Enjoy the fog, natural wonder of the cliffs, bluffs and the ocean, around Coastal California.
This trail is super beautiful with great scenery of the coast. The tribe along with the furry companion arrived at Muir Beach parking lot around 10:30 AM. The drive through Shoreline Highway was still filled with fog and a lot of mist. To our surprise, the parking lot at Muir Beach was pretty full, given it was cold we expected it to be relatively empty.
From the parking lot, past the short bridge is access to the trail, it quickly gains elevation. The tribe was going to do the loop, we kept clockwise first on the Coastal Fire road and then following signs for Tennessee Valley Trail. This trail is moderate with sections of uphill, flat and downhill. In about half mile from the trailhead, there is a junction with markers for Tennessee Valley Trail about the same distance on the right and left, we continued to keep left and decided that we will return via the trail on the right. This is a super dog friendly trail, our furry companion was excited to pounce around with cold temperatures and lots of new smells that kept it interesting for her.
The trail is well marked and there are quite a few options to take detours and come back to the mail trail, tribe wanted to keep it simple today so we continued to follow the Tennessee Valley Trail down to Tennessee Beach. This was a good place to take a break, enjoy the sound of the waves and of course be amazed by beautifully wave carved stone walls. These great wavy colorful rocks formed the boundary to the beach! Stunning! Furry companion was busy digging into the sand and chasing the waves. A flight of stairs leads up to a vista point, today was extremely foggy, so we skipped the stairs and heading back to follow the Tennessee Valley Trail towards Muir Beach. This time staying on the trail on the left, this is super scenic along the coast. Along the way we took another stop at the pirates cove, this one was not that crowded. Access is through a flight of stairs leading down and then the trail climbs back up again, towards Muir Beach. This side of the trail has many vista points to enjoy the endless views of the ocean, wildflowers and wildlife.
Some sections of the trail is open to mountain biking as well, hence be careful of the bikers coming down at full speed. This loop was almost 8 Miles with elevation gain of 2000 ft. Depending on how you feel for the day and time in hand, this area has so many options to explore. The tribe surely is coming back to check out the other parts of the coastline soon.
Perfect choice for spending the day, enjoy the beautiful California Coast
We loved the trail and people were mindful and all had masks on given CoVID! Highly recommend this trail for a short trip to escape the heat or simply to soak in the natural beauty!
Learning's from the tribe - Sometimes all it takes is getting out and you have the best times. So get up and get out, enjoy the nature.