. There were also no vegetarian sandwiches left.
Turning away, I walked to the small market around the corner and bought three salads and a pastry to make up for my missing pie.
After everyone received their orders, we walked down toward the beach. We crossed through a small beach park with picnic tables and another water refill station, then found a spot on the sand.
Waves crashed, white foam curling over the edge of shaped faces, and a few surfers caught the shorebreak. It was low tide, and it must have been scary to catch waves in water that shallow. We could watch as people walked out from the shore all the way to where the waves were forming, their torsos still above the water line.
It was fun to see the teenagers and families at the beach. Things haven’t changed much from my own teen years (pretty sure we saw a sixteen-year-old sipping a Coors Light while philosophizing with his buddy).
It was difficult, but after we’d finished our food and used the bathroom, we knew it was time to make our way back. Just another six or seven miles.
Choosing a new path on the way back
Our fearless leader, who had downloaded the map on AllTrails, recommended we take another path back. We would follow the same warm trail back from the beach, but when we reached the spot where we’d had our trail mix break, we’d turn to take a much lusher route through deep redwoods.
This was such a great choice. I love trails that are surrounded by our coastal redwoods and where water runs in thick streams along the way.
It also includes a climb up an old ladder that, as we discovered, is very “Instagram-worthy.” I find it hard to be annoyed when I see someone really excited to try something, so even though it took extra time for people to film each other on the ladder, I didn’t mind the wait. I can see, however, this becoming a huge issue if there’s a big crowd, considering it’s the only way to get to the next section of the trail.
After walking through the woods for a few miles, we exited onto the street where we found another bathroom and another water refill station.
This was great because we did, in fact, all need more water.
Then it was back on the trail until we ended up with the same view of the ocean as we’d had on our way toward the beach.
Rat Island in the San Francisco Bay
Seeing the ocean and the little islands off the shore, my boyfriend mused about whether one of them could be “rat island.”
None of the rest of us had ever heard of this island, and he launched into an explanation of an island that had a rat infestation, which depleted all the natural flora and fauna that had been there previously.
Apparently, the rats have been erradicated, and the island is thriving once more. I’m not sure. There’s a reddit thread about it somewhere.
Praying for lost souls on hikes
One of the most memorable parts of the hike had nothing to do with the hike itself. We ended up coming across a poor young man who’d been with a big hiking group (we’d seen them at Stinson Beach) but had somehow gotten separated from them.
I’m not sure if he was just panicked and overwhelmed or really, really high, but he was very confused about how to get back to Stinson Beach. Our friend with the map opened it to show him where to go, but at first, we thought he was trying to get back to Muir Woods (the same as us). It was only after he’d been hiking near us for a while that we realized he was trying to get back to the beach.
We pointed him back the way we’d come, told him to look for the signs (they are pretty clearly marked with “Stinson Beach”), and we can only hope he found his way back. I have to believe he did.
Muir Woods National Monument
The way back included a long trail of switchbacks, winding over roots and rocks and cold from the shade of the redwoods. I’m not going to lie, after ten or so miles, the downhill portion was starting to take its toll on my knees. Still, it was beautiful beneath the trees and surrounded by ferns. We crossed wooden bridges that had been built over streams and listened to the hushed whispers of the water moving over the land.
When we reached the bottom of the switchbacks, we were in Muir Woods, and it felt good to be on flat ground.
One of my favorite parts about a lot of the National Parks is that there are accessible trails, so people of all ages and mobility were enjoying the experience. There are areas of quiet and areas where children giggled and raced, learning to love the beauty that is nature.
I once stopped to talk to an environmental researcher who was taking water samples in the streams of Muir Woods to ask about the Coho Salmon. I always think of that when I return there, hoping for better conditions for Salmon brother.
We exited the park, but not before stopping at the gift shop, where we found booklets that help you learn about the types of fish that are most sustainable to eat in California.
Then it was a short walk back to the car and a well-enjoyed seated ride back across the red-lined bridge.
