*Travel Tips>>>San Francisco Travel Tips

How would you rate Muir Woods?

Travel Info
I am thinking of going to Muir Woods? Anyone know if it's fairly empty on a Friday to go for a hike? And how would you rate it?

Travel Tips

As one of the major tourist sites for San Francisco daytrippers, it's never really empty. The good news is most visitors stay near the Visitors Center, so it's really easy to lose them.

Also, the woods make up only a small part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (the largest urban national park in the nation), so there are numerous wilderness hikes you can take from there to other parts of the park.

If you're upto it, you can go all the way to Stinson Beach (Dipsea Trail), down towards the Marin Headlands (Coastal Trail), or up the summit of Mt. Tam (Panoramic Trail). Here's a map of the area:

http://www.nps.gov/goga/planyourvisit/up...

The woods themselves are famous for a reason. It is a spectacular and easy-to-access sight - right next to the City of San Francisco. Indeed, Muir Woods is the only place to view those ancient giant redwoods (some the size of 40 storey buildings and thousands of years old) without driving 4-5 hours.
Others

We tend to stay clear of Muir Woods in the summer - too crowded. But similar to the other answer we love to park/start down near Stinson hike up the Steep Ravine trail to Pantoll Ranger station, you could back door it into Muir Woods, then come back around on the Dipsea trail. This is my favorite hike. A close second is to go out to Pierce Point, hike to the end of the peninsula, 90% of the time you'll see the Tule Elk
http://www.thoma.com/thoma/hikes95/06may...
http://68.142.214.24/photos/kqedquest/40...
I've been and it's nice, and you do have to walk, but it's not a hike. There are also a lot of people.