Tennessee Valley to the Beach
Marin Headlands (GGNRA) · near Mill Valley · SF Bay Area
Hiking
At a glance
- Difficulty
- easy
- Route type
- out-and-back
- Distance
- 3.4 miles
- Elevation gain
- 200 ft
- Time needed
- day
- Best season
- Year-round · Spring for wildflowers; summer fog gives a moody coast
Permits and booking
- Permit required
- No
- How the permit works
- Free GGNRA trailhead parking (fills fast on weekends). Dogs prohibited on the main Tennessee Valley Trail and beach.
- How hard the permit is to get
- 0 of 5
What is here
- Features
- Nearly flat valley walk to a pocket cove beach · Coastal lagoon · SS Tennessee shipwreck history · Sea cliffs
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Not permitted
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
Hiking detail
- Intl tip
- The beach is for looking, not swimming — cold water, rip currents, no lifeguards. Arrive before 10am on weekends or you'll circle for parking.
The guide
The easiest way in Marin to walk from a trailhead to a wild Pacific beach — a nearly flat mile-and-change down a green valley t…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Tennessee Valley to the Beach — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 37.8592, -122.5361