★★

Tennessee Valley and Muir Beach

Length 9.3 mi · Climbing 1820 ft

California > San Francisco Bay Area > Golden Gate National Recreation Area

Muir Beach

Background

This is one of the most enjoyable hikes in the Marin Headlands, featuring spectacular ocean views from the blufftop Pirates Cove Trail, a descent into the very pretty Muir Beach area, and a stroll through the Green Gulch Farm and Zen Center.

The route starts at the Tennessee Valley trailhead and crosses over Coyote Ridge to reach Muir Beach. The most scenic parts of the hike are on the Muir Beach side and could be seen on a shorter, 5.5-mile loop starting at the Muir Beach trailhead. However, Tennessee Valley is a lot easier to get to, especially in the summer, when traffic to Muir Beach slows to a crawl. But combining the two parts of the park also makes for a more satisfying, full-day hike.

Start at the Tennessee Valley trailhead. Like most trailheads in the Marin Headlands, it can be hard to find parking here, but it’s usually possible to find a spot.

The very popular Tennessee Valley Trail is a wide, flat paved road that descends gently through a chaparral-covered valley to Tennessee Beach. It’s worth a 1.2-mile detour to see the beach, with its sea stacks, high bluffs, and little pond.

Tennessee Beach

The Coastal Trail climbs steeply out of the valley, offering some views of the beach. After a long climb it reaches the intersection of the Pirates Cove and Coastal Trails, where there’s a spectacular view of the rugged bluffs to the north.

The faint line that contours along the bluffs is the Pirates Cove Trail

The trail descends steeply toward Pirates Cove. A little side trail leads toward the cove, but it ends at the top of a steep hillside well short of the cove.

After passing by the cove, the trail climbs again, offering increasingly scenic views of the coast.

The trail ends at the intersection with the Coastal Fire Road. Descend on the fire road. The views of chaparral-covered coastal bluffs are replaced with strikingly different views of the wooded green hills and wide beach of the town of Muir Beach.

The Pirates Cove Trail

In Muir Beach there’s a possible detour to the very popular Pelican Inn, which is usually open for drinks on weekends. Otherwise continue onto Kaashi Way, following the signs for the Middle Green Gulch Trail. Let yourself into the Green Gulch Farm through the imposing wire mesh gate.

Green Gulch Farm

The road passes by rows of crops and eucalpytus windbreaks. Skip the Middle Gulch Trail; the Green Gulch Trail has much better views. Passing through another gate, the road enters the Zen Center, with its new octagonal guest house and welcome center. Follow the signs for the Green Gulch Trail, which direct you onto a dirt road that passes a yurt and loops past the guest parking area.

The Green Gulch Trail climbs out of the valley, offering views of the traffic creeping along on Highway 1, the Green Gulch valley, and Muir Beach. As you approach the top there are some nice ocean views, and the wide basin of Muir Woods can be seen.

The Green Gulch Trail

Reaching the ridgetop, you can either turn left and descend on the Miwok Trail, or turn right and descend on the Fox Trail. The Miwok Trail is more scenic but requires more climbing and is half a mile longer. In either case, the final descent to the Tennessee Valley is the least scenic part of the hike.

As it descends back into the Tennessee Valley, the Fox Trail provides an odd little glimpse of San Francisco, the Transamerica pyramid and a few other buildings incongruously floating in a little gap between chaparral-covered hills.