Muir Woods Pet Info

Pets are not permitted in Muir Woods. The park is very small and can get very crowded. To protect the wildlife, other visitors, and your pet, we suggest that you visit nearby areas such as the Coastal Trail at Muir Beach, and some trails in the Marin Headlands where they are permitted.

Service dogs, as recognized by the Americans with Disabilities Act, are allowed:

Service animals are defined as dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities.

Examples of such work or tasks include guiding people who are blind, alerting people who are deaf, pulling a wheelchair, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, reminding a person with mental illness to take prescribed medications, calming a person with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) during an anxiety attack, or performing other duties. Service animals are working animals, not pets. The work or task a dog has been trained to provide must be directly related to the person’s disability. Dogs whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as service animals under the ADA.

Marin County is a playground of trails for humans and their pets alike. The area is managed by several different agencies. Although Mount Tamalpais State Park does not allow pets on trails in general, dogs are permitted on leash on almost all trails of the Marin Municipal Water District and Marin County Open Space District.

Consider boarding your pet for a few hours at a nearby pet lodging facility. Please do not leave your pets in your vehicle. Your vehicle can quickly reach a temperature that puts your pet at risk of serious illness and even death, even on a day that doesn’t seem hot to you. (Information from American Veterinary Medical Association.) Pets in vehicles left unattended in weather over 70 F can be removed and vehicles will be impounded at owner’s expense.