Food, Snacks and Water at Muir Woods
The rules on eating
Muir Woods is day use only, and the National Park Service does not allow picnics inside the monument. Food and drink are limited to two places: the entrance plaza and the café patio. Along the Main Trail and on the climbing trails nothing is eaten, and nothing is left behind. The rule sits alongside the others at the gate: no pets, no bicycles, no smoking, stay on the trails and take nothing. The things to know page lists them together, and nps.gov carries the current wording.
Snacks and water
Snacks can be carried in a bag and eaten on the plaza before or after the walk. Water is the more useful thing to carry, especially on the climbing loops: the Ben Johnson and Dipsea loop takes about 3 hours with 925 feet of gain, and the routes to East Peak or Stinson Beach take most of a day. The small-group tour includes bottled water and asks guests to bring snacks to eat outside the forest, which is the same rule seen from the tour side.
The café
The Muir Woods Trading Company café and gift shop is at the entrance. It opens at 9 am, an hour after the gates, and closes about an hour before the monument does. Hot food is served from 11 am. Visitors arriving for the 8 am opening find the café still closed, so breakfast comes before the drive. The Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy bookstore is at the Visitor Center, a separate shop. The opening hours page sets out all three schedules.
Eating on a tour
None of the six tours includes a meal. The half-day trip, the ferry-option tour and the roundtrip tour all exclude food and drinks. What they give instead is time in a town after the forest:
- Half-day trip: 45 minutes of free time in Sausalito.
- Small-group tour: 1 hour in Sausalito. Meera, on this tour, noted that an hour there is lunch or exploring, not both.
- Ferry-option tour: 60 minutes in Sausalito, or longer on the option that stays on and returns by ferry.
- Roundtrip tour: 45 minutes in Sausalito.
- Redwoods-and-wine day: a lunch stop at Sonoma Plaza, at the guest’s own expense, before three tastings.
The Sausalito page covers the town half of the tours, and the redwoods-and-wine close-up covers the Sonoma day, where tasting starts at 21 and ID is required.
On a long hike
A day on the routes toward Muir Beach, Stinson Beach or East Peak leaves the monument for Mount Tamalpais State Park, and the plan needs food for several hours. The monument’s eating rule covers the monument; the state park publishes its own rules on parks.ca.gov. Everything carried in is carried out again. Hikers who arrive on foot from Panoramic Highway or Mill Valley pass no café on the way down, so the food for the day travels with them from the start, and the café at the entrance is the one place to buy anything once inside.
On the small-group tour the hour in Sausalito goes fastest when lunch is chosen before the van arrives: one of the two, eating or walking the waterfront, gets most of the time.
Frequently asked questions
Can snacks be brought to Muir Woods?
Yes, to carry. They are eaten on the entrance plaza or the café patio, not on the trails. The things to know page lists the other rules.
Are there places to eat at Muir Woods?
The Muir Woods Trading Company café at the entrance, from 9 am, with hot food from 11 am. The opening hours page has the times.
Can you have a picnic in Muir Woods?
No. Picnics are not allowed in the monument; eating is limited to the plaza and the café patio.
Do the tours include lunch?
No. Lunch is at the guest’s own expense, usually in Sausalito or at Sonoma Plaza. The Sausalito page covers the time allowed.