Mill Valley, CA Road Trips

Mill Valley Mill. Not much remains of the original structure, but it's a pretty spot in a redwood lined riverbed. A railroad car from the Old Railroad Grade — the main route up Mt. Tamalpais for sightseers in the early-1900s — stands opposite the mill. (updated May 2017) 1 Muir Woods National Monument is home to 560 acres (2.2 km2) of unlogged stands of old-growth redwood trees (Sequoia sempervirens), and is one of the few remaining places where these trees (the tallest living things on the planet) can be seen in their full glory. Many of the redwoods are over 200 feet (60 m) tall and over 600 years old. The woodland is served by a number of trails which weave between the redwoods - wheelchair-accessible boardwalks as well as hiking trails. The sunlight filtering through the redwood canopy to the valley below is incredibly beautiful and peaceful. In fact, when the UN was being founded in 1945, the delegates were taken to Muir Woods in order to inspire them with the peaceful ideal which the UN was intended to have. Park entry costs $15 (children 15 and under are free). Address: Frank Valley (Muir Woods) Road, ☏ +1-415-388-2596. Hours: 8AM-sunset every day. Despite being close to the San Francisco Bay Area, access can be difficult. There are several options, ordered from best to worse (when available): Muir Woods Shuttle (Marin Transit route #66 and #66F) is the cheapest option at $3 round-trip, but tickets must be bought in advance online or by phone: ☏ +1-800-410-2419.

Hiking. Mill Valley is the starting point for long hikes in the redwood forests of Mount Tam and beyond to the coast. (updated May 2017) 1 Green Gulch Farms & Zen Center, 1601 Shoreline Highway, ☏ +1-415-383-3134. Daily meditation 8:30AM. Weekend and longer retreats and various workshops in Zen practice and organic farming. 2 Mill Valley Film Festival. 3 Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival, Old Mill Park. Sa Su 10AM to 5PM, annually in the fall. $15, $10 seniors; children, students, and teachers free. (updated Sep 2019) 4 Marin Theatre Company, 397 Miller Avenue, ☏ +1-415-388-5200, [email protected]. (updated Apr 2017)

For a small town, Mill Valley has a wide range of excellent restaurants from cozy local joints to upscale eateries. Kitchen Sunnyside, 31 Sunnyside Ave, ☏ +1-415-326-5159. Daily 8AM to 2:30PM. For great breakfast foods where the locals eat. Piazza D'Angelo, 22 Miller Av. A Marin institution, D'Angelo's is no simple pizza place. Casual-dressy Italian food. Reservations recommended on weekends or holidays. $16–20. La Ginestra, 127 Throckmorton Av. Great family-style Italian food including pizza and ravioli. Joe's Taco Lounge, 382 Miller Av. Healthy Californian-Mexican. Seafood tacos and burritos are their specialty, but the decor is worth the trip. $5–10 El Paseo Restaurant, 17 Throckmorton Ave. For a delicious, and rather expensive, dinner out, try this upscale Italian/California cuisine restaurant and Mill Valley institution. Sol Food, 401 Miller Ave. Puerto Rican food that's very popular with the locals. Limited seating.

Sweetwater Music Hall, 19 Corte Madera Ave, ☏ +1-415-388-3850. Local bar and music venue. The 2AM Club. Buckeye Roadhouse, 15 Shoreline Hwy, ☏ +1-415-331-2600.

Budget options (a relative word in Marin County) can be found along Highway 101 -- the further north you go, the more reasonable they will be. Other, more romantic options are scattered on the mountain behind town. There are a lot of Vacation Rentals by Home Owner (VRBO) and Home Away options available in this community as well, if one is interested in a more 'local' experience, people actually rent away their actual houses. There are great places usually very central to town and have great prices for weeks and nights. 1 Mountain Home Inn, 810 Panoramic Hwy, ☏ +1-415-381-9000. Alpine Lodge, 730 Panoramic Hwy. Located on Mt. Tamalpais are open to California Alpine Club Members and their guests, Alpine Lodge is open as a hostel-style B&B on some weekends in July and August. Holiday Inn Express, 160 Shoreline Hwy, ☏ +1-415-332-5700. Complimentary trail bicycles, S'mores kits and have free fanny packs for your hike. 2 Acqua Hotel, 555 Redwood Hwy, ☏ +1-415-380-0400. Part of the Joie de Vivre Hotels collection of boutique hotels. Easy highway access and rooms with a view of Richardson Bay. 3 Mill Valley Inn, 165 Throckmorton Ave, ☏ +1-415-389-6608. An intimate, small hotel tucked away in a redwood grove at the foot of Mt. Tamalpais, just steps away from the bustling town plaza.

Mill Valley is easiest to see by car. From Highway 101 take the Mill Valley/Tiburon Blvd exit or the Mill Valley/Stinson Beach exit. Buses from San Francisco drop off along the highway. Commuter buses from downtown and from the ferry in nearby Tiburon. Mill Valley is served by Golden Gate Transit route 4, a commuter route to San Francisco, and by Marin Transit route 17. As of September 2019, Google Maps displays stops on both sides of the street as a single stop — make sure you are at the correct side for your destination.

While downtown is nice to see on foot, the parks and woods are best reached by car. Mountain bikes were invented near here, and remain a popular way to get around.

Mill Valley has a very low crime rate, thanks to high property values and insulation by other exclusive towns like Tiburon, Larkspur, and Corte Madera. Prevalence of dangerous crimes is low enough to actually induce stricter enforcement of traffic infractions, since the police would not have much to do otherwise. Common sense should prevail, though. Do not hike alone when rambling across the trails in Mill Valley and Mt. Tamalpais. The likelihood of having a negative encounter during a hike is minimal, but you will benefit greatly with the aid of another person should you meet an unsavory character — animal or human — along the way.