Simply Santamaria: The Enchanted Forest, Muir Woods

I always new we had Muir Woods full of Redwood trees just 11 miles passed the Golden Gate Bridge but had no idea how beautiful it was! Me and my love wanted to get out of the city to celebrate our one year. We both love nature and hiking so Muir Woods was the obvious choice.

Once we got there we wanted to get off the paved trails and go deeper into the woods away from all the tourists. We started on Hillside Trail that was higher than the Main Trail with a nice view of everything. We then ended up on Ocean View Trail with soooo many steps! Our hearts were pounding, we were sweating but we finally made it to the top. At the top is was hot like a desert because there was no shade like down among the redwoods. We were expecting to see a beautiful view of the ocean but all we saw were trees after trees. As we were leaving I just happened to look another direction and there was the ocean! Barely visible but there it was there! As we were going down we saw that the trail we went up was actually called "Lost Trail". Ha! That name made more sense!

When we got to the bottom we saw the perfect spot to have lunch. There was a creek, trees fallen with moss and nobody in sight. It was the best location ever! My love had the spot for his log cabin chosen and I had the perfect place for my chair to relax and enjoy the beauty of the creek and redwoods. We didn't want to leave but sadly we had too.

We made our way back even though we didn't want to go back to the concrete jungle. The day was so peaceful, calm, and we were happy. If you live in the Bay area or ever come to visit, Muir Woods is a must see!