Hiking the Tennessee Valley Trail in Marin

Hike Date: August 4, 2013
Distance: ~ 3.4 miles
Trail(s): Tennessee Valley Trail
Where’s it at? Golden Gate Rec. Area in Marin near Hwy 1 and Hwy 101

Took a short but nice midsummer hike to Tennessee Valley Trail in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in the Marin headlands. While this probably isn’t the best season to visit due to fog, it was still a very pretty hike. My friend and I took a shorter hike and didn’t do a full exploration because she is nursing a tendon injury, so we really just hiked from the trailhead down to Tennessee Beach/Cove and back. We took the wider ‘road’ on the way in and kept to the adjacent single track trail on the way out.

This was a really easy hike that just about anyone can take on. Very little elevation gain and distance. There are many more trails in the area according to my friend, and the map, and those can get you into some elevation and further distance if that’s what you’re looking for. Apparently you can hike to Muir Beach from here. You can find a trail map here.

The parking lot is fairly large although on this weekend day, even with the fog, it was pretty crowded. There is a bathroom at the parking lot and actually a couple porta-potties along the way. Dogs are not allowed on the trail at all.

While we didn’t see much of it, there is said to be a lot of wildlife here, including bobcats, deer and coyotes. All we saw were sea birds and a TON of fishing boats a little ways offshore.

I’d like to come back and do all the trails that go into the hills this winter or spring. This is definitely a nice hike and can be combined with so many other great hikes in the GGNRA.