Hike of the Week: 7 Miles to Stinson Beach, CA - Gardenista
It’s supposed to be a seven-mile trek from Mill Valley to Stinson Beach and that’s how far I told my friends from LA that we were going to walk. Photo by Richard Johnstone via Flickr. Our friends from LA are hardy–actually, they’re transplanted New Yorkers, so they’re used to walking–and we made it to this trail marker, along the Panoramic Highway on the ridge above Mill Valley, in record time. But I m getting ahead of the story I think the reason we all went up them instead of turning around and heading... ...back to civilization to spend the afternoon at the Beerworks was simple if you make it to the top it means you are immortal The reason I like it best is because of the amazing views. In December, after the rainy season starts, the trails are pretty green. This is a rough approximation of our route via Google Maps. We saw a toadstool — amanita muscaria, which the FDA says is poisonous–and stopped to admire it. A windblown tree grows over the trail. More mushrooms growing on a mossy log. The saturated colors along the trail were otherworldly — this is not Instagram magic. Our route took us past the Mountain Home Inn and the Throckmorton Ridge Fire Station to the Matt Davis Trail, another of my favorites. A mossy tree trunk partially blocks the path. A view of Stinson Beach and the ocean from the Matt Davis Trail. Photograph by Christina via Flickr. Photograph by Clatiek via Flickr. It took some of us longer than others to make it to the end. The sun was starting to set, about five and a half hours after we began the hike.