Hiking Along the Owl Trail - To Slide Ranch
The Owl Trail, a 2.1 mile round trip starts across the street from our house at the Muir Beach Overlook. It's named for great horned owls that roost in the area's cypress trees, runs north from the Overlook on high bluffs to Slide Ranch, where it splits for North Beach and South Beach.
North Beach is small, turbulent and private with large sea stacks just off shore. South Beach is more accessible, with biologically rich tide pools and abundant wildflowers along its bluffs.
Elect South Beach at low tide and during peak blooms, and North Beach for a more rugged and secluded experience:
The Owl Trail runs north from the Overlook through dense chaparral with rangy views of the coast. Look for seabirds perched off shore, and owls in cypress trees along the trail.
Slide Ranch - http://www.slideranch.org
Slide Ranch was founded in 1970, a non-profit environmental education center located on an historic dairy farm within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
Its mission is to teach visitors about the impact our choices have on food, health, and the environment through hands on activities and independent exploration of the farm and surrounding coastal lands. Slide Ranch offers day and overnight educational programs for all ages.
Whale Watching from Muir Beach Overlook
Visit Muir Beach from January through April to see hundreds of gray whales migrating past The Overlook across the street from our house or down at Muir Beach as they make their way from the Arctic to Baja. Humpback whales also might be seen moving in pods of seven or 10 from November through March. The rest of the year – summer and fall – visitors can visit the Farallon Islands, where humpbacks, blue whales, sperm whales and orcas feed.
Each year, about 20,000 gray whales make an epic 6,000-mile/9,656-km journey between Alaska and Mexico—and then back again. These whales travel from feeding grounds in the Bering Sea to mating and breeding lagoons along Baja