As Tumbleweed points out, the shuttle only runs weekends -- and only during summer months.

I would definitely not recommend trying to bike up to Muir unless you are an excellent cyclist, are used to biking narrow windy roads and upgrade to a much better bike than what most people rent.

The other down side to this plan is many bike rentals are done by the hour. So you will pay for bike to sit while you visit Muir. However, the cheapest bike rental is Dylan's I believe.

I would make this a two day venture. Do the bike to Sausalito one day. It takes about an hour without any stops. But there are plenty of stops for photos and also at the Crissy Field Center, Warming Hut or Visitor Center at the GG Bridge. All have souveniers and the first two have coffee bars with some light food offerings. I'd plan on taking at least 2 hours.

Then to see Muir either take a guided tour, HOHO, or rent a car. Tom's Tour is a good guided which is dedicated to Muir. Dylan's tour includes Muir with a city tour. City Sightseeing is the only HOHO that includes Muir.

When you say "hike a forest loop trail" do you mean you want to hike up and out of Muir? The trail within Muir is perhaps a mile into the valley and relatively flat. If you wish to do any additional hiking you will first go up a pretty steep hill to get out of the valley Muir is in. There are trail maps of the area online and at Muir. I once took the Lost Trail up to Ocean View (no more view, the trees have grown up over the decades) and then back into the Woods. We weren't trying to break any speed records but it was at least a couple of hours.

For Muir Woods trails, the Fern Creek Trail is a loop and it's a very easy trail. There is another one just above this trail (at a higher elevation), and I am not coming up with the name off the top of my head, but it might be the Lumberjack Trail. That is a loop also.

Panoramic trail is very scenic towards the end as it takes you up to the top and you can look down at the redwoods, but it is not a loop and it is more challenging than the Fern Creek trail.

great suggestions all, thank you!

Arriving SF this Sat.

I dont suppose you guys have a favorite crab cake place on the waterfront?

Don't mess up our lovely Dungeness crab by letting someone sell it to you as a crabcake! It's best enjoyed au natural -- cold cracked crab with lemon,melted butter (maybe mayo). Enjoyed as is (just pick and eat) or in a crab louis or crab salad. I like Scoma's at the Wharf best... their product is generally fresh and local during crab season. (Oh, and the traditional accompaniments are a cold bottle of Chardonnay and sourdough bread...)

The Fern Creek Trail takes you up to Camp Alice Eastwood, to make a loop, from there you'd take the Camp Eastwood Trail back down to Muir Woods (the Eastwood Trail is the grade of an old railroad that used to run into Muir Woods). This loop is not very long at all, probably less than half an hour.

For a longer and more scenic loop, go to the end of the paved trail in Muir Woods, and take the Bootjack Trail into Mount Tam State Park. This climbs about 1000 ft over 2 miles. Then take the Alpine trail west parallel to Panoramic Highway to the Pantoll Ranger Station. Then take the Old Mine Trail south half a mile out of the forest to views of the ocean. Then you can take the Ben Johnson Trail back down into Muir Woods, or take the Dipsea Trail south back to the Muir Woods parking areas.