|
|
Muir Woods with Bay Cruise
Drive across the Golden Gate Bridge and through the coastal mountains
to the Bay Area's most popular national monument - Muir Woods.
Roam through an ancient forest of giant redwood trees and stroll the waterfront of the quaint Mediterranean-style
village of Sausalito (considered the prettiest city in California). Great views of the Bay are
featured with time for shopping and photo-taking.
|
>>> click here for more details
Cross the Golden Gate Bridge, and after you motor through the "Rainbow Tunnels" on Hwy. 101, Marin's unique
topography comes into view. Tidal flats along the bay segue into gentle undulating hills as they rise to meet
Mt. Tamalpais, Marin's 2,600-foot landmark. As your tour ascends Mt. Tam, breathtaking views abound at every turn.
Descending into the valley toward Muir Woods, you will see a landscape that hasn't changed since its original
inhabitants, the Coast Miwok Indians, lived here centuries ago. You will have 1 1/4 hour to spend in
Muir Woods, the most time offered on any sightseeing tour program. There will be ample time to stroll the Nature
Trail along picturesque Redwood Creek, and through Cathedral and Bohemian Groves, filled with 500 to 800-year-old
redwoods. Be sure to stop at the Visitors Center and Gift Shop.
The next stop on your tour is beautiful Sausalito, a Mediterranean-like community with elegant hillside
homes facing the bay and a unique colony of floating homes moored along the waterfront. You will have time
to stroll Downtown Sausalito, a National Historical Landmark District offering many fine shops, galleries
and restaurants. If you want to spend additional time here you can stay and take a ferry back to Fisherman's
Wharf or the San Francisco Ferry Building at the foot of Market Street (ferry fare not included). Your return to
San Francisco by motorcoach will be via the Golden Gate Bridge and through San Francisco's Marina District.
• 4-hour tour of Muir Woods and Sausalito
• Cross over the Golden Gate Bridge
• 1 1/4 hour in Muir Woods
• 1 hour in Sausalito
• Shopping/Dining/Galleries in historic Downtown Sausalito
MUIR WOODS NATIONAL MONUMENT
140 million years ago, redwood-like trees covered most of the Northern Hemisphere. Today, this expanse of trees
has been reduced to two areas, the west slope of the Sierra Nevada and a thin 500-mile strip along the Pacific
coast from Oregon to Monterey, California. Most old-growth coast redwoods have been cut down, but the trees in
Muir Woods National Monument have never been logged. Congressman William Kent and his wife Elizabeth Thacher Kent
bought the forest along Redwood Creek in 1905 to protect its old-growth redwoods from logging, and donated the land
to the Federal Government. President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed it a national monument in 1908, naming it for
conservationist John Muir.
Today Muir Woods is a part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and a part of the National Park System.
The redwood groves within the 560-acre park include trees that measure over 252 feet tall. One is 14 feet wide;
some are at least 1,000 years old. Although most famous for its redwoods, Muir Woods also has a variety of other
trees and plants. Douglas fir, bigleaf maple, tanbark oak and bay laurel grow along with ferns, lichen and mushrooms.
Its abundant wildlife ranges from ladybugs, silverhead trout and silver salmon to Steller's jays, chipmunks and
black-tailed deer.
The color of Muir Woods changes with the seasons; in Fall the big-leaf maples turn yellow; Winter brings the vibrant
red toyon berries; Spring explodes with wildflowers; and Summer is the time for azaleas, aralias and buckeyes.
|
Add a one-hour cruise to your tour and enjoy some of the most beautiful
sightseeing in the world and a great value!
Enjoy a narrated cruise on the famous San Francisco Bay. Sail under the Golden Gate Bridge (weather permitting),
get close-up views of Alcatraz Island, the San Francisco waterfront and the California sea lions.
|
>>> click here for more details about Bay Cruise
• 1-Hour narrated cruise of the Bay,
• Cruise directly under the Golden Gate Bridge,
• Sail around "The Rock", the infamous island of Alcatraz.
San Francisco Bay - the center of our universe, that magnificent, shimmering, green body of water that is responsible for our
climate, the sculpting of our land, the building of our great bridges - is breathtaking to behold, but awesome to experience.
The one-hour Bay Cruise lets you feel the wind and salt spray, hear the foghorns, and cruise directly under the Golden Gate
Bridge and around the infamous island of Alcatraz.
Cruising from Fisherman's Wharf, you first sail past the 312-ft. U.S.S Pampanito, a World War II submarine that participated
in many of the great battles in the Pacific. Tied up astern of the submarine is the S.S. Jeremiah O'Brien, a WWII Liberty Ship
built across the Bay in Richmond. The O'Brien carried troops and supplies to Normandy and is the last operating and seaworthy
Liberty Ship. As your vessel turns northward and heads toward the Golden Gate Bridge, you will see a diverse fleet of historic
ships tied up at the Hyde Street Pier and the National Maritime Historic Park. Overlooking the park is Ghirardelli Square a
retail shopping complex and former chocolate factory.
Jutting out into the Bay are the piers of Fort Mason, the embarkation point for troops heading to the South Pacific in WWII.
Just past the piers is the Marina District, a residential neighborhood that was severely damaged in the 1989 earthquake. The
Palace of Fine Arts, located on the edge of the Marina, is the only remaining building from the Columbia Pacific-Exposition
of 1915. The Presidio of San Francisco, Crissy Field, and Fort Point are located at the entrance of the Bay, and all are former
military installations that are now a part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
You will cruise directly under the Golden Gate Bridge out into the Pacific Ocean and then back into the Bay. The bridge was
completed in 1937 and was the longest suspension span in the world until the completion of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge across
New York Harbor in 1964. Today the longest suspension bridge is the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge in Japan, which opened in 1998.
The orange-vermilion-colored bridge, officially "International Orange", is 1.7 miles long, and the length of the main span is 4,200
feet. To build this San Francisco icon, 83,000 tons of steel and 389,000 cubic yards of concrete were used in its construction.
In the center of the Bay sits the infamous island of Alcatraz. The former federal penitentiary housed the most notorious criminals
in American history. Robert “The Birdman” Stroud, Al Capone, “Machine Gun” Kelly all called Alcatraz home. The prison closed in
1963 and is now a national monument. There are daily tours of the island and cellblock.
Before returning to Fisherman's Wharf, you will cruise along the northern waterfront past Coit Tower, a monument to firemen
that is shaped to resemble a fire nozzle, and the cruise ship terminal at Pier 35.
The barking noise you will hear at the end of the tour is from the Pier 39 sea lions. Arriving in the Bay after the 1989
earthquake, they took over K dock at Pier 39, a shopping and dining complex, and now call it home.
|
| Adult is age 12 and older - Child is 3 to 11 |
|
