tips for a smooth family day trip to muir woods

travelkids

Aug 28

A few months ago we headed west to celebrate my husband’s birthday in Muir Woods. When we were newlyweds, we made it a point to make a trip to the redwoods for our anniversary, but between the pandemic and adapting to life with three kids, we hadn’t paid the coastal woods a visit in years. This was our first time taking the children with us and it’s safe to say we learned quite a bit for next time!

before you go

The parking at Muir Woods used to be as chaotic as a Trader Joe’s parking lot. The solution was implementing a reservation system for parking or shuttle services. The reservations are time-sensitive and times do sell out, so it’s best to start there when planning a trip to Muir Woods.

While there’s an option to purchase admission ahead of time, we opted not to do that so we could buy the Muir Woods Annual Pass, which has to be purchased in person. The pass is $45 and includes entry for the cardholder and three people 16 and up. Our children are all young enough to get in free, so we could either pay $30 and visit once or $45 and visit as often as possible for a calendar year! I think it’s worthwhile!

should you bring your stroller?

The short answer is yes! Remember how I said it had been years since we’d visited Muir Woods? Well, believe it or not, they’d expanded the accessible boardwalk path in those five-ish years!

I’d used up my last bit of critical thinking in buying the annual pass and figured we would be fine with only our Sakura Bloom Scout carrier. I didn’t want to push an empty stroller around but in hindsight, I should have known that my kids would eventually get tired of walking and want to sit. I ended up carrying my three-year-old on my back in the Scout carrier while my husband carried our five and one-year-old in his arms for the walk back through the woods and to the car.

So yeah, I say bring the stroller!