Steep Ravine – Matt Davis Trail Loop (Mount Tamalpais State Park, CA)

The Steep Ravine – Matt Davis Trail Loop in California’s Mount Tamalpais State Park is a longer and more popular variant of the Steep Ravine – Dipsea Trail Loop (described in an April 2015 post). Though not as expansive as the views along the upper reaches of Dipsea, the sunny seaside vistas from the Matt …

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Ben Johnson-Bootjack Trail Loop (Muir Woods National Monument, CA)

The redwood groves of Muir Woods National Monument, while lovely, have a people problem. Within a half-mile radius of the park’s tiny visitor center, there are scores and scores of visitors. Yet the western stretches of the park—or better yet, the areas belonging to Mount Tamalpais State Park that surround Muir Woods—solitude and wildness are …

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Dipsea Trail – Steep Ravine Trail Loop (Mount Tamalpais State Park, CA)

At 2,571 feet above sea level, California’s Mount Tamalpais (known affectionately by locals as “Mt. Tam”) offers splendid vistas of Marin Peninsula and the San Francisco Bay area, as well as Bolinas Bay and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Mount Tamalpais State Park—comprising far more than just the mountain’s three peaks—also boasts more than …

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