MUIR WOODS, POINT REYES & WELCOME TO SAN FRANCISCO |
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I had always wanted to see Muir Woods, hearing how beautiful it was. The California coast is beautiful, but I can imagine how amazing it was when you could find this primordial forest peeking out of the mist along the coastline.
We began our morning with a trip along the winding road of Highway 1 that took us to Muir Woods National Monument. From the moment you arrive at the park, you are swept away by the majesty of the towering Redwoods. To protect the park, paved trails were created to provide access to tourists, but more to protect the trees and environment. There are several trails, some that are longer and head out of the park, but this park is accessible to everyone. I loved being in this forest. It was so beautiful. We went off the paved trail on a little bit longer trail and it was a lovely hike to start off our day!
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| After a spin through the very nice gift shop, we were back on the road. We wanted to also visit Point Reyes National Seashore today. We took Highway 1 back to the coast and meandered our way north stopping to check out sites along the way and have some lunch. |
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| Unfortunately, we meandered too slowly because we had hoped to visit the Point Reyes Lighthouse, but arrived at the park too late to make it there. The lighthouse closes earlier than the park and is a long drive from the Point Reyes National Seashore entrance to the actual water. We did visit the Point Reyes visitor center and enjoyed the interpretive exhibits and audiovisual program available. We then wandered the area near the visitor center, which provided an interpretive hike with information and exhibits about the 1906 earthquake and the San Andreas fault. Point Reyes has many interpretive areas that encompass, history, geology, flora, fauna, and a myriad of other areas. Point Reyes has backcountry camping available and is overall a huge park with a lot of options. I'd love to go back someday and really spend some time exploring. |
With the afternoon reaching it's end, we decided it was time to work our way to San Francisco, our stopping point for the next three days and we were back on Highway 1, this time, heading south.
We arrived at the Marin Headlands on the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge before the sun set and had time to take some gorgeous pictures of the bridge and the city. A trail takes you past Battery Spencer and up to where you can get great eye level views of the Golden Gate Bridge. It's a great place to stop when you're crossing the bridge.
We proceeded into the city and were off to find our motel, what would be home for the next three nights. We were on a budget, so we chose the Days Inn Civic Center. It was affordable and had free parking and ended up being a really decent place to stay. If you have a fear of elevators, though, you may not want to get into the "lift". It was about the size of two people and was a little shaky! Overall, I think this was a great place to stay for the money.
I had always wanted to try Dim Sum and figured, "hey, we're in San Francisco, lets go to Chinatown". Being a novice in the world of Dim Sum, however, I didn't realize that this was a lunch meal, not a dinner meal! I had a list of several Dim Sum restaurants that I had picked out after doing some research and as we walked the streets of China Town, we discovered all three were closed! So much for doing research. We took a chance and went to a place that was open - the New Woey Loy Goey Restaurant and it was just fine. We had a nice dinner and after a long day of traveling, we were beat and off to bed. Tomorrow we'd start exploring San Francisco!
~You can read Part 1 of Road Trippin' The USA: Central California Coast here!
~You can read Part 2 of Road Trippin' The USA: Central California Coast here!
~You can read Part 3 of Road Trippin' The USA: Central California Coast here!
Jennifer St.Antoine, Gather Travel Correspondent
Jennifer's column, Road Trippin' The USA: Central California Coast will be published every other Friday on Gather Essentials: Travel, opposite Fridays of her Eight Weeks Across America column. Both columns chronicle her experiences on America's roads, including recommendations and warning for places to see, stay and eat.
You can find all of Jennifer's Road Trippin' the USA articles at www.gather.com/roadtrippintheusa or in Jennifer's Gather Group Road Trippin' the USA.
You can keep up with all of Jennifer's articles and her other Gather activity by joining her Gather network. Just click here: ladyjadegd.gather.com and select the orange JOIN button on the left side of the page.
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Comments: 18
Recommend you climb it by late nightfall, arriving at the top for some spectacular views and sunrise. The trail is good switchbacks and almost anyone can climb to the top of the 14,500 ft. mountain. Recommend climbing it in late July or August
for weather reasons at the top.
Thanks for the comment, Jennifer. Seriously, Point Reyes could be areally amazing trip. I think all of the camping is backcountry, not regular campgrounds, but it's so beautiful there!
ee- you always tell the best stories, love to hear about that adventure!