Tennessee Valley, Muir Beach Loop
MVP:
The Pelican Inn—This inn is right next to Muir Beach (at the half way point to this hike) and getting a cup of ice-cold soda was a delight. I enjoyed that one cup to the last drop.
Hike Review:
The trails are on fire roads, so it’s wide, flat, and dry. There was little dust due to the high winds that blow from the ocean.
The trails were clean, without trash anywhere that I could see.
The restrooms were decently clean at Tennessee Valley Trailhead and at Muir Beach.
There is zero shade.
Cell signal was surprisingly one to two bars for many points on the hike (Verizon). I had expected zero the whole time.
What I Learned:
Going slower was definitely helpful in me feeling pretty fresh the next day.
Tennessee Valley trail leads to Tennessee Cove Beach on a wide flat road that is paved for about a mile (the whole trail is about 2 miles). I think I want to come back here with the girls. I think they’d love biking to the beach.
I should bring some extra allergy meds in my first aid kit. Jo was suffering from her allergies pretty bad, and an extra Allegra would have made this hike a lot more comfortable for her.
Friends Made:
I hiked this with Jo, so it was nice getting to know her better. She’s my only Korean friend, so it was also fun talking about 진짜 Korean stuff.
What Happened?
~8.4 miles, 4 hrs 30 mins, 2150 ft of ascent
After lunch, Jo and I arrived at the Tennessee Valley Trailhead, where I was slightly worried that there would be no parking space left. When we arrive though, I found there to be plenty of parking, which made me feel silly for worrying.
We started the hike and found this place to be a stark contrast from the morning hike. The trails were wide roads that were created for cars, and the views were expansive. Both were polar opposites of the Cataract Falls Loop, where the trails were single-track and hemmed in from all sides from trees and bushes.
We decided to skip the mile or so extra it would have taken to go to Tennessee Cove Beach and started hiking up to the bluffs. When we got to the Pirates Cove Beach turnout, Jo went down a bit, but decided to skip the walk down to the beach level-itself. I went just because I was so curious about what it would look like. It turns out that it was a rocky beach that reminded me of Partington Cove.
We then hiked up to the bluff overlooking Muir Beach. At the top of the bluff overlooking Muir Beach, we saw our half-way point of the Pelican Inn. It looked so far away, but we were both looking forward to our prize.
When we got to the Pelican Inn, we found it to be a delightfully British inn, with a claustrophobic indoor dining room, and a wonderfully enclosed outdoor dining space. Many people were drinking and eating on the lawn, but we couldn’t find a spot, so we ended up drinking our drinks (coke for me, and a beer for Jo) in the outdoor dining space. I carefully enjoyed every drop of my soda, and after a bit of rest, we got on our feet and started hiking again.
We started our trek back by visiting Muir Beach, which was surprisingly full (given how windy it was). After checking out the overlook, we started back onto the Coastal Trail. We then took the Coastal Fire Road/Fox Trail back to Tennessee Valley Trailhead. It was just a steady trail back and while it was a bit boring, I did think that it’d be fun to come back on my bike.
We then made it back to the car, and after a 16 mile hiking day, enjoyed our comfortable ride back to civilization.