SAN FRANCISCO—Muir Woods National Monument, the popular tourist attraction of ancient coastal redwoods, reopens to the public on Monday, June 29. For the last three months, the national monument located 20 miles north of San Francisco in Marin County has remained closed due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Muir Woods, named for conservationist John Muir, is one of the last remaining redwood forests in the Bay Area. Some of the redwoods are 1,000 years old and reach heights of 250 ft. President Theodore Roosevelt declared it as a National Monument in 1908.
The National Park Service currently runs Muir Woods, which is home to more than 380 species of plants and animals. The Muir Woods redwoods typically attract 900,000 visitors annually. In 2018, it became the first national park in the US to require reservations for all vehicles coming into the park.
Starting Monday, it will be open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Visitors will be able to access the restrooms, trails, cafe, and gift shop, but the visitor center will remain closed. Admission will be restricted to keep crowds small with the 4,000 normal slots being trimmed to 1,700. Park rangers will be there to give information, but will not be giving tours. In addition, face masks are encouraged for all visitors.
“Like any park, we want to manage it to make sure folks aren’t bunching up and that people are social distancing,” said Charlie Strickfaden, spokesman for the national monument.
