Six Muir Woods Tours, Side by Side

What a tour solves, and what it does not

At Muir Woods the reservation is for the vehicle, not for the trail. Every private car and every shuttle rider must book ahead at gomuirwoods.com, and reservations are not sold at the gate. Visitors who arrive on a commercial tour need no parking reservation at all, and the tour coach or van also answers a second problem: there is no cell signal and no Wi-Fi at or around the forest, so a ride-share can drop a visitor off but cannot be called back from the car park. The reservations page explains the whole system, and the car-free options page lists the alternatives to a tour.

What a tour does not buy is a long hike. The listings give 80 minutes, 90 minutes, 1.5 hours or about one hour in the forest, and the Jeep listing gives no figure. That fits the valley floor: the Bridge 2 loop of the Main Trail is 0.5 mile and takes about 30 minutes, the Bridge 3 loop is 1 mile and about an hour, and the Bridge 4 loop with the Hillside Trail is 2 miles with 90 feet of climbing in about 1.5 hours. The Ben Johnson and Dipsea loop, the classic climb out of the canyon, runs 4 to 5 miles with 925 feet of gain and takes about 3 hours, so no tour leaves time for it. The hike-by-time page matches each route to the time available.

What all six have in common

Each tour starts and ends in San Francisco, crosses the Golden Gate Bridge or stops at it for photos, and is led by a live guide in English. Each can be cancelled for a full refund up to 24 hours before the start. None publishes a fixed start time: departures appear in the calendar of the booking widget, which also shows the current price for the date picked. Gratuities are excluded on every listing.

How they differ

The four half-day tours. Two last 5 hours, the roundtrip tour about 4.5 hours and the ferry-option tour 5 to 8 hours, depending on the option. The half-day trip picks up at four central hotel points and gives 1.5 hours in the forest and 45 minutes in Sausalito. The small-group tour uses a 14-passenger van, collects from most San Francisco hotels, and gives 80 minutes in the forest and an hour in Sausalito. The ferry-option tour meets at Union Square or near Fisherman’s Wharf, guarantees a 90-minute forest stop and lets passengers return across the bay by ferry. The roundtrip tour starts at 99 Jefferson Street and adds an optional audio guide in seven languages. The half-day tours page lays out each itinerary minute by minute.

The two different formats. The private Jeep tour lasts 3 to 4 hours, takes up to 6 people in an open-air vehicle, adds the Muir Beach Overlook, and leaves the entrance fee to be paid separately. The redwoods-and-wine day lasts 10 hours, caps its group at 13, spends about an hour in the forest and then visits three wineries in the Napa and Sonoma valleys. The private and wine tours page covers both.

All six tours

Each card shows the total duration and the time in the forest, with a practical note.

Early start

San Francisco: Muir Woods and Sausalito Half-Day Trip

◷ 5 hours, 1.5 hours in the forest

Muir Woods entrance fee included

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14-seat van

San Francisco: Muir Woods and Sausalito Small-Group Tour

◷ 5 hours, 80 minutes in the forest

Not suitable for wheelchair users

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Ferry option

San Francisco: Muir Woods & Sausalito Tour with Ferry Option

◷ 5 to 8 hours, 90 minutes in the forest

Return by ferry or by coach

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Audio in 7 languages

San Francisco: Guided Muir Woods Tour with Roundtrip Journey

◷ 4.5 hours, 1.5 hours in the forest

Muir Woods entrance fee included

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Private, up to 6

Muir Woods, Golden Gate Bridge & Sausalito Private Tour 3+hr

◷ 3 to 4 hours in an open-air Jeep

Park entrance fee not included

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Redwoods + wine

From San Francisco: Muir Woods & 3 Wineries in Napa & Sonoma

◷ 10 hours, 1 hour in the forest

Wine tasting from age 21

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The four half-day tours in one table

Where a listing does not give a detail, the cell says so.

The private Jeep and the wine day in one table

Sorting them by need

Five questions separate the six more than the route does: the hours available, who is travelling, whether the day should include wine, the language, and where the tour starts. Only the roundtrip tour offers commentary in a language other than English, through its audio guide. Only the Jeep tour is private and only the wine day runs past a half day. The which-tour page takes each question in turn, and the close-up pages look at every tour on its own.

Check dates for the half-day trip

The 5-hour Muir Woods and Sausalito half-day trip is billed as an early-morning visit, includes the entrance fee and allows free cancellation up to 24 hours before. Pick a date to see which departures are open.

Other dates and options

More Muir Woods hikes and tours with live availability, for dates when the tours above are full.

Frequently asked questions