When a friend suggested we head out to San Francisco for a 4 day running and hiking adventure, I jumped at the chance. This was a perfect post-Covid vacation. We signed up for a 4 days adventure with Wine Country Trekking. Here’s how it works and few snapshots from each day’s highlights.
Wine Country Trekking
Wine Country Trekking offers “self-guided, luxury inn to inn” hiking, running/walking vacations. There are numerous destinations around the San Francisco area to choose from. We chose the “Runner’s Trek” from Sausalito to Point Reyes, California.
This route was originally designed for editors of Runners’ world magazine and seemed perfect for us. We are not trail runners and planned to hike/walk a lot of this terrain as well. Wine Country Trekking provides all the accommodations in beautiful, charming inns. They transport your luggage daily to your next destination while you head out on foot with very detailed maps.
Day 1 – San Francisco
While not officially part of our tour, I could not pass up a chance to run over the Golden Gate Bridge again. In typical San Francisco fashion, it was a fogged-in morning and the bridge was barely visible. I set out to do a quick over and back for about 3.5 miles. Perfect warm up to our trip. We checked into the Inn Above Tide in Sausalito.
Day 2- Sausalito to Muir Beach 9.5 miles
Elevation for the day 2300 ft. We left our hotel to ascend 550 steps to reach the trailhead. We had great views of San Francisco and the Pacific Ocean on the Coastal Trail. We were told this was the most challenging day of elevation and terrain. It was very steep at times. I was glad to have my trail shoes. It was mostly hiking for us today. Finally, descended into Muir Beach to the Pelican Inn where our gear was waiting for us. This took us just under 4 hours with picture stops etc.
Day 3- Muir Beach to Mill Valley- 10 miles
This was the day I was most looking forward to! Muir Woods has been on my bucket list for years. We climbed from Muir Beach up into Mt Tamalpais and then descended into Muir Woods. It was just as magical as I imagined with huge redwood trees as far as the eye could see. It was nice and shady in the forest which reminded me of Snow White’s forest.
Next, we had another climb and descent on the Dipsea Trail where the famous trail race is held. It is the 2nd oldest running race in the US after Boston. We arrived at the Mill Valley Inn for the night. This took us about 3.5 hours including all of our stops in Muir Woods for photos and snacks.
Mill Valley was a cute, little town with a bunch of great restaurants and shops. We even found a place to do a foot massage at the last minute.
Day 4 MIll Valley to Olema 12 miles
Because of some fire damage to one of the trails, we had to change our original route slightly. We needed to take a taxi to our starting spot today. We were on the Bolinas Ridge Trail. Today’s hike was a net downhill and my calves were screaming by the end. This was my least favorite trail after being spoiled by Muir Woods and views of the Pacific Ocean the 2 days prior. It was fun to run on paved roads the last 1.5 to arrive at Olema House. A charming Inn with a great restaurant.
Overall thoughts
We had a fantastic time! Wine Country Trekking is very thorough providing pre-arrival info and map explanations. The Inns they chose were luxurious and convenient to our trails. Our luggage always arrived before we did and our restaurant reservations were made for us.
Unless you are a serious trail runner, these trails are more for hiking than running. The elevation and the steep hills provided a great challenge and left us sore and ready to hit our beds each night.
We enjoyed the ease of starting at our own time and doing our own pace without having to worry about a group pace. The self-guided maps were more than adequate.
Would I do it again? Definitely! I’d love to explore more of California on foot. Wine Country Trekking does a fabulous job of organizing everything you need. I feel very lucky to have had the chance to spend this time with one of my running besties.
Oh wow, Deborah!! This is fantastic! Thank you for all the beautiful photos.
Muir Woods looks so magical. You are right, they look like Snow White’s forest.
Now I really want to do a trek like that myself. I especially like that the distances were doable and that you didn’t have to move in a running group but could just go along at your own pace. Thank you for this inspiration!
Yes we really liked the fact that it was at our own pace
This sounds like so much fun! And the views are amazing! I think I would prefer a self-guided tour too. Its so nice that they set up all the hotels and handled your luggage for you!
Yes it was super helpful we just had to show up!
This looks like such a fabulous adventure! Your pics are amazing, especially of “Snow White’s forest.” This might be a fun blogging babe excursion someday…just saying 😉
yes it sure would!
what a great trip. I love that everything was planned but you could go at your own pace. I would be walking those steep trails as well.
Beautiful pix!!
Muir Woods would be on my list – I love his nature quotes.
What’s next? How can you top this trip?
It will be very hard to top it for sure!
Deborah, this sounds AMAZING!!! I loved seeing your pics on Insta but this write up is amazing. It sounds like such a blast. I hope to do something like this some day!
It was really fantastic and so peaceful out there
This is my DREAM VACATION. Every single trail looks amazing, but especially those woods. I love the idea of heading out on foot every day to get to your next destination, and then sleeping at a “luxury inn.” I love nature but do NOT like to sleep in a tent- a luxury inn sounds ideal. This is going on my bucket list for sure.
It really was a perfect trip! I love to be outside as well but definitely need my nice hotel and hot shower
this looks like such a fun adventure and vacation! I absolutely love all of the photos that you shared – you had so many gorgeous views!
We really did! It was a fabulous time
You’ve just described my DREAM holiday! Wow, wow, wow! I would love this kind of adventure – and what spectacular trails and views! That last photo of you and Sue looking into the distance – PRICELESS.
It was a pretty amazing trip and we had a fantastic time!
What a beautiful and amazing trip. This sounds truly magical, and I’m so glad you had the opportunity.
It really was a fantastic time we truly loved it
What a fabulous trip! It was great seeing all of your photos and now that I’ve read your recap I think I need to add this to my bucket list!
It really was a fabulous adventure and I am so glad that I had the opportunity to do it
Sounds like an amazing time! I hadn’t heard of Muir Woods but now I’d like to go there.
wow really?! you must add it to your bucket list
This sounds like such a great adventure in one of my favorite places! I love the SF area, especially north of the Golden Gate Bridge. I’ve been lucky enough to run over it several times, usually in the middle of the SF marathon or half marathon! I enjoyed following your adventures and would love to try something like this someday.
It was a fabulous adventure! Loved every minute of it
What beautiful views – sounds like such a fun trip!
yes it sure was!